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06/23/2010 - Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Bulls have named Celtics assistant Tom Thibodeau their new head coach, finalizing a move reported earlier this month.
Terms of the contract were not disclosed, but on June 5, the Chicago Tribune reported Thibodeau accepted the Bulls' offer of a three-year contract, with the move becoming official following the NBA Finals. Boston lost Game 7 of the Finals to the Los Angeles Lakers last Thursday.
"I am very excited to be here and to join the Bulls organization. Chicago is a great city with great fans and a storied history," said Thibodeau. "I would like to thank [owner] Jerry Reinsdorf and [general manager] Gar Forman for presenting me with such a terrific opportunity. We have a talented team with a good nucleus of players, and I am eager to get started."
This will be Thibodeau's first shot at a head coaching job after serving as an assistant for seven teams over 18 seasons. A defensive specialist, his teams have finished in the top 10 in team defense 16 times, including this year's Celtics, who were fifth in points allowed per game.
"As I went through the process to search for the next head coach of the Chicago Bulls, the longer the process went it became apparent that Tom was a perfect fit for the Bulls," said Forman. "He is a great communicator and teacher of the game, and he fits our organizational philosophy from a defensive standpoint. With his experience and knowledge of the NBA, I am confident he will be a great leader for our team."
Thibodeau, 52, began his NBA career as an assistant with the expansion Minnesota Timberwolves in 1989 and joined the Seattle SuperSonics in 1991-92 as a scout. He then worked for the San Antonio Spurs, Philadelphia 76ers, New York Knicks and Houston Rockets before joining Boston prior to the 2007-08 season.
Thibodeau will take over for Vinny Del Negro, who was fired on May 4 following two seasons in Chicago.
<< England advances on Defoe's goal
Port Elizabeth, South Africa (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A first-half goal from Jermain
Defoe was enough to give England a 1-0 win over Slovenia at Nelson Mandela Bay
Stadium on Wednesday in the final match of Group C play for both teams,
allowin
<< Donovan's stoppage-time goal puts USA through
Pretoria, South Africa (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The United States completed its FIFA
World Cup group stage with a 1-0 win over Algeria on Wednesday at Loftus
Versfeld Stadium thanks to a 91st minute winner from U.S. attacker Landon
Donovan
<< Angels hope to add to Dodgers' woes
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In addition to calling the same metropolitan area home,
both the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and Los Angeles Dodgers hold the title
of defending division champions. Only one of these teams has been playing like
a contender
<< Hudson, Buehrle square off in Windy City
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A matchup with one of the National League's top teams has
yet to slow down the surging Chicago White Sox, who'll put a seven-game
winning streak on the line when they resume a three-game series with the NL
East-leading Atlant
Italy still has work to do against Slovakia >>
Johannesburg, South Africa (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - All four teams are still alive
as Group F enters its final day of play on Thursday, but Italy has plenty of
work to do in order to reach the knockout round, which was unthinkable at the
start o
Surprising Kiwis hope to seize chance vs. Paraguay >>
Polokwane, South Africa (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Group F was widely considered to be
the weakest group at this summer's FIFA World Cup, and while the action on the
field has not always been scintillating, it has been unpredictable.
Italy was wid
Lawrence Taylor indicted on rape charges >>
White Plains, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hall of Fame linebacker Lawrence Taylor
was reportedly indicted on six charges, including rape, on Wednesday.
According to The Journal News, a Rockland County, New York grand jury indicted
Taylor on fel
Denmark, Japan clash with knockout spot on the line >>
Rustenburg, South Africa (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Many times the build up to the
final match of the group stage is filled with various scenarios that would
determine what a given team would need to do in order to advance to the next
round.
Barry Bonds Watch: Giants Slugger Says He'll Be Back
With only 21 home runs standing between him and Hank Aaron, Barry Bonds is indeed planning on coming back for more in 2007. At least, that's what his agent told the Los Angeles Times.
"Barry's going to play in 2007," Jeff Borris of Beverly Hills Sports Council told the Times on Tuesday. "I've had many discussions with Barry and he's going to play. My intentions are to see to it he's in a big-league uniform next season. Those are my marching orders."
Contract negotiations could get started as early as next week. Let's see which team has the deeper pockets. Will MLB baseball betting lines despite allegations of steroid use? Bet On It at www.MySportsbook.com .
Get all your baseball betting lines, MLB lines and MLB team props at the My Sportbook.
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My fellow Americans, as tempting as it may be to don the coat and HD-ready tie in order to deliver this State of the Game address before the cameras, I know better. As Brad Paisley sings on his latest album, "I'm so much cooler online."
The ideas for this annual essay to kick off the MySportsbook.com college football betting preview flowed like frat-house beer, which is to say they were cheap and spilled all over the floor. The 2007 season will be better than 2007, if only because there will be more of it. A year ago, the NCAA Football Rules Committee made two rule changes in the interest of speeding up the game. These changes went over like Kobe burgers at a vegan banquet.
To its credit, the rules committee rectified its mistakes. This season the clock once again will start when a kickoff is received, rather than when it is kicked, and the clock will not start so quickly on a change of possession.
