Sports Betting Blog

There are plenty of job offers out there for Ray Allen. It seems that the LA Clippers, the Miami Heat, the Memphis Grizzlies and the Dallas Mavericks among other teams have made a move towards signing one of the finest three-point shooter to ever play the game. But it’s not going to be easy to sign Allen, because it’s becoming clearer and clearer that the Boston Celtics are going to do whatever is in their reach to keep the core of their team together. Even the president of basketball operations for the Celtics, Danny Ainge, has insisted that they are going to give a fight to keep Allen wearing green. Next to Brandon Bass, Ray Allen is the top priority before the players market open in a few days. The Celtics are doing all they can to keep the core of the 2011-2012 team together. And most of the pieces are falling into place.

Last weekend, the Celtics pulled off a good negotiation strategy and managed to secure a three-year contract extension with Kevin Garnett. According to some sources, in the next few days they will have also signed free agent Jeff Green. Now, the Celtics head coach, Doc Rivers, is hoping that Allen will want to come back. It seems as the best fit for the 37-year-old Allen who was spent the last five seasons with the Celtics. Let’s not forget that during his long career as a pro, it is with the Celtics that he has experienced his biggest success. As if that was not enough, Ray Allen already lives in Boston, and fans love him. Not to mention, it will be a shame to break the group dynamic that Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Rajon Rondo have been able to put together.

The Celtics fans are hoping that the offers from the other teams are only going to make Allen have a little more leverage when dealing the terms of his next contract, but that at the end, he will stay with Boston. Now again, the Celtics themselves are willing to go the extra mile to secure him. According to some insiders information the Celtics would agree in principle to double the salary the Miami Heat can offer Allen. Sure enough the Memphis Grizzlies have offered Allen their full mid-level exception, worth $5 million, for two years. But again, the Celtics are in a position to offer the veteran shooting guard a two-year, $12 million contract.

Head coach Doc Rivers is quite positive Ray Allen is going to return. “We really want him back and I really think at the end of the day that he will be back because this is such a good fit for him,” Rivers said in a press conference after the 2012 NBA Draft. “We need him back and we’re trying to get him back. We can offer him more money. Yes, there are a couple of teams way under the cap who might be able to offer more money. But other than that, we can offer him more (than Miami or Memphis). He already lives here. He knows his role and everything else. It’s a stretch for me to see him go somewhere else.” I really hope he sticks around with those other talented four guys and give it yet another try at the title.

Let it there be no doubt, Spain is currently experiencing it’s golden age in sports, and by no means is soccer an exception. Forget about the haters that claimed that the Spanish style is not beautiful, that their game is effective but ultimately boring. Let’s get this one right from the start: Vicente del Bosque’s squads played a magnificent game of football against the Italian squad for the EURO 2012 Championship. And the Azzurri never had a chance. From the start, Spain kept a flowing, one-touch, quick and swift play with which they constantly found it’s way pass the Italian defense, to take a 4-0 win to leave no doubters behind. This is the finest soccer team in the world. After this display of talent and courage, Spain became the first team to win three straight major tournaments and the first to repeat as Euro champion.

Earlier during the tournament, and for the first time in a while, the Spanish team looked vulnerable. Losing their all-time leading scorer, David Villa, had dogged the side throughout. Del Bosque opted to try to cover-up his lack of offensive talent, playing with a false nine formation, appearing to be playing without a true striker. But for the Final match in Kiev, the Spaniards shook it up a bit and started Cesc Fabregas up in the front. The Spaniards relied heavily on a fast-paced short play game. The Italians on the other hand, were going for the long pass and it became evident from the start that Andrea Pirlo was aiming his passes straight up to the young and talented striker Mario Balotelli who kept on trying to impose with his physicality over another rough guy: Spaniard defender Sergio Ramos.

But the big difference was that for this match, the Spanish National team was taking shots whenever it’s strikers had a close look. It took the team less then 15 minutes to break this one down. Andres Iniesta cut open the Italian defense to find Fabregas a step ahead of Giorgio Chiellini. A little too much space and Fabregas got things rolling, opening enough space between him to send the ball in for David Silva to head it into the goal of Gianluigi Buffon. It was a strong game and from the start, the Spaniards new that this one would go their way. Just take into account the following record, this very defining streak: Spain has won all of the previous 70 matches in which it had taken the lead. That’s a win every time they scored first since September 2006.

The rest of the goals came in soon enough. The Spanish goalkeeper Iker Casillas send a goal kick straight to Xavi. He controlled the ball and sent a swift pass into the path of flying down Jordi Alba, who controlled the ball and sent it straight into the goal for the 2-0 advantage in the game. In the 75^th minute Cesc Fabregas was substituted by the striker Fernando Torres. He didn’t miss a beat to make a strong impression and score his 3^rd goal in the tournament. As if that was not enough, just four minutes later he provided the assistance for Juan Mata’s goal. That’s 4-0.