Bears promote Babich to defensive coordinator

Football Betting Lines

02/20/2007 - Lake Forest, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Bears named Bob Babich the team's defensive coordinator on Tuesday, one day after announcing that Ron Rivera would no longer own that title.

Babich has been an assistant coach in Chicago since 2004, starting as the team's linebackers coach before later being promoted to assistant head coach/linebackers last season.

Rivera was almost immediately hired as the Chargers' linebackers coach after officially being relieved of his duties in Chicago.

Throughout his time with the Bears, Babich has held the responsibility of signaling the defensive play-calls to the players on the field from the sideline. During that time the Bears have led the NFL in percentage of points off turnovers, total defensive takeaways, third-down defense and opponent quarterback rating while ranking second in the NFL in defensive red-zone touchdown ratio, defensive touchdowns and interceptions.

Babich was the first coach to join Lovie Smith's staff, coming over from St. Louis where he served as the linebackers coach while Smith was the defensive coordinator for the Rams. The two also worked together at Tulsa (1984-86) where Smith oversaw the linebackers while Babich worked with tight ends and assisted with the offensive line.

Teantalk Football Betting News

<< Forsberg's impact on Predators not reflected in his stats
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In two games as a member of the Nashville Predators, Peter Forsberg has yet to record a point. But judging by the team's performance Monday against the Phoenix Coyotes, there's little to reason for Music City fans to panic.

<< Kings get chance to be spoilers
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - While the Los Angeles Kings are all but out of this year's playoff race, they will get an opportunity to put a damper on some other team's chances as well. This past weekend, the Kings managed to split a home-and-home seri

<< Blackhawks activate F Bourque
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Blackhawks activated forward Rene Bourque on Tuesday. Bourque missed the past 21 games with a crack in his ankle. He was assigned to the team's AHL affiliate in Norfolk for conditioning purpose

<< This Week in Auto Racing February 23 - February 25
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - From one coast to the other the NASCAR caravan pulls into the Los Angeles area for week No.2 of 36. For those that had a tough time in the restrictor-plate race at Daytona its back to un- restric

<< Jankovic, Hantuchova advance in UAE
Dubai, United Arab Emirates (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fifth-seeded Serbian Jelena Jankovic and eighth-seeded Slovak Daniela Hantuchova were among Tuesday's opening-round winners at the $1.5 million Dubai Duty Free Women's Open.

Robredo, Ljubicic win first-rounders in Rotterdam >>
Rotterdam, Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Second-seeded Spaniard Tommy Robredo and third-seeded Croat Ivan Ljubicic were among Tuesday's first-round winners at the $1 million ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament. The world No. 7 Robre

Champions League Roundup: PSV carry first leg lead to London >>
Eindhoven, Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dutch champion PSV Eindhoven handed English Premier League power, Arsenal, its first defeat in any competition of 2007 when the UEFA Champions League resumed with the first leg of the

MISL, VERSUS to partner for national coverage of league >>
Westport, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) and VERSUS, the network that is best known for NHL coverage , announced Tuesday a partnership to deliver a nationally televised game of the week. The coverage of th

Zambrano, Cubs agree to one-year deal >>
Mesa, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Cubs and starting pitcher Carlos Zambrano avoided salary arbitration by agreeing to a one-year contract worth a reported $12.4 million on Tuesday. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the deal w

Phillips signs long-term deal with Chargers >>
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Diego Chargers signed linebacker Shaun Phillips to a six-year contract on Tuesday. Phillips, in his third year with the Chargers and first as a full-time starter, recorded a career-high

SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook Betting

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.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts MasterCard needs.