CBS Sportsline has a fantastic article about the upcoming game:
Patriots (12-0) vs. Steelers (9-3)

Hidden near the bottom of the page is an interesting poll:

Who will win the game:
Patriots by a blowout
Patriots by a close game
Steelers by a close game
Steelers by a blowout

What's interesting is not that nearly 17,000 people have voted on this.
Basically the votes are 52-48% in favour of a Patriots win. Only 6% think the Steelers win by blowout.

Where it gets interesting is where the majority of football fans place the balance

Patriots Blowout: 24%
Patriots Close: 28%
STEELERS CLOSE: 42%
Steelers Blowout: 6%

70% think it'll be a close game. And of those, 60% think it's going to the Steelers.

Personally, I can't say. Sure.. I'd love to see the Steelers break another Patriot Winning streak. But both teams have been uneven the past few games. Maybe both have been careless in practice against the teams they faced the last two weeks putting in extra time for this week.

And to Willie Parker... At least it won't be raining tomorrow.

Tags: football, poll
Current Location: Home, Temple
Current Mood: quixotic

The Seahawks are in Cleveland.

Today I am a big, BIG Seahawks fan.

Um... go blue?

Tags: football, seattle
Current Mood: energetic

Dear fiannaharpar,

Earlier today you wrote the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Thank you on behalf of a first generation fan training a 2nd generation Steelers fan.

Please write them more often :)

Tags: football, steelers
Current Mood: amused
Current Music: <a href="itms://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZSearch.woa/wa/com.apple.jingle.search.DirectAction/sea

Thanks to shimmeringjemmy here is a wonderful link to an article looking across the pond at the madhouse this country can become during the first week in February.

Tags: football, humour, link, sports
Current Mood: amused

In sports betting the rule is usually 11 gets you 10. What this means is that if you bet $11 on a game and the game goes the way you are betting, you get your $11 back plus another $10.

The way you bet a football game is that the odds maker will pick a winner and how many points the winner must win by. The idea behind this is that if the odds maker has found the perfect 'point spread' (or points one team must win by), bettors will pretty much bet 50/50 across the wager.

Here's an example: This weekend the Steelers played the Bengals in the wild card match up. Odds makers said that the Steelers had to win by more than 3. Thus, the idea is that oddsmakers think that 50% of the bettors will bet that the Steelers will win by 3 while 50% will bet that the Steelers won't win by that much or possibly not even win.

If you take 2000 people betting this way, it looks like this:
1000 bet $11: Steelers by 3
1000 bet $11: Bengals "Beat the spread"
All tolled, the bookie (or bet taker) takes in $22,000

Now... this could go one of 3 ways:
1) The Steelers win by lots (at least more than 3)
2) The Steelers win by 2 or less or even lose
3) The Steelers win by exactly 3

In cases 1 & 2, The group that bet correctly gets their $11 back + $10
This pays out $21,000 to 1000 bettors. Thus in a perfect 10:11; The bookie makes $1 for every 2 bets on either side of the line.

This of course can backfire. If 4 days before a game 3 star players are killed in a car crash, it's pretty obvious that team won't play as well. Usually at that point the odds/spread will change. All future betting will be at the new spread/odds.

3 weeks ago the Steelers were 22:1 to win the Superbowl. Now there are only 8 teams left and the Steelers are among that group, they are now 12:1 to win. (Bet 1 get 12 back)

So... What about this word, "Parlay".
In Horse racing we have the trifecta. This means not only picking the winner but the 2nd and 3rd place. Since it is placing multiple bets... it raises the odds.

In sports betting you can lump multiple bets together. It raises the odds but also raises the possibility you will lose.

So looking at the past weekend's football I bet the following parlay:
(201) Washington Redskins +3 (-130) Sat@1:30
(204) New England Patriots -7.5(-115) Sat@5:00
(207) Pittsburgh Steelers -3 Sun@1:30

Now we get math...
An evenly matched odd is 1:1, that would pay $1 for each $1 spent. Or $2.
So the multiplier is 2

Let's say the odds are 4:5, this would pay $0.80 for each $1 spent: $1.80
So the multiplier is 1.8

So the numbers in parens above are the odds in amt to bet to win $100.
Washington is Bet $1.30 to win $1. or bet $1 to get $0.76
The multiplier is 1.76

So we take 1.76 * 1.86 * 1.90 (assume -110 if not listed) = 6.21984

Thus had you bet a $10 parlay this way, it would have returned $62.19; So you would have won a little over $50

Tags: betting, football, sports
Current Mood: pleased

AAAGH!

Overtime!

Tags: football, game, sports
Current Mood: enthralled

Tuesday, the voice of the Pittsburgh Steelers on radio, Myron Cope, hung up his microphone.

Now while I have become a die-hard steelers fan over the last 5 years, I rarely listened to Cope's broadcast. Granted, he was the truest example of the Pittsburgh stereotypical accent that you could find.

Myron (pronounced Mahrn) came up with the terrible towel and came up with the term, "Immaculate Reception." He is retiring because operations on his throat have not improved his health or his voice.

Prayers and wishes to him in his retirement. The team and the sport will not be the same to the fans who've listened to Cope for generations.

Tags: football, nostalgia, sports
Current Mood: nostalgic