Exclusive club has its own dinner
NCAA Basketball Betting Lines
04/02/2007 -
ATLANTA (AP) -During a weekend of dinners, meetings and parties for every group imaginable connected with college basketball's Final Four, one is so exclusive no more than four new invitations are possible each year.
For the second consecutive year, the National Association of Basketball Coaches sponsored the Final Four Coaches Dinner, a reception and meal for those men who have taken a team to the NCAA tournament's national semifinals.
Besides the food and drink, each coach receives a custom-designed blue blazer, kind of college basketball's version of the green jacket that will be presented just a few hours away this weekend to the Masters champion.
Forty-eight coaches were at the inaugural dinner last year in Indianapolis. At this year's event, six men were presented jackets. Dean Smith, Eddie Sutton, Paul Hewitt and Mike Montgomery were attending for the first time.
Jim Larranaga of George Mason and John Brady of LSU, who made it to their first Final Fours last season, were given theirs by Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim, the incoming president of the NABC.
``Most people don't realize that just to get here is such an accomplishment,'' NABC executive director Jim Haney said during Sunday night's dinner. ``It is so good just to see the guys get together like this and have a chance to enjoy themselves in a setting like this.''
The blazer's lining has the colors of a basketball, including the black grains. The buttons are in the shape of basketballs, silver for those who have taken a team to the Final Four, gold for those who have won a national championship.
``That gives me one more thing to shoot for,'' Georgia Tech's Hewitt said with a laugh as he fingered one of the four silver buttons on his sleeve. He took the Yellow Jackets to the Final Four in 2004.
The jackets were designed by Team Sportcoat, the same company that made the blazers issued to each of the players honored during the Super Bowl's 40th anniversary.
``Sure, these are nice jackets, you can wear them anywhere. They're not green,'' UNLV coach Lon Kruger, who led Florida to the Final Four in 1994, said when asked if the blazer ever made it out of the closet except for the dinner. ``This is a great chance to enjoy some time with people you have coached against or watched coach for years.''
After the six new jackets were presented, Haney had everyone in the room raise their glasses for a toast.
``Here's to a special group for their significant contributions to college basketball,'' he said.
When Hewitt went to leave, he was asked if he wanted to put back on the sports coat he wore to the dinner and put his new blazer in a garment bag. He thought hard and twice started to remove the jacket.
``Oh, I guess I'll wear the old one,'' he said, looking at the new blazer one more time before it was zipped up. ``That is a nice coat.''
Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.2006 - Florida 73, UCLA 572005 - North Carolina 75, Illinois 702004 - Connecticut 82, Georgia Tech 732003 - Syracuse 81, Kansas 782002 - Maryland 64, Indiana 522001 - Duke 82, Arizona 722000 - Michigan State 89, Florida 761999 - Connecticut 77, Duke
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2007 NFL Football Betting Preview
“You play to win the game!”
Those are the words of notoriously intense head coach Herman Edwards. Unfortunately, from a bettors’ perspective, most coaches don’t feel that way about the NFL preseason. August is a time to evaluate young players, finalize the depth chart and pray your star players stay healthy.
The trick to making money during the exhibition schedule is identifying coaches – like Edwards – who can’t stand losing even when there's nothing on the line.
The New York Jets betting won 15 of 21 preseason games and went 14-7 against the spread (ATS) during Edwards’s five-year tenure with the club. In his first season as the Kansas City Chiefs field boss, the team improved from 0-4 to 2-2.
Identifying win-a-holics like Edwards is a good start if you plan betting the preseason – even though most say you shouldn’t ... but what the hell do they know anyway?
Here’s a brief rundown of two teams that have a habit of winning during the second-stringers’ season, and another club that has a good chance of exceeding this year.
Playing in the media hub of North America can be stressful but the press can’t write anything negative about the way Tom Coughlin’s boys play in the preseason. The Giants won and covered all four games last summer, improving their record to 7-1 both straight up (SU) and against the spread over the last two years.
Coughlin has shown he’s not afraid to give his starters more time in the second preseason game than most of his colleagues, no doubt one of the reasons his team has been so dominant.
Bettors can count on America’s team early on. The Cowboys are 14-6 both SU and ATS since 2002 in warm-up contests. Former coach Bill Parcells, the coach of the team the last four years, has an intimidating, in-your-face presence – surely a reason Dallas has had so much early success.
The Big Tuna won’t be strolling the sidelines with looks of disgust, but new coach Wade Phillips will be anxious to make a good first impression for owner Jerry Jones.
Dallas plays the Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos before things get serious. They then face the Houston Texans in their third contest (the game starters see most game time) and finish off with the Minnesota Vikings.
Expect a Dallas team able to walk away with another 3-1 preseason record.
This team scored a league-worst 12 offensive touchdowns last season, so the rookies and veterans each have something to prove. There’s a bounty of first-unit jobs up for grabs and plenty of bodies competing for those slots.
First-time head coach Lane Kiffin will be eager to impress an owner who employs the philosophy, “Just win, baby!”
The 32-year-old Kiffin has to command respect from a locker room full of players older than him. All of these factors should lead to purpose in preseason.
Don’t forget: before playing like a team that belonged in NFL Europe, Oakland went 4-1 (both SU and ATS) in exhibition games.
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