Saturday, April 05, 2008

The Super Bowl is over...

And the Giants won! Amazing. It was a great game and a great team took home the title.

Bettors also cleaned up this Super Bowl. So many people bet the Giants to win against the spread and straight up that Vegas lost money for the first time in years.

Personally, I lost money this Super Bowl. I bet the Patriots to win straight up, so I lost a ton of money. The odds were about 3.5 - 1, so I had to pay 3.5 times the amount that I bet. I thought it was a great Super Bowl bet, but obviously, I was dead wrong. Now, I'm taking the under dogs more seriously from now on.

After all, 2 years ago, the Pittsburgh Steelers won the Super Bowl and they were underdogs too. That game was crazy though, and a lot of bettors still think that the Seahawks should have won that game. The refs made some really bad calls and seemed to do everything possible to hand the Steelers that game. It was a little ridiculous.

What bets did i win this year?
I won the bet on the coin toss.
I won the bet on the first player to score a touchdown.
I lost the bet on the first quarterback to throw a touchdown.
I won the team to lead at the end of the first half, even though I lost the team to who won the Super Bowl.

Overall, I did okay this Super Bowl. I made a lot of bets, and could have lost more than a few of them. As luck woulf have it, I won enough of my Super Bowl bets, so that I didn;t loss my shirt!

Of course, I placed most of my bets online. A friend of mine uses a local bookie, so I did place a bet though him just to try it. I have to say, it's kind of a pain in the ass. You have to call the guy on the phone, and then meet up with him after the game to collect your money or pay him off.

Personally, I like betting the Super Bowl online much more. Betting online is so easy. You can get the odds on hundreds aof wagers without ever leaving you house. You can look up the odds in your underware if you want!

Anyway, even though I lost money this year, I had a great time watching the Super Bowl. And that's what it is really all about. I hope you had a great time too.

Monday, January 21, 2008

Super Bowl XLII analysis, prediction, betting and more

Patriots
All season long, the offense had run around Tom Brady, who set an all-time record for passing touchdowns with 50. But his prime target, Randy Moss, has been missing in action down the stretch, and the team has been carried by running back Laurence Maroney. His back-up, Kevin Faulk is a big third-down receiver. Wes Welker is a great possession receiver. Big pressure is on the Pats’ great offensive line against the Giants’ front seven. Defensively, safety Rodney Harrison will do something big, and corner Asante Samuel is most likely to pick off Eli Manning. The linebacking corps is old and a bit slow, but no one’s smarter than Junior Seau and Tedy Bruschi.

Giants
Halfway through the season Giants fans had all but lost patience with quarterback Eli Manning. But down the stretch and on the road, he’s been playing almost mistake-free football. He’s reached the Super Bowl in his fourth season — far ahead of his famous brother Peyton’s schedule, and now he’s playing with house money. He’s got two great receivers to throw to, Plaxico Burress, a big target in the mold of the Pats’ Randy Moss, and Amani Toomer. The Giants can also run the ball behind bruiser Brandon Jacobs and breakaway threat Ahmad Bradshaw. But the Giants live on their defense. Corners R.W. McQuarters and Corey Webster will be under huge pressure and the Giants will be hoping starter Aaron Ross can return for the big game. The front seven, led by defensive ends Osi Umenyiora and Michael Strahan have to get serious pressure on Pats’ quarterback Tom Brady. Giants fans will prefer that the game not come down to a field goal. Their kicker, Lawrence Tynes, badly missed two gimmes before hitting from 47 yards in overtime to beat Green Bay to get to Glendale.

The Patriots win if
It comes down to how the offensive line plays. If they keep the pass rush off Brady and give him time, the Patriots are going to be hard to beat. Defensively, they need to shut down Burress and bottle up the run. That should put enough pressure on Manning to force him into the mistake that sinks the Giants.

The Giants win if
The first order is to score seven and not three when they get in the red zone. That was the main reason San Diego lost the AFC Championship Game — they settled for field goals while the Pats were getting touchdowns. The second order is put enough pressure on Brady to force him into some bad throws. And the Giants have to win the turnover battle to win the game. Mix in a big play on special teams — most likely a return by Domenik Hixon — could spell the biggest upset ever.

The Pats lose if
New England is not invincible. If Moss doesn’t get untracked and the running game also falters, the Pats will really have their hands full. If Brady gets sacked and battered, they can lose this game. If the offensive line is beaten, the Pats can be, too, but it will take a great performance on the other side of the bal by Eli to finish the deal.

The Giants lose if
It’s no secret by now that there’s very little margin of error against the Patriots. Lose the turnover battle, fail to put Brady on the ground and don’t take advantage of trips to the red zone, and the Giants can’t win; nobody can against the Pats.

Prediction
The Patriots are capable of blowing out any opponent, but I don’t see that happening here. The Giants played them tough in the season’s final game and believe they can win, and that’s a big part of the battle. I see both teams having trouble running the ball and the war coming down to which coaching staff can make adjustments on the fly the best. And no one does that better than Bill Belichick. The Patriots have discovered a way to win all year. I have to assume they’ll do it again, but they’ll probably have to come from behind to finish off the greatest season in NFL history. I see New England winning on a late touchdown in a relatively high-scoring game — thanks to perfect weather and field conditions. Patriots 34, Giants 30.