Yep, after getting so close to American football’s biggest prize, the goal remains unchanged for the Seattle Seahawks.

Win the Super Bowl title.

Yep, after these Seattle Seahawks were denied of one more win by the pesky Pittsburgh Steelers to earn the Super Bowl title, these guys will come in the brand new NFL Football season with virtually the same package. Literally.

After all, the only offseason move they made was replace left guard Steve Hutchinson and if replacing a goddamn guard is all you have to worry about in the NFL then you just know that you’re in a very good shape.

Are they?

The Seattle Seahawks were able to develop Matt Hasselbeck to one of the top quarterbacks in the game. And with a monster like Shaun Alexander who can power his way for a touchdown at virtually anytime, anything less of a Super Bowl championship in Super Bowl XLI at Miami, Florida will definitely be a letdown.

Matt Hasselbeck’s development has not been unlike that of a young…

Yep, apparently, weeks after the BetonSports CEO was detained, the Sportingbet Chairman follows.

Peter Dicks, chairman of the online bookmaker Sportingbet PLC, was detained by US Authorities, paving the way for the temporary suspension of its shares, just like what happened to BetonSports when its CEO, David Carruthers, was arrested.

Jeez… What’s with these online sportsbooks anyway?

Shares in the company were suspended after Peter Dicks, 64, was held whilst visiting the US on non-Sportingbet business. A court hearing is due to take place later today.

Shares in other gaming companies plunged as well, with Party Poker owner PartyGaming down 14% and 888 Holdings off by a similar amount.

Online gaming stocks have been volatile in recent months following the BetonSports charges and the possibility of further legislation in the US.

Sportingbet did not disclose the reason for Mr. Dicks being detained, or the location where he is currently being…

Yep, sometimes, even stupid people gets the chance to shine. And you can bet your ass Bodog WILL be front and center when this happens.

The 4th Annual World Stupidity Awards, presented by Disinformation & Moron, are fast approaching. With categories ranging from ‘’Stupidest Man of the Year'’ and ‘’Stupidest Statement of the Year'’ to ‘’Media Outlet Which Has Best Furthered Ignorance'’ and ‘’Lifetime Achievement Award for Stupidity,'’ this year’s awards are sure to be entertaining.

The ‘’stupid'’ winners will be announced on September 20.

Bodog, the leading source for celebrity and entertainment wagering online, has posted odds on all of this years World Stupidity Award categories, giving fans of the awards the ability to lay stake on who they think will be crowned king or queen of stupid.

Here are just some of the wagers being offered on this year’s 4th Annual World Stupidity Awards.

Who will win the 2006 World Stupidity Award for ‘’Media Outlet Which Has Best Furthered Ignorance?'’

Danish Newspaper, Jyllands-Posten…

Time was, you went to Las Vegas for the VIP rooms and to Atlantic City for the penny slots.

You drove to Vegas as a nightlifer all glammed and loaded for the blackjack swim-up table. And then you rode the bus to Atlantic City as a daytripper wrestling with retirees for your turn at its 38,000 slot machines. LV and AC were side-by-side in gambling but the similarity ended there.

Atlantic City casinos hauled $5.02 billion in gambling revenue last year, not a far cry from the $6.4 billion Las Vegas casinos raked in. Outside of gambling, Las Vegas made $7 billion from hotel stay, restaurants, and entertainment – leaving Atlantic City to eat its trail of dust with a measly $1 billion earned from the same.

So what went wrong? The tale of our two cities began the same: lives of organized crime. But Las Vegas would shed the gangsta image by going upmarket whereas Atlantic City took the downmarket route. At long last, Atlantic City snaps out of its poor man mentality and tries to beat Vegas at its own game.

Gambling. It took the $1.1 billion Borgata hotel casino for AC to aim higher than quarter reels so we’re okay that it is the city’s highest-grossing casino, with $704 million in 2005 gambling revenue.

MGM Mirage, the world’s second largest casino operator, Morgan Stanley, and Steve Wynn are now looking to develop casino properties here. We’re talking 85 acres adjacent to Borgata, 20 acres at the Boardwalk, and a little-used municipal air strip, respectively.

Hotels. LV and AC shared the same hotel occupancy rate of…

Indian casinos earn more than the combined gaming revenues of Las Vegas and Atlantic City.

So much for asking, where have all the Indians gone? These days, they are kind of a silent power when it comes to gambling. US Congress, via the 1988 Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, permitted Indian tribes to operate gaming facilities. The Native American Indian casino gaming industry has since grown from one that earned $100 million in its first year to one that makes over $14.5 billion yearly.

The Last of the Mohegans: American Indian Casino Mohegan Sun

Mohegan Sun Resort and Casino is the world’s second largest casino, next to Foxwoods Resort Casino. Both are found in Connecticut, the wealthiest US state per capita income, which in 2005 was $47,819. Mohegan Sun is an excellent example that Native Americans play the Vegas game: it is as much about gambling as about tourism, whether in terms of location or amenities.

On 240 acres along the banks of Thames River, Mohegan Sun lies sprawled at the heart of southeastern Connecticut, responsible for 60% of the state tourism. It is home to the state’s only major league sports team, the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun, and The Wolf 104.7FM. Not a full tank away are neighbors like Paul Newman who lives in Westport, Bruce Willis in…

‘’Darth Vader is a punk compared to Al Davis.'’

