Jump to content

2011 NFL Football Thread


Bong-Man

Recommended Posts

I remember that, those were truly the "old days" there.

I also remember there was a "Playoff Bowl" where the second place team finishers in each conference played each other the week after the league championship game. The winner of the game was officially rewarded third place in the league.

That lasted through the 60's and Lombardi hated it with a passion too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I liked it better in the old days when players wore the helmets of the team they played for. Remember when the NFL champion played the college all stars? The last one was in the late sixties and the college all stars defeated the Green Bay Packers. Lombardi's Packers.

I may be wrong, but I believe the last one had the KC Chiefs beating the college boys pretty bad. After the Chiefs unexpectedly defeated Joe Kapp and the Vikings in SB III. In the pro vs college game, I'm thinking Lenny Dawson through two consecutive long balls and the Chiefs were in the endzone. If my hazy memory is correct, Sports Illustrated had a black and white photo on its cover about that game, calling it "The one game season," or something to that effect.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I remember that, those were truly the "old days" there.

I also remember there was a "Playoff Bowl" where the second place team finishers in each conference played each other the week after the league championship game. The winner of the game was officially rewarded third place in the league.

That lasted through the 60's and Lombardi hated it with a passion too.

I remember the Playoff Bowl. I may be wrong but I think the last one played was after the 1969 regular season between the Cowboys and Rams. The season before the merger

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So, is anybody here planning on actually watching the Pro Bowl?

Errr, no.

Regarding the game pitting the NFL/Super Bowl champion versus a team of college all-stars, that game actually was played well into the 70's. I know, because I remember feeling sorry for those college kids being torn up by the Pittsburgh Steelers.

In fact, it was after a second straight mauling by the 1976 Pittsburgh Steelers team that they decided to end the game. Which turned out to be a blessing for those kids, as the 1977 game would have been against the Oakland Raiders. Can you imagine the brutality Jack Tatum and the Raiders would have inflicted upon those college boys?

It would have been like throwing Christians to the Lions. Frankly, I'm surprised the owners put up with the game as long as they did...there were 42 games in all, starting in the 1930s, played at Soldier Field nearly every summer from 1934 to 1976.

I mean, what owner would want to see his prize draft pick out there risking injury against the Super Bowl Champions?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Errr, no.

Regarding the game pitting the NFL/Super Bowl champion versus a team of college all-stars, that game actually was played well into the 70's. I know, because I remember feeling sorry for those college kids being torn up by the Pittsburgh Steelers.

In fact, it was after a second straight mauling by the 1976 Pittsburgh Steelers team that they decided to end the game. Which turned out to be a blessing for those kids, as the 1977 game would have been against the Oakland Raiders. Can you imagine the brutality Jack Tatum and the Raiders would have inflicted upon those college boys?

It would have been like throwing Christians to the Lions. Frankly, I'm surprised the owners put up with the game as long as they did...there were 42 games in all, starting in the 1930s, played at Soldier Field nearly every summer from 1934 to 1976.

I mean, what owner would want to see his prize draft pick out there risking injury against the Super Bowl Champions?

I have to go look that up. i seem to remember the last one being vs Lombardi's Packers and I know the college all stars won that game. Maybe you are right. Its a long time ago. I thought they stopped it in the late 60s

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That college all star game lasted much longer than the Playoff Bowl did, I think Strider is right about it.

Hey the NFC is -5 and the over/under is 74 1/2??? lol yeah I reckon no defense will be played today.

I have been paying attention to the NHL all star game and I was not even aware the Hawaii deal was today. I dont know why the line is what it is, probably because Brady will not be there as he is in a bigger game? I do not even know the line ups. I like the NHL game more. The lesser of two evils by far.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Gee, I see Silvermedalist quotes. You are really out to get me aren't you?

I haven't seen any quotes from you using that name recently....what are you referring to - specifically?

I didn't see a moment from last night's game, who won?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I haven't seen any quotes from you using that name recently....what are you referring to - specifically?

I didn't see a moment from last night's game, who won?

The all star game I did not watch. 59-31 was the final, AFC I believe. 100 points. Might as well have been playing flag or touch. I have money down on the Giants already. Its like putting money in the bank. :lol:

Six more days until New England gets their butts handed to them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Still not sure which way I want to bet. Two things that remain certain that the playoffs have shown:

1. Defense wins championships

2. You need a quality QB.

Both the AFC and NFC championships finished under the Over/Under line. And of the 4 quarterbacks playing in those games, Brady and Manning are, by far, the better of those four.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think............repeat.......I think the Giants defense can bother and throw Brady off of his game more so than the Patriot defense can bother/throw off Manning. I also think the Patriots have a better running game than the Giants have, not by much but I think they do. Running effectively still matters when you reach this point.