However, kickoffs have been moved back five yards, to the 30, which will force more returns. (Thus forcing the clock to run. Clever, huh?) Special teams might decide a lot of games, because coaching strategy will come straight out of another new Paisley lyric (almost), I'd like to check you for kicks.
Paisley sings with a twang, which is why he's appropriate for this college football season. The sun coming up over the 2007 college football betting lines season rises from the south. It's a Southern football world. As the Southeastern Conference begins its 75th year, the power shift is noticeable.
Eight-figure budgets, glamorous settings -- and that's just for the head coaches. The SEC has four coaches who have won national championships -- the greatest aggregation of coaching know-how since Eddie Robinson dined alone.
Steve Spurrier, Phil Fulmer, Nick Saban and Urban Meyer have given lie to the idea that a conference championship game is too daunting a hurdle on the road to No. 1. In six of the past 10 seasons, the national champions played and won a conference championship game -- three of the six (Tennessee, 1998; LSU, 2003; Florida, 2007) from the SEC.
There will be more of the same this season, if the preseason prognostications are correct. Six SEC teams are in the preseason coaches' poll, more than from any other conference. Only one conference has talent so deep that a team with 15 returning starters, including the best quarterback in the league, from an eight-win season is considered an afterthought. That may speak more to Kentucky's losing legacy than to the wisdom of the predictions, but there you have it. And seriously, keep an eye on Wildcats QB Andre' Woodson.
The reach of the South extends all the way to No. 1. Take a look at the team that is a consensus pick to win the national championship. The quarterback is from Shreveport. The best wide receiver is from Nashville. The top recruit is from New Orleans.
So what's the campus doing in Los Angeles? Hey, it is the University of Southern California.
USC lost two Pacific-10 Conference games a year ago, the first time that had happened in five seasons, and university officials withstood the urge to form blue-ribbon panels to unearth the cause of such a disaster. Instead, the Trojans gathered themselves and routed Michigan, 32-18, in the Rose Bowl.
USC's losses at Oregon State and at UCLA last year should have given pause to those who question the Pac-10's football prowess (such as, without naming names, L.M. from Baton Rouge). The league only got deeper this season; Dennis Erickson is taking over an Arizona State team that never quite got out of its own way under his predecessor, Dirk Koetter.
Erickson will resume his quest to become the first coach to win a national championship at two schools. Both he and Spurrier, now in his third season at South Carolina, returned to college football at schools with lower profiles than where they won their titles.
That isn't the case for the third coach looking for the national championship double. You may have missed this, but NASA reported the astronauts on the space shuttle last spring made contact with what can only be described as beings from another galaxy.
The leader of the aliens said, "We come in peace," followed by, "So how do you think Nick Saban will do at Alabama?"
The public is reacting to the new Crimson Tide coach as if he is the Barry Bonds of college football -- beloved at home for what his fans believe he is going to do, hated on the road for his intimidating attitude and for what his detractors believe he did (bend NCAA recruiting rules). I made this comparison from the dais at a charity dinner in Mobile, Ala., last month, and the chill that washed over me didn't come from the air conditioning.
Saban will attempt to prove that he can remake in Tuscaloosa what he built in Baton Rouge, much like another member of the national championship fraternity. Bobby Bowden is attempting to remake at Florida State what he built at, um, Florida State. Bowden rebuilt his offensive staff, bringing in four new coaches led by Saban's former offensive coordinator, Jimbo Fisher, to jump-start an offense that has been dead for a couple of years.
The Atlantic Coast Conference is expected to show new signs of life, too. That is said with no disrespect toward last season's champion, Wake Forest, which provided one of the best story lines of 2007. The Demon Deacons begin this season in their customary position, overshadowed by the Virginia Techs, Miamis and Florida States.
It's not that Wake will find it difficult to duplicate its success in 2007 as much as the feeling that success engendered. Surprising success is the narcotic of sport. It never feels quite so euphoric the next time. Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese has figured this out. He refers to 2007, when a league looked down upon by fans and foes alike took three undefeated teams into November, as "Cinderella."
The fairy tale may be over, but the Big East has four genuine Heisman Trophy candidates in Louisville quarterback Brian Brohm, West Virginia tailback Steve Slaton and quarterback Pat White, and Rutgers tailback Ray Rice. Rutgers, as did Wake Forest and, of course, Boise State, proved last season that the have-nots in college football occasionally have quite a lot.
The Broncos' rousing 43-42 overtime victory over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl has raised the profile of all schools in conferences that don't get automatic BCS bids. This season, TCU and Hawaii are the preseason favorites to burst through the BCS doors and earn an at-large bid. The Warriors return 14 starters from an 11-3 team, including quarterback Colt Brennan.
Brennan not only broke the single-season record with 58 touchdown passes in 2007, but he also led Division I-A in passing efficiency (186.0). The senior is expected to contend for the Heisman Trophy, and neither his success nor the rise of his team should come as any surprise in the 2007 season.
After all, Hawaii is the southernmost team in the country.
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