Yep, Al Davis, owner of the Oakland Raiders, probably is the baddest sonuvabitch to ever own an NFL Football franchise. And yeah, the late writer Hunter S. Thompson probably said it right, Darth Vader ain’t got shit on this guy.

And now, it’s that time of the year when we see more of Mr. Bad Ass and his Silver and Black Oakland Raiders again.

The guy created the most successful brand in football, no matter how badly they sucked last season, by plying and embracing ‘’maverick methods'’ and ‘’outlaw credo,'’ so to speak.

Davis is 77 years old now, and he has spent more than half his life, 43 years to be exact, running the Oakland Raiders, building the team into one of the richest franchises in NFL Football and creating one of the first antihero, unabashedly outlaw brands.

He outfitted his team in black and silver. He signed players with renegade attitudes and nicknames straight out of Vince McMahon’s WWE like…

And so it begins, the brand new NFL Football season.

The defending NFL Football Super Bowl XL champions, Pittsburgh Steelers, will begin their road for yet another Super Bowl title conquest as they take on the Miami Dolphins.

It took the Pittsburgh Steelers 26 years to win a Super Bowl, and seven months later their coach wants everyone to forget about it. ‘’What we did last year means nothing,'’ Steelers head coach Bill Cowher said. ‘’We’re not living off last year’s laurels.'’

He has drilled it into everyone’s head, or at least tried, that the Pittsburgh Steelers might not have been even the best team in the league last year, (yep, the Oakland Raiders were, and always will… he he…) just one that got on a roll at the end.

Their final reward for winning the NFL championship comes Thursday night when they kick off the new NFL Football season against a team that ended on a high themselves last year, the Miami Dolphins.

The Dolphins closed the 2005 regular season in more impressive fashion than did the Steelers, who won their final four to qualify for the playoffs. Miami won its final six, including an upset in San Diego that helped put the Steelers in the postseason, but did not qualify the…

Yep, a rookie named Anibal Sanchez became an animal on the mound for his Florida Marlins.

Who would’ve thought that this guy, a rookie, would pull off a no-hitter in MLB Baseball. And yes, Anibal Sanchez did it in only his 13th career start. Go figure.

Sanchez ended the longest no-hit gap in major league history Wednesday night, benefiting from three defensive gems by teammates to lead the Florida Marlins over the Arizona Diamondbacks, 2-0.

‘’This is the best moment of my life,'’ the 22-year-old Venezuelan said.

With the accomplishment, Anibal Sanchez got the first no-hitter in MLB Baseball since Randy Johnson got ‘’the perfect game'’ against the Atlanta Braves in May 2004. Also, he became the first rookie to toss the no-hitter since 2001.

Not bad. Not bad at all.

And in dramatic fashion, the rest of the Florida Marlins hoisted Anibal Sanchez over their shoulders as the young Venezuelan pointed his fingers and thrust his fists to the crowd where his wife watches.

‘’She was there,'’ Sanchez said, his eyes wet with tears of joy. ‘’I don’t know, I can’t say any more. I love her, I love my family.'’

Well, it’s nice to see how a boring game like MLB Baseball brings a…

It’s official. There are more drunks around the White House than in famously bad-ass US cities.

In the 2006 Forbes list of America’s Drunkest Cities, Washington, DC ranked higher than Los Angeles, New York, Miami, and New Orleans. They all ranked lower than Las Vegas but, oddly, Sin City did not even make the top ten. Milwaukee ranked #1 while Nashville came last as #35 in this Forbes survey on the largest US cities in terms of state laws, drinkers, heavy drinkers, binge drinkers, and alcoholism.

It’s a country where college football betting tips involve beer bongs and bungie shots; duh, America has a drinking situation. As a bit of consolation, though, the US did produce such brilliant drunks as Ernest Hemingway, born in #6 Chicago; Edgar Allan Poe, born in #4 Boston; German-born Charles Bukowski and Tom Waits, both based in #23 LA; Johnny Cash, based in #35 Nashville and elsewhere in Tennessee.

Forbes List of America’s Drunkest Cities in 2006

#14 Las Vegas *ranked no. 4 in state laws
Seriously, it’s a poor showing for a city where booze, available anytime, comes paired with gambling, sex, and quickie weddings. Possibly all the drunks are just visiting, as tourism and conventions are top economic drivers other than casino gaming, a $9.1 billion industry last year. When The Mirage started the era of megaresorts in ‘89 while hurting downtown and Fremont, it was clear this was a place to get soused either way, out of…

The New England Patriots finally got rid of their scrappy wide receiver.

Wide receiver Bam Childress was released by the New England Patriots and signed Jonathan Smith, the wideout released by the Buffalo Bills.

The release of Mr. Childress was a surprise, considering that he was a fan favorite during this year’s NFL Football preseason. Oh yes, the guy did good in the preseason as he led the Patriots with 214 yards and finishing second best with 11 catches.

I don’t know what the fuck these New England Patriots are on.

An undrafted free agent out of Ohio State, Childress spent 15 games on the practice squad last year before being activated for the season finale against the Miami Dolphins, playing both wideout and defensive back. And yeah, Childress was signed to the practice squad… again…

As for Jonathan Smith, he is entering his third NFL season at 24 years old. The 5-foot-10, 194-pounder has played in 16 games since being selected in the seventh round of the 2004 draft by Buffalo. He has eight catches for 77 yards.

His career highlight came on Nov. 14, 2004, when he returned a punt 70 yards against the same New England Patriots at…