There were a lot of College Basketball top 25 upsets on Saturday. I was watching "The Sports Reporters" and had an eye on the bottom line and it seemed like every team that had a number next to its name lost. (It wasn't every ranked team, but it was a lot of them)
the word
I usually think that Pittsburgh fans are too quick to complain that one of their teams or players are underrated or somehow disrespected nationally but...
While watching the Sports Reporters I was amazed that so many in the national sports media still underestimate Ben Roethlisburger's value to his team. The panel unanimously agreed that Aaron Rodgers was the MVP to his team while barely mentioning Roethlisburger. I agree that the subject is open for debate, but it's hard to believe how many national people have already cemented Rodgers onto their Mt Rushmore of quarterbacks.
The NHL All-Star Skills Competition could be the most entertaining event of all the major sports league all-star "showcases" if either "Versus" learns how to make a quality broadcast or the NHL gets picked up on a different network. I usually don't watch these exhibitions but I really enjoyed watching this event, even with the numerous times the broadcast seemed confused (at best, and I thought it was a lot)
Target
Monday, January 31, 2011
Friday, January 28, 2011
Why is the Steeler Nation offended at the Superbowl odds
The initial betting line for Superbowl XLV came out yesterday and set the Green Bay Packers as 2 1/2 point favorites (on average, varying from 2 to 3 depending on the sports book). Since then, there has been talk around the Burgh about why Vegas would disrespect the Steelers by making them the underdog?
Well, let me answer that for you.
They set the odds (and adjust them) to bring in even money on either side. They don't set it based on who they think will win. So the fact that the Packers are favored only means that more people were betting on them to win. So why would people have put their money on Green Bay when they barely made the playoffs as the 6th seed with a 10-6 record in what was generally thought to be the weaker conference when the Steelers were 12-4, the 2nd seed in the AFC, won a Superbowl 2 years ago, have a great defense and are led by a QB that already has 2 rings? So why would more money be going down on Green Bay?
Well, let me answer that for you.
People use one of the following tools when making bets; Their head, their heart or their gut. While there's really no logic behind the last of these, I can give logical reasons for people picking the Packers using either of the other 2. I'll start with the noggin.
Green Bay was one of the pre-season NFC favorites and their 10-6 record is due mostly to the unusually high amount of players they lost to injury throughout the season. At the end of the regular season, as they got players back and younger back-ups got more comfortable, they were on a roll, playing as well as any other team in the league. Conventional wisdom (debatable yes, but some gamblers I'm sure base their picks on it) states that football is won and lost at the line of scrimmage. The Steelers have had a year of adventure regarding the offensive line. They've had to shuffle players in and out of different positions all season long as players have been injured. Then, early in the AFC Championship game they lost one of the only steady pieces of the o-line puzzle they've had all year when rookie center Maurkice Pouncey went down with a high ankle sprain. His readiness for the Superbowl is in great doubt. The strength of the Packers offense is the depth of their receiving core. The greatest weakness of the Steelers defense is depth at cornerback. So it isn't hard to see how one could logically put money down on Green Bay.
Now for the heart, or in another term, rooting interest. Outside of Pittsburgh, or at least the Steeler fan base (which famously extends outside of Western PA) most NFL fans don't want to see the Steelers organization win a 7th title, 2 in 3 years, 3 in 7, further legitimizing the Steeler claim as the "Greatest franchise in the NFL". Also, there are many people that believe that Ben Roethlisberger was guilty of a terrible crime last year in Georgia. This subject is of course well documented and will not be addressed here, but rightly or not, this is what some people truly believe. Those that believe this would not want to see him holding that trophy or see the him, with "When You Wish Upon a Star" playing in the background, declare that he is "going to Disneyworld".
