• Olympic gymnast Nastia Liukin puts Twitter to very good use - by putting up pretty pictures of herself.

• Don’t you worry, Michael Vick - Chris Rock has got your back!

• Cyclists & joggers, be on the lookout for the Delaware Blow-Dart Bandit.

• Roadrunner’s revenge: A NASCAR driver going 190 mph gruesomely gets a coyote embedded in his grill.

• Colorado Buffaloes cornerback Ben Burley is banned from blogging after writing about the woman he woke up to in his bed.

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If it wasn’t for the fact that Delaware is, y’know, Delaware, it seems like it’d be a pretty awesome state. The state rakes in money hand over fist by charging out-of-staters outlandish tolls on its highways and by allowing corporations to exploit its lax regulatory system. And now the state is working to legalize sports betting, one of the raddest moves by a state since North Dakota threw that killer kegger back in ‘83.

(Of course.)

Unfortunately, it’s not all sunshine and parlays in the Diamond State these days. Some bored teen (or worst domestic terrorist ever) has declared open season on the state’s cyclists and joggers with the most deadliest of deadly weapons - non-poison, non-barbed blow darts. EVERYBODY PANIC!

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The slapfight between the NCAA and Delaware over legalized gambling has reached a new… high? low? something? Who knows.

(Obligatory)

After a judge smacked the NCAA’s lawsuit to stop Delaware from allowing sports betting down, the NCAA responded with a clear message: “We think the federal courts are wrong, we just aren’t allowed to oppose them.” So they did the next “best” thing and banned postseason play in Delaware.

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• Erin Andrews seems to look a bit emaciated at the MLB All-Star Game:

Somebody get that gal a huge plate of St. Louis BBQ ribs, pronto!

• Pics of the bloody strap & knife that Amanda Rodrigues allegedly used to kill her ex-boxer husband Arturo Gatti.

• If the United Football League will be remembered for anything, it could be for the wireless QB wristband known as the ID Coach.

• Delaware to allow betting on NFL games. Wilmington, here we come!

• Albert Pujols says he’s so not doing steroids that he dares you to help yourself to his bathwater.

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When most people think of Delaware, one of four (and only four) things comes to mind: native son Joe Biden, Delaware General Corporation Law, that one scene from Wayne’s World, or that Delaware was the first state to ratify the Constitution. No other answers will be accepted - sorry, Blue Hens fans.

 (Imagine being able to be magically whisked away…to Delaware.)

One answer that would not come to mind in a sane person is “sports and gaming mecca.” Despite the state’s best tourism efforts (their website rather gamely offers “everything from NCAA college football to minor league baseball“), Delaware has not been known as a sports fan’s paradise. That, however, may change if the state goes ahead with plans to allow single-game and parlay betting on NFL games. Delaware, here we come!

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We informed you earlier about the efforts of Delaware Governor Jack Markell to get sports betting legalized in his little state, while the Guv tossed out some barbs about the NFL & NCAA’s apparent hypocrisy along the way.

Well, the proposal finally made it to the state’s House of Representatives on Tuesday night for a crucial vote. And unfortunately for Markell, the betting bill was defeated - by two votes.

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Back in March we here at SPORTSbyBROOKS told you about Delaware Governor Jack Markell’s attempt to have sports betting legalized in his home state. With a $750 million deficit in the state’s budget, Markell believes that being the only state east of the Mississippi River to allow sports betting would go a long way in decreasing that deficit. As Markell likes to point out, Delaware already allows slots and horse racing, and you can’t be “half-pregnant.”

As you’d expect, Markell is finding quite a bit of opposition to his proposals, but not by the fine people of Delaware.  No, the two biggest foes Markell has come across are the two biggest benefactors of Americans who love to bet on sports: the NFL and the NCAA.  In a recent interview with REAL CLEAR SPORTS, Governor Markell talked about the hypocrisy being shown by both of these organizations.

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As we reported earlier on SbB, Delaware is set to legalize sports betting by the start of football season. Well, consider the floodgates officially open. A New Jersey lawmaker is suing the federal government to overturn it’s ban on sports wagering.

After a study that predicted a $10-billion-a-year business that could add $100 million annually to New Jersey’s coffers, it was a no-brainer for the financially strapped state. But the ban wouldn’t just affect the Garden State; it would allow every state to decide whether to legalize it. So this might be one Supreme Court case you’ll be able to eagerly follow on ESPN’s Bottom Line.

What are the odds of Jersey having a case? It’s not a bad bet, actually.

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• Grant Hill reveals that Christian Laettner is a big jerk. In other news, sky is blue, water is wet, Duke is overrated.

• A former U of Minnesota running back can’t leave the state to attend an NFL tryout - just because he’s an “untreated sex offender“.

• There’s nothing like a buzzer-beater to punch your ticket to the Big Dance.

• The Yankees hope to have the healthiest ballpark in the league.

• Delaware seems determined to take a gamble on sports betting.

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Thanks to our paranoid Founding Fathers and their precious states’ rights, four states were able to preserve legalized sports betting before the federal government made it illegal in 1992: Nevada, Montana and Oregon — which already have bookmaking — and little, unassuming Delaware.

With an new governor, Delaware has a new outlook on life, and legalized sports wagering is a big part of their future. So, will the First State ever be more than a cheap place to buy cigarettes or 20 minutes of highway between New York and D.C.?

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