I continue to ponder...........

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Regarding betting lines, there were a couple articles about setting the Super Bowl line I've been meaning to post...but haven't been able to until now; the first is from the Los Angeles Times and appeared the day after the AFC and NFC Championship games; the second article is from the New York Times a few days later.

"Las Vegas oddsmaker sets early line for Super Bowl, and crosses his fingers"

Jay Rood, vice president of MGM Resorts, has tabbed the New England Patriots to beat the New York Giants by 31/2 points. Now he waits for the action to start and hopes not to take a pounding.

By Lance Pugmire Los Angeles Times January 22, 2012

Jay Rood has posted the most important number of the year to sports gamblers in Las Vegas and throughout the country.

In Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis on Feb. 5, the AFC champion New England Patriots are favored to defeat the New York Giants by 31/2 points.

Also of interest, the over/under for total points in the game is 551/2 points.

Now, Rood, vice president of MGM Resorts supervising 12 race and sports books across Nevada, including Aria, MGM Grand, Mirage and the Bellagio on the Strip, waits for another seven figures of action to come his way.

How did you finalize those numbers?

"We were originally looking at the Patriots as 4- or 41/2-point favorites, but this Giants performance here [defeating San Francisco, 20-17, in overtime] being so dominating on the road against tough competition, while the Patriots are not looking as good as they have been, I think it's a good number."

What are you trying to accomplish in setting these numbers?

"The fans want to bet the favorite and the over. I'm hoping to generate enough volume on the underdog and under to set that off. With the Patriots winning, going into this weekend I preferred to have the Giants as the second team to help us split the money because of all of their fans."

There are gamblers who bring suitcases of cash into your books to try and gut you on your Super Bowl lines. Do those people arrive immediately or bide their time to just before kickoff?

"Both things happen. They have their opinions on the game as soon as it emerges, and if they don't like my number, they're here right away. That could happen to us now. The Giants bettors [sunday] just cashed a ticket, and their team looked good, so they come right back and bet the Super Bowl based on what they saw and how that team let them cash a ticket. Yet, if they think the number will come their way even more, they'll bide their time."

Why are the Patriots favored?

"They're business-like. They take care of business and win. People like that. They won [sunday] without [Tom] Brady playing like Brady."

I saw the Giants get to as high as 80-to-1 underdogs to win the Super Bowl earlier this season. Don't you need them to lose?

"We opened them [in future-book betting] at 30 to 1, but they didn't get a lot of support until they got to 12/1 and then recently, they opened the playoffs at 18/1 even after being 25/1 in Week 14. We won't get that hurt if they win. The Giants have been struggling the last couple years. [Coach] Tom Coughlin's been on and off the hot seat. Yes, they are extremely popular, but in regard to our risk, they're middle of the road. The [Detroit] Lions and [Houston] Texans we needed out, the [Dallas] Cowboys weren't good for us, either."

You're up this season?

"We were an overall winner for the season and playoffs. It was a little disappointing we didn't do better. Quite a bit of favorites to over combinations hit, and some obvious live [under]dogs hit. It's more and more challenging. People are much more savvy about what we're looking at, and it's more and more difficult to manage it, to draw money on the other side [favoring underdogs and the under] without exposing yourself. The numbers moved a lot this year because of that."

pixel.gif

Last year's Super Bowl outcome was so ugly for you, with the betting again concentrated on the favorite and the over. Was there a desire to make the 'over' number especially high to help your cause?

"That combination, when it hits, is dreadful. There's not a lot you can do to offset it if it hits except hope you win every other scenario. There is a temptation to make the number high, but if you do put some extra points in there, then the professional handicappers jump right on it with their big money and force you to move the number down before your main public comes into town. Then you risk losing both ways. So you don't want to give the professionals a free pass and let the public come in looking at the lower number."

You'll need the Giants in this game. You like them getting a field goal plus that 'hook' of half a point?

"I didn't want my number to be a solid number, not simply three or four. People have to think if they really like the Patriots. Yeah, I like the Giants. The Patriots' defense isn't up to the normal defense you see from a Super Bowl team. At 31/2, it's a good bet."

lance.pugmire@latimes.com

"Las Vegas Loses if the Giants Win"

By Sam Borden New York Times January 25, 2012

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — It should come as no surprise that the Giants have fans rooting against them in the Super Bowl in places like New Hampshire, Massachusetts and even parts of Connecticut. After all, the New England Patriots have a dedicated following, and quarterback Tom Brady has mainstream appeal.

In an odd confluence of events, however, it appears there will also be a small (but passionate) group of people in the West pulling for the Patriots on Feb. 5: oddsmakers in Las Vegas.