It is of course understandable that if you watch football through "black & gold" colored glasses, you would pick the Steelers to win the game. There are legitimate reasons to make that pick. This is why the spread is a very narrow 2 1/2 points. This is a hard game to handicap. Personally, I lean towards picking the Steelers, mostly because of their recent Superbowl experience, but I wouldn't feel very comfortable if I had money riding on the game. (I don't, and won't. I'm not much of a gambler though) So please Steeler Nation, don't feel slighted because the early odds favor the Packers. Enjoy the 2 weeks of hype, plan you Superbowl party and enjoy the game. There are 30 other cities that have reason to be unhappy and have to watch your team a week from Sunday. Enjoy.
Well, let me answer that for you.
They set the odds (and adjust them) to bring in even money on either side. They don't set it based on who they think will win. So the fact that the Packers are favored only means that more people were betting on them to win. So why would people have put their money on Green Bay when they barely made the playoffs as the 6th seed with a 10-6 record in what was generally thought to be the weaker conference when the Steelers were 12-4, the 2nd seed in the AFC, won a Superbowl 2 years ago, have a great defense and are led by a QB that already has 2 rings? So why would more money be going down on Green Bay?
Well, let me answer that for you.
People use one of the following tools when making bets; Their head, their heart or their gut. While there's really no logic behind the last of these, I can give logical reasons for people picking the Packers using either of the other 2. I'll start with the noggin.
Green Bay was one of the pre-season NFC favorites and their 10-6 record is due mostly to the unusually high amount of players they lost to injury throughout the season. At the end of the regular season, as they got players back and younger back-ups got more comfortable, they were on a roll, playing as well as any other team in the league. Conventional wisdom (debatable yes, but some gamblers I'm sure base their picks on it) states that football is won and lost at the line of scrimmage. The Steelers have had a year of adventure regarding the offensive line. They've had to shuffle players in and out of different positions all season long as players have been injured. Then, early in the AFC Championship game they lost one of the only steady pieces of the o-line puzzle they've had all year when rookie center Maurkice Pouncey went down with a high ankle sprain. His readiness for the Superbowl is in great doubt. The strength of the Packers offense is the depth of their receiving core. The greatest weakness of the Steelers defense is depth at cornerback. So it isn't hard to see how one could logically put money down on Green Bay.
Now for the heart, or in another term, rooting interest. Outside of Pittsburgh, or at least the Steeler fan base (which famously extends outside of Western PA) most NFL fans don't want to see the Steelers organization win a 7th title, 2 in 3 years, 3 in 7, further legitimizing the Steeler claim as the "Greatest franchise in the NFL". Also, there are many people that believe that Ben Roethlisberger was guilty of a terrible crime last year in Georgia. This subject is of course well documented and will not be addressed here, but rightly or not, this is what some people truly believe. Those that believe this would not want to see him holding that trophy or see the him, with "When You Wish Upon a Star" playing in the background, declare that he is "going to Disneyworld".
It is of course understandable that if you watch football through "black & gold" colored glasses, you would pick the Steelers to win the game. There are legitimate reasons to make that pick. This is why the spread is a very narrow 2 1/2 points. This is a hard game to handicap. Personally, I lean towards picking the Steelers, mostly because of their recent Superbowl experience, but I wouldn't feel very comfortable if I had money riding on the game. (I don't, and won't. I'm not much of a gambler though) So please Steeler Nation, don't feel slighted because the early odds favor the Packers. Enjoy the 2 weeks of hype, plan you Superbowl party and enjoy the game. There are 30 other cities that have reason to be unhappy and have to watch your team a week from Sunday. Enjoy.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
If you're here right now I'm sorry...
This blog is part of my master plan to take over the internet but right now I'm still in the building stages of my plan. (BTW I don't want to take over really, just claim a small piece) This blog will be an integral part of the plan, but not yet. Right now I'm trying to learn just how to use Twitter. It seems necessary to be part of that world, but it's a weird world and it takes some time to get comfortable in it. So I promise that someday this blog will be filled with wonderfully entertaining thoughts and opinions (at least through my eyes), but for now, you get this.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
The game coverage blog
I don't know much about blogging. That doesn't sound like a very good opening to "grab the reader" I know, but it sets up my point. This is a first entry in a new blog and I think I want to try something that might be a little out of the ordinary but, as I said, I don't know much about blogging so maybe it's old hat.
