People like to gamble. It’s an American institution when it comes to sports. Betting on March Madness pools, Super Bowl squares and the number of times David Wells will adjust his crotch in between pitches have all become new reasons to watch a game.
Last Sunday was one of the biggest gambling days of the year. Odds makers in Vegas come up with outrageous things to bet on for the Super Bowl, like the coin toss or when the first replay challenge will take place. And you can’t really blame them for taking advantage of the fact that Vegas-going football junkies actually believe that calling tails never fails.
What gets me is when these same odds makers will put out odds immediately following a championship, prematurely suggesting next year’s winner. Take this year’s Super Bowl.
Sure, the game was an extra-large disappointment. You could tell it was the referees’ first Super Sunday on the job. The Bus was in neutral for the most part, and Matt Hasselbeck played with the mental capacity of a 90-year-old bald guy, not a 30-year-old one. But the game was still played, and Lombardi’s trophy was still handed out. The Steelers won their franchise’s fifth ring, Ben Roethlisberger is only 23 and Jerome Bettis just experienced what was arguably the best ride-into-the-sunset moment ever.
But, instead of making odds on bets like, “Number of days until Jerome’s real playing weight gets made public,” or, “First Disney ride that makes Hines Ward nauseous,” the odds makers have already put odds on an almost equally ridiculous situation. They selected a favorite to win next year’s Super Bowl. Not only that, but they couldn’t even get the pick right.
How do the Steelers feel about this? They worked as hard, if not harder than any other team in the league to win the championship game. And yet, even though there have been no major transactions since Sunday, Vegas decided that the Indianapolis Colts are a 5-2 favorite to be celebrating in South Florida next February. The idea of having a championship game is still to decide the best team, right? Did I miss something here?
I wonder what the city of Las Vegas’ reaction will be when Joey Porter calls the entire city “soft.” Will the casinos all of a sudden drop every good show that gets thrown their way when they need it most?
But maybe Joey would be right, because it seems like Vegas’ collective football brain may be so soft it’s non-functional.
The biggest transaction that is close to being made is one that will kill the Colts for good. Edgerrin James is so close to leaving Peyton Manning’s shadow that he threatened to not wear the Colts’ horseshoe decal on the side of his helmet during this week’s Pro Bowl, where he’ll be the starting running back. It’s safe to say that he’ll find some team out there looking for a potential Hall of Famer.
On top of that, Manning is coming off what’s becoming a typical AFC championship performance for him. He then proceeded blame his play on his offensive line and politely blasted the largest members of his team. Not the smartest move.
Would the quarterbacks with rings, like Tom Brady, or even Ben Roethlisberger, have ever said the same thing?
Manning may be the most accurate passer and best reader of defenses in the league. But as long as his streak of losing championship games continues (one that started in high school), why should Vegas be picking Indy?
Odds makers need to stop and think. Their timing is bad and their choice of next year’s pick might be worse. But will that stop them from making early and erroneous picks in 2007?
Don’t bet on it.
