Bronczilla's Take on the Game
Bronczilla, a fellow blogger and Football fan, found my humble little blip on the blog radar worth not only a link but a post as well. A great big shout out to Bronczilla!
On a more serious note, I read his blog regularly. Not only is his writing fun to read, but he has a knowledge of the sport that makes his stuff very informative as well. His take on the Sarigusa/Harrington issue was fantastic, and it was just part of a great post.
If you're a fan of the game do yourself a favor and drop by his site, you won't be disappointed.
Wednesday, September 29, 2004
NFL Week 4 Schedule and NFL Betting Line
The Cincinnati Bengals(1-2) at The Pittsburgh Steelers(2-1)
Sunday 1:00 PM ET
Cincinnati Bengals +3.5 -110
Pittsburgh Steelers -3.5 -110
Over/Under 39 -110
The Indianapolis Colts(2-1) at The Jacksonville Jaguars(3-0)
Sunday 1:00 PM ET
Indianapolis Colts -3.5 -110
Jacksonville Jaguars +3.5 -110
Over/Under 42 -110
The New England Patriots(2-0) at The Buffalo Bills(0-2)
Sunday 1:00 PM ET
New England Patriots -5.5 -110
Buffalo Bills +5.5 -110
Over/Under 35.5 -110
The N.Y. Giants(2-1) at The Green Bay Packers(1-2)
Sunday 1:00 PM ET
N.Y. Giants +7 -110
Green Bay Packers -7 -110
Over/Under 44 -110
The Oakland Raiders(2-1) at The Houston Texans(1-2)
Sunday 1:00 PM ET
Oakland Raiders -2 -110
Houston Texans +2 -110
Over/Under 42.5 -110
The Philadelphia Eagles(3-0) at The Chicago Bears(1-2)
Sunday 1:00 PM ET
Philadelphia Eagles -8.5 -110
Chicago Bears +8.5 -110
Over/Under 41 -110
The Washington Redskins(1-2) at The Cleveland Browns(1-2)
Sunday 1:00 PM ET
Washington Redskins -3 -110
Cleveland Browns +3 -110
Over/Under 36 -110
The Atlanta Falcons(3-0) at The Carolina Panthers(1-1)
Sunday 4:05 PM ET
Atlanta Falcons +3.5 -110
Carolina Panthers -3.5 -110
Over/Under 40 -110
The New Orleans Saints(2-1) at The Arizona Cardinals(0-3)
Sunday 4:05 PM ET
New Orleans Saints -3 -110
Arizona Cardinals +3 -110
Over/Under 40.5 -110
The Denver Broncos(2-1) at The Tampa Bay Buccaneers(0-3)
Sunday 4:15 PM ET
Denver Broncos -3 -110
Tampa Bay Buccaneers +3 -110
Over/Under 36 -110
The N.Y. Jets(2-0) at The Miami Dolphins(0-3)
Sunday 4:15 PM ET
N.Y. Jets -5 -110
Miami Dolphins +5 -110
Over/Under 36 -110
The Tennessee Titans(1-2) at The San Diego Chargers(1-2)
Sunday 4:15 PM ET
OTB(Off The Board) at most Online Sportsbooks
Tennessee Titans -3 -110
San Diego Chargers +3 -110
Over/Under 41 -110
The St. Louis Rams(1-2) at The San Francisco 49ers(0-3)
Sunday 8:30 PM ET
St. Louis Rams -3.5 -110
San Francisco 49ers +3.5 -110
Over/Under 44 -110
The Kansas City Chiefs(0-3) at The Baltimore Ravens(2-1)
Monday 9:00 PM ET
Kansas City Chiefs +4.5 -110
Baltimore Ravens -4.5 -110
Over/Under 41.5 -110
The Cincinnati Bengals(1-2) at The Pittsburgh Steelers(2-1)
Sunday 1:00 PM ET
Cincinnati Bengals +3.5 -110
Pittsburgh Steelers -3.5 -110
Over/Under 39 -110
The Indianapolis Colts(2-1) at The Jacksonville Jaguars(3-0)
Sunday 1:00 PM ET
Indianapolis Colts -3.5 -110
Jacksonville Jaguars +3.5 -110
Over/Under 42 -110
The New England Patriots(2-0) at The Buffalo Bills(0-2)
Sunday 1:00 PM ET
New England Patriots -5.5 -110
Buffalo Bills +5.5 -110
Over/Under 35.5 -110
The N.Y. Giants(2-1) at The Green Bay Packers(1-2)
Sunday 1:00 PM ET
N.Y. Giants +7 -110
Green Bay Packers -7 -110
Over/Under 44 -110