The reason, of course, is simple: money. A number of sports books in Nevada took significant bets on the Giants to win the Super Bowl at long odds earlier this season — some as high as 80 to 1 — leaving the books with tremendous exposure as oddsmakers call it, heading into the championship game.

Jimmy Vaccaro, head of the Lucky’s Race and Sports Book, said in an interview this week that while he took only a few bets that could reap big payoffs for a Giants victory, he had heard from other oddsmakers who are at significantly greater risk.

“They got hit pretty hard at the high number,” Vaccaro said. “If the Giants win this game, it could do some damage out here, there is no doubt. A lot of guys were rooting for San Francisco on Sunday, I can tell you that.”

The concern from oddsmakers has little to do with bettors wagering on the actual game — some say this game may break the Nevada record of $94 million bet on the 2006 Super Bowl between Pittsburgh and Seattle. Rather, the fear is based on what is known as futures betting.

Essentially, futures are the odds that sports books offer throughout the season on particular teams to win the championship. These numbers go up or down depending on the most recent developments — say, an important trade or an injury to a star player. Whatever the odds are when a bettor puts down his money is what the payoff is based on should the team end up holding a trophy. A $100 bet at 80-1, for example, would return $8,000.

Futures wagering is active during the entire season, and losing streaks — like the four-game slide the Giants endured in November and early December — affect a team’s odds. When the Giants skidded through defeats to the 49ers, the Philadelphia Eagles, the New Orleans Saints and the Green Bay Packers, their odds skyrocketed.

“I remember we opened them at about 20 to 1 last February, right after last year’s Super Bowl,” Jay Kornegay, the director of the sports book at the Las Vegas Hotel and Casino, said. “But when they hit that losing streak, it went up. I mean, they lost to Vince Young and the Eagles! We were lucky the bets didn’t come our way, but there are some tickets out there.”

Kornegay added: “Even at the start of the playoffs we had them at 30 to 1 to win the Super Bowl. They had a very hard road.”

Adding to the anxiety in Nevada is what happened only months ago when the St. Louis Cardinals won the World Series. Much like the Giants, the Cardinals have a passionate — and loyal — base of fans, many of whom are not afraid to put down money on their team regardless of how dire a situation might seem.

So when the Cardinals were 10 ½ games out of the playoffs with 32 games remaining in the regular season, their futures odds were considerable; Kornegay recalled that he listed them at 250 to 1 to win the World Series and 100 to 1 to win the National League pennant. “And we had action on both,” he said.

Even the Cardinals, however, could not compare with the exposure the books had on Virginia Commonwealth last year during the N.C.A.A. men’s basketball tournament. The Rams’ unlikely Final Four run had virtually every sports book sweating as V.C.U.’s odds were as high as 500 to 1 in some places, with a smattering of bettors hoping for a monstrous payday. Only when V.C.U. lost to Butler did oddsmakers exhale.

For the Super Bowl, most sports books have the Patriots as favorites with a spread of about 3 points, a markedly smaller line from the 12-point spread the Giants faced in the 2008 title game against New England.

Giants defensive end Justin Tuck made it clear that he preferred seeing his team in the underdog role. “For all the oddsmakers out there, keep rooting against us,” he said. But Vaccaro said much of the early betting from “sharp,” or professional, bettors came in on the Giants, particularly in places where the Patriots were favored by 3 ½ as opposed to 3.

Although many bookmakers would have preferred seeing the 49ers in the game instead of the Giants, they can take solace in the knowledge that a Giants win is not the worst possible outcome.

Had the Denver Broncos made the Super Bowl, Kornegay said, there would have been a legion of insomniac oddsmakers in Nevada, their dreams haunted by visions of fans in Tim Tebow jerseys lining up to cash gargantuan winning tickets.

The Broncos’ odds were as high as 5,000 to 1 in some places — that’s a $100,000 payout on a $20 bet — and Kornegay said he took numerous bets on them.

“If the Broncos were in the Super Bowl, the lights would definitely be dimmer around this place,” he said. “I’m not even sure we’d be talking right now.”

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What are you going to do with yourself if when the Patriots beat the Giants...

;)

I am very confident the Giants will win. But if they do not, its not going to put a dent in my budget. I have won alot on NBA and hockey recently. So I am not going to get carried away just because its the Super Bowl. I do not see New England winning. Of course its possible. The 69 Jets monumental upset of the mighty Colts proved anything can happen. But I do not think it will. And I think the bookies are trying to fool the public by making the Pats a 3 point favorite when I believe they should be an 8 point dog. I would have taken San Fran also. Baltimore I think would have scared me far more. New Englands secondary will be toast against the Giants.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...