Vol. 3, No. 2 February 2007
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Betting the Bowl
NFL’s biggest game provides a plethora of betting opportunities
Winners and losers span the field of music, advertising and betting. Halftime has become a gig for a major star. Bud Bowls, the lingerie bowl and the commercials competition change marketing careers. Box pools become Las Vegas for those who don’t come here.
For those who do, it’s the ultimate one-game betting agenda. Call it “Side Bet Heaven.” Wagers constitute tongue-in-cheek hilarity, rounding out a multi-million dollar frenzy throughout the city.
Here are samples of crazy bets considered available either online or in town. There will be more. Invent your own and suggest it to a betting house. Perhaps they’ll book the bet.
Numbers Crunching
First, the usual suspects. Wager against the spread, on the money line, on over-unders per half, per game and the spread for each quarter. Every degenerate knows that.
But now, the wild cards.
• Start with the coin toss. Can’t throw that baby without a prop, either via heads-versus-tails or which team wins it.
• Play selection becomes important right after that. Will the first call from scrimmage be a run or pass? Better have something on it.
• Which team gets the initial first down, or scores first?
• Will the score be a run, pass, field goal or safety?
• What about the first team to be penalized? It could all revert back to the coin toss. Hey, strategy abounds.
• Then there’s the first player to score, often with excellent odds attached.
• How about the first coach to challenge a call? That’s deep. Picture the sports book filled with bettors watching a coach considering a challenge. Imagine the comments.
• Play selection becomes important right after that. Will the first call from scrimmage be a run or pass? Better have something on it.
• Which team gets the initial first down, or scores first?
• Will the score be a run, pass, field goal or safety?
• What about the first team to be penalized? It could all revert back to the coin toss. Hey, strategy abounds.
• Then there’s the first player to score, often with excellent odds attached.
• How about the first coach to challenge a call? That’s deep. Picture the sports book filled with bettors watching a coach considering a challenge. Imagine the comments.
“Go on, throw it. THROW IT. Toss the (red) flag.!”
“No, NO, put it in your pocket! Fuh-GET about it.”
• Which team will call a timeout first? Splendid. Actually, television probably will with a mandated break about 10 minutes into the game. Should TV be one of the timeout options?
More options include predicting the half that delivers more points. Will a score happen in the last two minutes of each half? What about a safety, or a defensive touchdown? Decisions, decisions.
Other crazy bets include which team wins each quarter, which team obtains more rushing, passing yards and total yards. Will there be more than three field goals for the game? Think it through. There’s no need to muddle through halftime. Pick the commercial that will be voted the winner by the public.
More “analytical” props loom:
• Will any team score three times unanswered?
• Which team produces the longest touchdown?
• Will there be a score within the first six and a half minutes of the contest?
• Will there be overtime (there never has been one).
• Which team produces the longest touchdown?
• Will there be a score within the first six and a half minutes of the contest?
• Will there be overtime (there never has been one).
More hardcore assessments include over-under for pass completions, yardage of one player versus another and so forth. Don’t forget wacky props like a player’s yardage versus an NBA game total or a golf score. Have you invented one yet? Mine: will the son of a Baptist minister, whose family was once broke, score in the fourth quarter—on a pass—from over 50 yards.
Beyond this game, you can experience prop utopia. There are wagers as to whether Carolina’s offensive coordinator, not the coach, will return next year. There are odds on any of five running backs to start for Texas next year and whether Willis McGahee will sign a long-term deal with Buffalo before the first exhibition game.
Who can believe the first Super Bowl was actually called a championship game, offered tickets for less than $10 and did not sell out? Or that previous games were played during the afternoon?
Now the Super Bowl is a Sunday holiday, played out during prime time. And there’s no place like Vegas to enjoy it.
Boxing, MMA Sandwich
Some significant non-football events also occur here this month. UFC 67 unfolds February 3 at Mandalay Bay, while Pride Fighting occurs February 24 at the Thomas and Mack Center.
Three boxing matches fit nicely in between.
Shane Mosley faces Luis Collazo February 10 at Mandalay Bay. Mosley, one of boxing’s top pound-for-pound performers, seeks to parlay a big 2006 into more riches and a title. He scored two convincing triumphs over Fernando Vargas last year. The California native has become a “boxing executive,” weaving fights around his job of spokesman for Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions.
Collazo, a New York native, is a southpaw spoiler. After being floored seconds into his 2006 battle with Ricky Hatton, he rebounded and nearly stole the fight. Collazo is a superb counter puncher, but must deal with Mosley’s blinding speed.
After Mosley-Collazo, the Orleans hosts a fight card February 14 and Wynn offers a February 16 card.
