d the 2017 campaign.Chicago, mired in last place in the Eastern C

NEWARK, N.J. -- A federal appeals court on Tuesday dealt another defeat to New Jerseys yearslong attempt to legalize sports betting, setting aside the states challenge to a federal betting ban.The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling invalidated a law passed by New Jersey in 2014 that would have allowed sports betting at casinos and racetracks. The court found New Jerseys law repealing prohibitions against sports gambling violated the 1992 Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, which forbids state-authorized sports gambling.Because PASPA, by its terms, prohibits states from authorizing by law sports gambling, and because the 2014 law does exactly that, the 2014 law violates federal law, the court wrote.Currently, only Nevada offers legal sports betting on individual games. Delaware offers multigame parlay betting in which players must pick several games correctly to win. Both were given exemptions when PASPA was passed.New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and supporters in the state Legislature have sought to legalize sports gambling to help prop up the struggling casino and horse racing industries. Its estimated up to hundreds of billions of dollars are bet illegally on sports every year in the U.S.Monmouth Park, in Oceanport on New Jerseys coast, is the only venue currently set up to offer sports gambling, if it were legalized.The dispute has a lengthy legal history. New Jersey voters approved legal sports gambling in 2011, but the four major professional sports leagues and the NCAA sued the state the following year. The leagues claimed the expansion of betting to New Jersey would damage the integrity of their games and lead to more game-fixing.Sports betting supporters have called the leagues stance hypocritical, saying the leagues condone and profit from sports fantasy leagues in which participants assemble rosters of players from different teams and compete against others.After the 3rd Circuit rejected the states constitutional challenge to PASPA, Christie signed a bill into law in the fall of 2014 that repealed prohibitions against sports gambling at casinos and racetracks. That tactic -- repealing prohibitions instead of approving gambling -- was seen as a way to get around the federal law.Though each court ruling has gone against the state, there have been dissents in two previous three-judge rulings at the 3rd Circuit.One of the judges who dissented in an earlier ruling also wrote a dissent Tuesday. Judge Julio Fuentes wrote that New Jerseys repeal meant it wasnt actually authorizing sports gambling.I do not see how a partial repeal of prohibitions is tantamount to authorizing by law a sports wagering scheme in violation of PASPA, Fuentes wrote.Tuesdays ruling came after a hearing by the full 3rd Circuit.The state can appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court, which has already declined to hear the case once before.A message left with Christies office wasnt returned. Paul Loriquet, a spokesman for the state attorney generals office, said the office was reviewing the opinion and considering our options.The NBA, whose commissioner, Adam Silver, has advocated changing the federal law to allow legal sports gambling, on Tuesday said the ruling bolstered that argument.We remain supportive of a federal legislative framework that would protect the integrity of the game and allow those who bet on sports to do so in a legal and safe manner, NBA spokesman Mike Bass said.Through a spokesman, the NFL declined to comment.---Follow David Porter at http://twitter.com/DavidPorter-APCheap Nike Shoes From China Free Shipping . Radwanska, making her debut in the Seoul tournament, hit eight aces in a match that lasted 1 hour, 4 minutes at Olympic Park tennis stadium. "It was definitely a very good match -- I was playing really good tennis," Radwanska said. Nike Shoes From China .Y. - Jerome Samson scored once in regulation and again in the shootout as the St. http://www.nikeshoesfromchina.com/ .J. -- Marty Brodeur beat the Pittsburgh Penguins yet again. Cheap Nike Shoes From China .Y. -- Canadas Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse have another World Cup gold medal after winning the two-women bobsled race on Saturday in Lake Placid, N. Wholesale Nike Shoes China .Y. -- Sabres defenceman Tyler Myers had no intention of changing his hard-hitting style before taking part in a disciplinary hearing for his illegal check to New Jersey forward Dainius Zubrus head.All that the Seattle has accomplished in the past six weeks has propelled it into hunt for a Western Conference playoff spot. But with just five matches left in the regular season, the Sounders FC can ill-afford a letdown Wednesday when the Chicago Fire travel to Seattle for a crucial match at CenturyLink Field.Seattle rolls into the game with a full head of steam based on back-to-back wins over Los Angeles and Vancouver and a 5-1-2 record in the past six weeks. That surge has pushed the Sounders FC (11-13-5, 38 points in 29 matches) into seventh place in the Western Conference table.Seattle is three points behind Portland for the final postseason spot in the West, but has played two fewer matches than the Timbers, putting the Sounders FC in a solid position to reach the playoffs. Seattle is 4-0-1 in its past five matches at home.Any movement up the table over the final four weeks for Seattle will have to be accomplished without the services of star forward Clint Dempsey. Garth Lagerwey, the Sounders FC general manager and president of soccer, announced on Tuesday that Dempsey will not return this season as he continues to deal with an irregular heartbeat that was first discovered last month.If we prioritize this now, hopefully we can get Dempsey back in 2017, Lagerwey said via Twitter.Dempsey is the U.S. Mens National Teams second all-time leading goal-scorer and joined the Sounders FC as a designated player in August 2013. He has 34 career goals for Seattle in 72 matches across three-plus seasons, including finding the net eight times this year.ddddddddddddIn his stead, rookie forward Jordan Morris has carried the offense for Seattle. Morris netted a pair of goals as the Sounders FC won a second consecutive match in a 4-2 victory against the Los Angeles Galaxy on Sunday afternoon at StubHub Center and has 12 goals for the season, the second-most in a single campaign by a rookie in MLS history.The Fire (6-14-9, with an MLS-low 27 points), will look to play the role of spoiler against Seattle and build toward the 2017 campaign.Chicago, mired in last place in the Eastern Conference, had its winless run extended to three games with a 4-1 loss at New York City FC on Friday evening at Yankee Stadium, a harsh start to a three-game road swing that heads to Seattle and then Columbus on Saturday.Seattle has won six of the teams nine meetings all-time in league play, with three draws, including three victories in a row in the series before a 1-0 Fire win last year at Toyota Park.Playing at home, Seattle has very good support and they feel even more confident, Chicago coach Veljko Paunovic said. Its not necessarily that they are not beatable. They also had earlier in the season their issues, and some weaknesses that we detected. We are going to try to take advantage of it. ' ' '