Steven in MD Posted January 15, 2007 Share Posted January 15, 2007 Gee, is there realy a blog that can cure my terminal naivete?The internet truly is a wonderous place! A professional sports league marketing marquee players? A concept so novel it could only be a conspiracy theory! So far this postseason the only underdog I have seen win was Seattle over Dallas. Obviously the NFL sees the upside in pushing the Seattle market over the tiny Cowboys fanbase. I never said it was the best source for my theory...but it was plausible to me. When Naimith did those commericals in the 70's and 80's there was tremendous backlash from the NFL. They did not mind players doing endorsements in their local markets, but not on a national level. The Pats were underdogs yesterday..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Posted January 15, 2007 Share Posted January 15, 2007 The Pats were underdogs yesterday..... Maybe on your planet. I'm not the only one who knew the Chargers were one and done about 3/4 of the way through the NE/NYJ game the week before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven in MD Posted January 15, 2007 Share Posted January 15, 2007 Maybe on your planet. I knew the Chargers were one and done about 3/4 of the way through the NE/NYJ game the week before. The line was Chargers -4.5 or you can say Pats +4.5 that makes them the underdog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inkman Posted January 15, 2007 Share Posted January 15, 2007 The line was Chargers -4.5 or you can say Pats +4.5 that makes them the underdog. Betting lines don't always tell the whole story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Posted January 15, 2007 Share Posted January 15, 2007 The line was Chargers -4.5 or you can say Pats +4.5 that makes them the underdog. I couldn't care less about artificial lines that are geared towards generally uninformed public opinion instead of what actually happens on the field. As far as I was concerned the Patriots were favored because they're a better team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly the Dog Posted January 15, 2007 Share Posted January 15, 2007 The line was Chargers -4.5 or you can say Pats +4.5 that makes them the underdog. Is the league in cahoots with the bookies when they make these decisions on who is going to win/market or no? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cornerville Posted January 15, 2007 Share Posted January 15, 2007 Is the league in cahoots with the bookies when they make these decisions on who is going to win/market or no? Not at all. The NFL knows there are tons of suckers out there who bet this sport and watch it for that reason. They do not care who covers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jester43 Posted January 15, 2007 Share Posted January 15, 2007 Simon, I wish I could take credit for it...but I too was naive. I read an excellent blog that chronicled professional sports from 1960-2005. The author gave about 20 or so examples of how sports in America evolved. The one that stuck in my mind was the evolution of the NFL from the merger of the AFL and NFL. I wish I could remember the statistics about how strong the correlation was between market size and appearances on MNF in the 70's and 80's and how it changed in the 90's. In the 90's the MNF schedule was based on winning percentages the year prior and not market size (makes sense to me). Unfortunately MNF ratings went down. They changed the booth personnel to no avail. He asserts, and I just happen to agree, that in the late 90's the NFL decided to market the marque players (not the best players) to sell it to the masses. I know it sounds like a conspiracy theory, and maybe it is..but when you see underdogs winning a high percentage of the games, you have to wonder what is going on. look steven...i give you points on this one for thinking and creativity...and i know you're not an idiot. i still remember the year you were the only one on this board who, in november, thought the jets would win the division, and every single other person told you you were nuts...kind of like we all are now. and then then the jets freaking won. but this...this is really a reach. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven in MD Posted January 15, 2007 Share Posted January 15, 2007 Is the league in cahoots with the bookies when they make these decisions on who is going to win/market or no? Cut it out already Kelly... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly the Dog Posted January 15, 2007 Share Posted January 15, 2007 Cut it out already Kelly... It's an extremely relevant question when one is making a claim of games being fixed by the league. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cornerville Posted January 15, 2007 Share Posted January 15, 2007 It's an extremely relevant question when one is making a claim of games being fixed by the league. You make it seem as there has never been an NFL game that was rigged. I understand that was the 60's and this is now...but with greed at an all time high, is it entire impossible to think it could not have happened again? I'm sorry, based on the refs in the Stealers/Seahawks game...I will never ben 100% convinced that the game was clean...I will always have my suspicions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jester43 Posted January 15, 2007 Share Posted January 15, 2007 i don't think the refs were biased at all in that game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cornerville Posted January 15, 2007 Share Posted January 15, 2007 i don't think the refs were biased at all in that game. Agreed...but just wait till next week.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jester43 Posted January 15, 2007 Share Posted January 15, 2007 well if you're that convinced, do the smart thing and find somone to lay you the 3 points so you can at least enjoy it (like i did yesterday). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly the Dog Posted January 15, 2007 Share Posted January 15, 2007 You make it seem as there has never been an NFL game that was rigged. I understand that was the 60's and this is now...but with greed at an all time high, is it entire impossible to think it could not have happened again? I'm sorry, based on the refs in the Stealers/Seahawks game...I will never ben 100% convinced that the game was clean...I will always have my suspicions. The fact that there is so much money now is precisely the reason that the games cannot be fixed. You would have to pay several people so many millions of dollars to do what you want them to do, and then bet so many tens of millions of dollars to make it worth it to you, and you still could not be sure of its outcome, that it would not be worth it to ANYONE to even attempt it. And it would come out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven in MD Posted January 15, 2007 Share Posted January 15, 2007 You make it seem as there has never been an NFL game that was rigged. I understand that was the 60's and this is now...but with greed at an all time high, is it entire impossible to think it could not have happened again? I'm sorry, based on the refs in the Stealers/Seahawks game...I will never ben 100% convinced that the game was clean...I will always have my suspicions. Thank you Donte....it was last years Super Bowl that got me on a late night surf of the internet. The lines in Vegas are set by the money bet on each side. Vegas does not care who wins, they always make money. I define the underdog as the team that is getting points at the time of kick-off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerball Posted January 15, 2007 Share Posted January 15, 2007 Is the league in cahoots with the bookies when they make these decisions on who is going to win/market or no? I still believe that one of the chief reasons that our government made off shore betting illegal was because the various professional leagues (not to mention the NCAA) were not getting their cut from these fly by nights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly the Dog Posted January 15, 2007 Share Posted January 15, 2007 I still believe that one of the chief reasons that our government made off shore betting illegal was because the various professional leagues (not to mention the NCAA) were not getting their cut from these fly by nights. Or maybe it was just because onshore betting like that wasn't legal. I'm just sayin'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IDBillzFan Posted January 15, 2007 Share Posted January 15, 2007 Paul Tagliabue's If I Did It. Funniest Simon comment ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerball Posted January 15, 2007 Share Posted January 15, 2007 Or maybe it was just because onshore betting like that wasn't legal. I'm just sayin'. Please don't shatter my illusions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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