Columnist Ron Kantowski: Morning paper’s lines aren’t your best bets

Thursday, Feb. 25, 1999 | 10:52 a.m.

There it was in the morning paper Wednesday, listed under "betting line" on the scoreboard page.

Duke minus 20 at DePaul.

"If it was 20, that would be the bet of the year," said a spokesman at the Imperial Palace Race & Sports Book.

It wasn't 20 but it wouldn't have been the bet of the year, regardless. Duke won by 32.

But that's beside the point. What's to the point is that it wasn't a legitimate betting line to begin with. It was Larry's Line.

The morning newspaper uses a Las Vegas service called "Sportsfax" in lieu of a real betting line. Sportsfax actually is one guy, Larry Adelman, and the "betting line" listed in the morning paper is nothing more than Adelman's power ratings.

This is not to suggest that Adelman's numbers are way off the mark (we haven't done enough research to know). But power ratings are different from a betting line, as they only suggest the relative strengths and/or weaknesses of the two teams, and are not adjusted to encourage "two-way" action.

We heard from at least one guy who wanted to get down on DePaul based on the morning newspaper's line. He had to be disappointed (but happy in the long run) when he arrived at the book and saw the Blue Demons listed somewhere between plus 13 and plus 15.

The Sun's betting line on Page 2 uses the Imperial Palace morning odds -- and states as much. In other words -- and provided Bob Stupak doesn't beat you to the window with a million line-moving bucks -- what you see in the Sun is probably what you're going to bet.

* CHANGING OF THE GUARD: UNLV shooting guard Brian Keefe Monday night looked like that kid in the Nike commercial who launches shot after shot after shot in vain, with one exception -- the kid in the Nike spot eventually makes one.

Keefe was 0-for-9 from beyond the 3-point arc in a 76-72 loss to Texas Christian.

But local fans who want to see how huge an impact a good guard can have on a college basketball team's fortunes -- and don't want to wait for Andre Miller and the Utah Utes' appearance at next week's WAC Tournament -- should catch tonight's game (7:35 tip-off) at the Mack between the Lady Rebels and the No. 4-rated Colorado State women.

Becky Hammon, the Rams' 5-6 guard and Player of the Year candidate, is averaging 21.6 points for the 27-1 Rams. She's hitting 52 percent from the floor and an even more remarkable 42 percent from 3-point land. She's also averaging 4.0 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 2.6 steals.

With all due respect to Milt Palacio, the talented backcourt maestro for the CSU men's team, Hammon may be the best guard Moby Arena has seen since Robby Benson went "One on One" for Western U. in a movie filmed on the CSU campus in 1976.

* AROUND THE HORN: Las Vegas resident Penny Toler, a mainstay for the Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA, was the guest instructor at what was billed as a "free" clinic for girls in Green Valley last weekend. But a local middle school coach said there actually was a hidden $40 charge for the clinic, which precluded most of his players from attending. ... Early candidate for the most unprofessional interview of the year goes to KVBC-TV Channel 3's Stacey Escalante, who gushed during an "exclusive" from the Padres' Cactus League headquarters in Peoria, Ariz., that she had obtained country singer Garth Brooks' signature on a baseball. Brooks, who obviously has some friends in high places, too, is taking batting practice with the Padres under the guise of becoming Ken Caminiti's replacement at third base. ... Early candidate for worst new toy of the year: Smell My Pits, a NASCAR Hot Wheels car and transporter set which allegedly reeks of burned rubber, gasoline and oil. ... While the crowd a most UNLV Lady Rebels games arrives in the same taxi, the University of New Mexico women as of Wednesday had sold 9,700 tickets for Saturday's game against Utah.

UNLV shooting guard Brian Keefe Monday night looked like that kid in the Nike commercial who launches shot after shot after shot in vain, with one exception -- the kid in the Nike spot eventually makes one.