Anyway, here is my idea:
The game coverage blog!
I know, you guessed from the post title. Let me explain.
As I type this I am watching the "Big Game" of the day, Patriots Vs Steelers @ Hienz Field. As I was watching the game (right now, it's 17-3 Patriots w/ the Pats threatening to put more up. They have a 2nd and goal) sitting next to me on the couch was my laptop with a tab on the browser open to this empty blog.
*Touchdown Patriots!* ( Now back to the blog)
So this is my idea, blog on a topic while making notes about the game that I'm watching. (Steelers have the ball now and just hit a long pass to set up a 1st down right around mid-field) I think this will work as part of the whole goal for this blog, which since this is the entry of this blog I suppose I should address that. I promise I will but first I need to address the cut-in updates. I know that right now they are probably distracting (Pass to Sanders for a 1st down at the NE 38) but I envision setting them up so they will look different and the reader will get used to it. (edit: I did that. What do you think? Does the reader get used to it?) (Ben just hit Wallace on Post to set up 1st and goal at about the 3, oh and now touchdown, Sanders. 23-10 NE) I guess I forgot to mention a score. (edit: I had, oops) That's I guess why I'm doing this now. I had an idea that seemed like a good idea in concept and now I'm field testing it's feasiblity (How am I doing so far?)
I promised I would get back to the goal of the blog and so I will. The whole I idea for this blog comes from this. I watch sports, talk about sports with friends, co-workers, complete strangers, and then I watch sports coverage or listen to sports talk radio and I say to myself, " I could do that". In fact I considered calling this blog (and I still may, and I still may-tool) "I could do that" So what are my choices (Patriots have a 2nd and 10 @Pgh 35 and they hit Brady w/ a grounding call. That brings up 3 and 20. Short pass completion and the Pats will punt) my choices are go to school and then get an internship somewhere and maybe I could get a job by the time I'm 50 or (Oh, and just as it looked like the Steelers might have a nice drive going, there's a pick 6 by the Pats. They missed the 2 point conversion try and will kick off deep after being penalized for "illegal group celebration". I didn't see it but I'm sure they'll show re-plays and it will be all over Sportscenter (SC henceforth). Somehow I don't think they'll be able to resist showing that penalty on the Belichick team. Steelers start now just past mid-field) or I could write a great blog about sports, maybe find a niche, become popular and voila, job in the sports world. So I went with option 2. It may be un-likely but I know it's not happening the other way (Steelers TD. Roethlisburger to Wallace. Moore scores the 2 pt conversion on a QB draw out the wildcat. So now it's 29-18 w/ 6:44 left. Steelers tried the onside kick and it may have worked. It was real hard to tell what happened because the ball was bouncing around. Now they've signaled NE ball, so they take over at the Pittsburgh 40)
So that is the overall point of the blog. Now, tonight's entry is mostly about the blog itself but my thought is that normally I will blog about whatever the hot topics du jour in the sports world (Touchdown NE. About a 25 yd pass to Gronkowski to make it 36-18 with just over 4 minutes left. So I'm calling an end to the in game portion of this blogcast. ) (I was planning to go away from the game and just finish the blog later but something blogworthy happened at the end of the game that I couldn't resist commenting on. The Steelers got the ball behind by 13 w/ just under 2 minutes left. Then they proceeded w/ the dumbest strategy I've seen for a long time. My theory is that Ben decided to give up and wanted to go ho me, but if not it was the worst clock managment I've seen since Mcnabb was in Philly. They had no time outs and got medium passes and marched most of the way down the field but never downed the ball and the clock just kept running. Wow! They didn't even give themselves enough time to score once, let alone twice. )
So, now that I re-read this, I don't really have anything to add. I don't know if this is something I'll continue to do but I do think I like the way it came out. This blog of course is a work in progress. I'm not actually posting this coverage of the Patriots - Steelers game until the day after the Jets - Patriots game, but I'm going to post it because I think it could be an interesting approach. Let me know what you think...
