Easy on the eye, Maria Sharapova is competing at the French Open

This is the last thing the sport of tennis needed right now. The Daily Mail reported earlier this month that an International Tennis Federation panel has identified 45 matches over the past five years which are “under suspicion” because of unusual betting patterns. The article goes on to raise the alarm by rehashing last year’s Nikolay Davydenko-related scandal and other recent examples of possible match-fixing.

Keep in mind that it’s the Daily Mail we’re talking about here. This is a British tabloid that begs to be made fun of. But over 2.4 million people in the UK read it, and tennis is in the spotlight with the start of the French Open and Wimbledon coming up in June.

In sharp contrast to the Daily Mail, the Guardian handled the story by emphasizing that the ITF found that “professional tennis is neither systematically nor institutionally corrupt.” The Guardian is a respected broadsheet with journalistic integrity – and a great sports section.

With the French Open in full swing, it’s still good clean fun to bet on tennis.

So I’m sure for some of you this is old news but I have never heard of this before. A drive through Sportsbook.

The Fiesta Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas is one of a kind. Only in America can you place a bet from your car. It’s defiantly a novelty and it’s kind of like a drive though banking. You put your money in a cylinder, it goes up to the attendant, who you can talk to and then they send you back a receipt.

I think that this idea is pretty cool but aren’t we lazy enough. Are we really that constricted for time that we need to do our sports wagers from the car? I guess if your wallet is so huge its weighing you down well then, yes you have an excuse for the Sportsbook drive through.

We all love to hit the “easy” button. And it doesn’t get much easier than betting on Big Brown to win this Saturday’s Preakness Stakes. You just have to be willing to eat some chalk at 1-4.

It seems highly unlikely anyone else will defeat Big Brown at Pimlico. At the Kentucky Derby, he was 4-3/4 lengths ahead of Eight Belles in second and 8-1/4 lengths up on third-place Denis of Cork. That’s after winning the Florida Derby by five lengths over Smooth Air.

Big Brown’s competition level at the Preakness isn’t exactly Triple Crown quality, either. Gayego was confirmed for Pimlico on Tuesday by trainer Paulo Lobo. This will be the only horse who ran against Big Brown at the Derby to try again at the Preakness. Gayego finished 17th at the Run for the Roses.

The bigger question is whether Big Brown can complete the Triple Crown by winning the Belmont. He’s even money to pull it off.

Get all your Preakness Stakes odds here!

Every year, the producers of American Idol say the upcoming season is going to be the best one ever. Last year’s produced Sanjaya, so this year can’t help but look good by comparison. Nonetheless, the ratings are down, and the performances are getting mixed reviews. FOX has even conducted market research into how to fix the show.

It’s still far and away the biggest show on television, so the entertainment futures market keeps bringing in the action. The show is down to its Final Four, and former favorite David Archuleta is down to 2-1 odds to win, losing some of his teenage-girl fan base to Jason Castro (25-1). Archuleta is a technically proficient singer with all the emotional power you would expect from a 17-year-old boy from Utah.

David Cook is the favorite at 1-2, making interesting choices with which versions of songs to perform – Cook’s version of the Michael Jackson standard “Billie Jean” was based on a cover version by Doxology. Maybe there is hope for America.