Duval boots 7 FGs as Als rout Hamilton
Football Betting Lines
07/23/2010 -
Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Montreal kicker Damon Duval tied a career-high
with seven field goals as he helped lead the Alouettes to a commanding 37-14
win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at Percival Molson Stadium.
Duval finished the night with 22 points as Montreal (3-1) logged its third
straight win after losing the season opener to Saskatchewan in overtime,
54-51.
Montreal quarterback Anthony Calvillo also had a strong outing as he converted
28-of-38 passing for 309 yards and a pair of touchdowns, getting his team into
the end zone for the first time in six quarters when he struck in the fourth
period.
Kevin Glenn, who was named the CFL Offensive Player of the Week on Tuesday
after completing 29-of-36 passes for 336 yards with three touchdowns in a 28-7
decision over Winnipeg, hit on 16-of-32 for 201 yards for the Tiger-Cats (1-3)
before being pulled in favor of Quinton Porter late in the contest.
Duval started off the night's scoring for the Alouettes with a pair of field
goals in the first half, converting tries of 24 and 47 yards to provide the
home team with a 6-0 advantage.
Hamilton and Sandro DeAngelis finally responded when the kicker knocked
through a 19-yard effort, capping a 16-play, 64-yard drive.
In the second period Duval struck again for the Als, this time on a 27-yard
effort, making the score 9-6.
DeAngelis took his turn later in the frame, booting a 27-yard field goal, but
shortly after Duval added a 61-yard single to make the score 10-6 at the
break.
Montreal struck first in the second half as well when Duval made good on a 45-
yard field goal try.
On the first play from scrimmage on the ensuing Hamilton possession, John
Bowman stripped Glenn of the ball and the Als recovered, putting them in prime
position for a major. Unfortunately, yet another Montreal drive stalled
prematurely and Duval was called upon to convert a 22-yard attempt, making the
score 16-6.
"We had to show everyone that we can play football up front," Bowman said
after the game. "We knew we had to give our offense a chance. We had a rough
first half, but we gave them enough to change in the second...especially when
it was 13-6 with what was my forced fumble on Kevin Glenn."
A blocked punt and subsequent recovery by Montreal's Michael Giffin once more
gave the Als the ball deep in Hamilton territory, but once again Duval was
brought in to convert a 21-yard field goal.
"I hate to see a blocked punt at a crucial time in the game," Hamilton head
coach Marcel Bellefeuille lamented. "The forced fumble by John Bowman was a
big play...for whatever reason the play broke down."
Finally Calvillo and the Montreal offense broke through in the fourth quarter
when the signal-caller threw off his back foot and found Kerry Watkins with a
32-yard score. A two-point conversion toss to S.J. Green made the score 27-6
with under 13 minutes to play in the contest.
Another stalled drive by Montreal brought out Duval who knocked through a 45-
yard field goal to push the score to 30-6.
Hamilton turned to Porter to supply some energy and he responded by finding
Arland Bruce III with a 16-yard TD strike, with a pass to Maurice Mann on the
two-point conversion cutting the deficit to 30-14 with under six minutes
remaining.
Following the three-minute warning, Avon Cobourne weaved his way on a 16-yard
run down to the one-yard line for the Als, but a penalty on the next snap
moved the ball back to the six-yard line. From there, Calvillo fired over the
middle into the end zone for Kerry Carter to make the score 37-14.
Montreal sealed the decision when Shea Emry intercepted a Porter pass with
1:36 remaining and the Als ran out the clock with reserve QB Chris Leak under
center.
"It comes down to making plays and we just didn't make enough of them," Glenn
said of his efforts. "The Als didn't do anything different...we had chances to
make big plays but we didn't make them."