I need a clever sign off,
jdj
Anyway, here is my idea:
The game coverage blog!
I know, you guessed from the post title. Let me explain.
As I type this I am watching the "Big Game" of the day, Patriots Vs Steelers @ Hienz Field. As I was watching the game (right now, it's 17-3 Patriots w/ the Pats threatening to put more up. They have a 2nd and goal) sitting next to me on the couch was my laptop with a tab on the browser open to this empty blog.
*Touchdown Patriots!* ( Now back to the blog)
So this is my idea, blog on a topic while making notes about the game that I'm watching. (Steelers have the ball now and just hit a long pass to set up a 1st down right around mid-field) I think this will work as part of the whole goal for this blog, which since this is the entry of this blog I suppose I should address that. I promise I will but first I need to address the cut-in updates. I know that right now they are probably distracting (Pass to Sanders for a 1st down at the NE 38) but I envision setting them up so they will look different and the reader will get used to it. (edit: I did that. What do you think? Does the reader get used to it?) (Ben just hit Wallace on Post to set up 1st and goal at about the 3, oh and now touchdown, Sanders. 23-10 NE) I guess I forgot to mention a score. (edit: I had, oops) That's I guess why I'm doing this now. I had an idea that seemed like a good idea in concept and now I'm field testing it's feasiblity (How am I doing so far?)
I promised I would get back to the goal of the blog and so I will. The whole I idea for this blog comes from this. I watch sports, talk about sports with friends, co-workers, complete strangers, and then I watch sports coverage or listen to sports talk radio and I say to myself, " I could do that". In fact I considered calling this blog (and I still may, and I still may-tool) "I could do that" So what are my choices (Patriots have a 2nd and 10 @Pgh 35 and they hit Brady w/ a grounding call. That brings up 3 and 20. Short pass completion and the Pats will punt) my choices are go to school and then get an internship somewhere and maybe I could get a job by the time I'm 50 or (Oh, and just as it looked like the Steelers might have a nice drive going, there's a pick 6 by the Pats. They missed the 2 point conversion try and will kick off deep after being penalized for "illegal group celebration". I didn't see it but I'm sure they'll show re-plays and it will be all over Sportscenter (SC henceforth). Somehow I don't think they'll be able to resist showing that penalty on the Belichick team. Steelers start now just past mid-field) or I could write a great blog about sports, maybe find a niche, become popular and voila, job in the sports world. So I went with option 2. It may be un-likely but I know it's not happening the other way (Steelers TD. Roethlisburger to Wallace. Moore scores the 2 pt conversion on a QB draw out the wildcat. So now it's 29-18 w/ 6:44 left. Steelers tried the onside kick and it may have worked. It was real hard to tell what happened because the ball was bouncing around. Now they've signaled NE ball, so they take over at the Pittsburgh 40)
So that is the overall point of the blog. Now, tonight's entry is mostly about the blog itself but my thought is that normally I will blog about whatever the hot topics du jour in the sports world (Touchdown NE. About a 25 yd pass to Gronkowski to make it 36-18 with just over 4 minutes left. So I'm calling an end to the in game portion of this blogcast. ) (I was planning to go away from the game and just finish the blog later but something blogworthy happened at the end of the game that I couldn't resist commenting on. The Steelers got the ball behind by 13 w/ just under 2 minutes left. Then they proceeded w/ the dumbest strategy I've seen for a long time. My theory is that Ben decided to give up and wanted to go ho me, but if not it was the worst clock managment I've seen since Mcnabb was in Philly. They had no time outs and got medium passes and marched most of the way down the field but never downed the ball and the clock just kept running. Wow! They didn't even give themselves enough time to score once, let alone twice. )
So, now that I re-read this, I don't really have anything to add. I don't know if this is something I'll continue to do but I do think I like the way it came out. This blog of course is a work in progress. I'm not actually posting this coverage of the Patriots - Steelers game until the day after the Jets - Patriots game, but I'm going to post it because I think it could be an interesting approach. Let me know what you think...
I need a clever sign off,
jdj
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)