Game Notes
The TD for Watkins was the first for the Als in 115:39, dating back to the
fourth quarter of the Edmonton matchup on July 11...Duval entered the night
having made a total of seven field goals through the first three games of the
season...Montreal receiver Ben Cahoon, who had two catches for 37 yards, now
has 967 catches for his career, ranking him third all-time in the CFL behind
Terry Vaughn (1,006 receptions) and Darren Flutie (972)...Montreal was a
perfect 9-0 at home last season, the first time since 1955 that the club
posted an unblemished record...Montreal has now won five straight over the
Ticats and 13 of the last 14 encounters...Hamilton has not won in Montreal
since 2002...The last defeat for the Alouettes overall at home was October 26,
2008 when the squad bowed to Winnipeg, 24-23.
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NFL owners, already life's biggest winners, want to try their luck with the lottery.
That was the news out of their meetings last week, where team bosses voted unanimously to allow stamping state and local lottery tickets with franchise logos, if, ahem, any governments wanted to do a deal.
A shocker: Within days the Pats announced they'd be sponsoring the Massachusetts state lottery, the Skins said they'd slap their sticker on Virginia scratch-offs and the Ravens admitted they were talking to Maryland lottery bosses. In all likelihood, it won't be long before every team is a presenting sponsor of scratch-offs or just plain old pick fives. "The change in policy was approved 32-0," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "So you can expect to see more deals soon."
It's a branding opportunity too big for the owners to ignore, and one a couple of dozen baseball franchises have enjoyed for years. The fact the NFL has been slower to act than those slack-brained Seligites is indicative of its complicated relationship with all forms of gambling. Consider this: Last Thursday, as the Pats and the Redskins finalized their new lottery deals, a lawyer representing the NFL argued before Delaware's Supreme Court that the state's newly signed sports betting law should be repealed.
The NFL betting is the face of opposition to sports gambling . And as much as it would like to share that responsibility with other leagues, that's not going to happen as long as more than 40% of all money legally wagered on games is bet on football. That's why the Brewers can do a multi-million dollar deal with a local casino, or the Celtics can make their own pact with the Mass lottery, and the response is, "Sweet, let's play." But when the NFL does it the stakes are higher, and everyone from NPR's Frank Deford to the Associated Press to the guys blogging at Deadspin will line up to play gotcha.
So I asked Aiello, who surely knew there'd be piling on, how the league can rail against being bait for sports bettors, then allow its franchises to be just that for lotteries, the most insidious and addictive form of gambling around. He emailed me this response: "We are not moral crusaders. NFL personnel are permitted to engage in legal forms of gambling, except for betting on NFL games. We are making a distinction here between the spread of gambling on the outcome of our games and supporting state lottery scratch-off games, that have nothing to do with the outcome of our games."
Here's where I should rip him. But, the thing is, he's right. Not to get Obama on you, but this is a complicated, nuanced issue. As much as lotteries are considered a tax on the poor, the NFL isn't a socially obligated government program -- it's just a business. Scratch-off's help the bottom line, sports betting doesn't.
Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors … But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal.
Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico.
Seriously.
The NFL's problem, when it comes to the gambling world, isn't hypocrisy, it's worse: The bosses lack vision. That's why the league is picking unwinnable fights in Delaware and taking pot shots from critics after making smart sponsorship deals. Roger Goodell and his gang are acting and thinking locally rather than globally, which is rare for them, especially compared to their professional (and amateur) counterparts.
The NBA held its All Star game in Las Vegas and David Stern's kingdom didn't crumble (although the town did bring plenty of players to their knees.) I'd say it's 6 to 5 and pick 'em that Lebron will make a road swing through Sin City before his career is over.
Even the NCAA College Football Betting is more progressive on this issue than the NFL. Several years ago Rachel Newman Baker, college sports' gambling czar, opened a dialogue with Vegas bookmakers to learn about how they do business. She's visited Nevada sports books, studied their operations and listened to how they regulate action. Now she knows she can expect a call from bookmakers, who lose money when sports are fixed, if they think something sketchy is going on in NCAA games. She's not in favor of sports betting, but, as she once told me, "I know it's not going away, either."
The NFL can't seem to accept that. And until it can find peace with the idea, it'll get flack, even when it's right.
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