The Oakland Raiders(2-1) at The Houston Texans(1-2)
Sunday 1:00 PM ET
Oakland Raiders -2 -110
Houston Texans +2 -110
Over/Under 42.5 -110
The Philadelphia Eagles(3-0) at The Chicago Bears(1-2)
Sunday 1:00 PM ET
Philadelphia Eagles -8.5 -110
Chicago Bears +8.5 -110
Over/Under 41 -110
The Washington Redskins(1-2) at The Cleveland Browns(1-2)
Sunday 1:00 PM ET
Washington Redskins -3 -110
Cleveland Browns +3 -110
Over/Under 36 -110
The Atlanta Falcons(3-0) at The Carolina Panthers(1-1)
Sunday 4:05 PM ET
Atlanta Falcons +3.5 -110
Carolina Panthers -3.5 -110
Over/Under 40 -110
The New Orleans Saints(2-1) at The Arizona Cardinals(0-3)
Sunday 4:05 PM ET
New Orleans Saints -3 -110
Arizona Cardinals +3 -110
Over/Under 40.5 -110
The Denver Broncos(2-1) at The Tampa Bay Buccaneers(0-3)
Sunday 4:15 PM ET
Denver Broncos -3 -110
Tampa Bay Buccaneers +3 -110
Over/Under 36 -110
The N.Y. Jets(2-0) at The Miami Dolphins(0-3)
Sunday 4:15 PM ET
N.Y. Jets -5 -110
Miami Dolphins +5 -110
Over/Under 36 -110
The Tennessee Titans(1-2) at The San Diego Chargers(1-2)
Sunday 4:15 PM ET
OTB(Off The Board) at most Online Sportsbooks
Tennessee Titans -3 -110
San Diego Chargers +3 -110
Over/Under 41 -110
The St. Louis Rams(1-2) at The San Francisco 49ers(0-3)
Sunday 8:30 PM ET
St. Louis Rams -3.5 -110
San Francisco 49ers +3.5 -110
Over/Under 44 -110
The Kansas City Chiefs(0-3) at The Baltimore Ravens(2-1)
Monday 9:00 PM ET
Kansas City Chiefs +4.5 -110
Baltimore Ravens -4.5 -110
Over/Under 41.5 -110
NFL Against The Spread, and the Salary Cap
”My mailman likes me a lot.”
Seahawks', QB Matt Hasselbeck
Geeze Louise, did I ever take a pounding in week 3. Thank goodness no one actually reads this!
I broke my Cardinal Rule of NFL Handicapping and placed money on games way earlier than I normally would. Over the last four years, with the exception of some very select games, I have not started betting until at least week 6. Why?
Because there simply isn't enough information on the teams to make valid bets. That being said, for the first week of the blog I put my money on the games that I picked as my top five and well you know the rest of the story.
To backtrack just a bit, I said there isn't enough information. At first read this may sound like non-sense, but it is a fact.
Since the Salary Cap was instituted in 1998 the much heard phrase “League Parity” has been thrown around like a, well, worn-out pigskin. So much so that most of us have really missed what it truly means or meant. There are those that would have you believe that it was pure economics and the desire to minimize or rather avoid what has happened to the MLB.
Others would have you believe that it's roots were to be found in the small market team owners’ wanting a fair chance to put a competitive team on the field and compete with pre-salary-cap-era, spend-happy teams like the Dallas Cowboys or 49ers. This just didn’t happen prior to the institution of the salary cap due to lack of revenue.
But, while both of these do hold some truth, they are by no means the whole truth or even the majority of the reasoning behind The Salary Cap.
It's PARITY. It's about TV ratings points. It’s marketing. In a nutshell, it's about the dollar signs, the bling bling, the Cadillac Escalade with 20” spinners.
Why schedule four or five major games a year that everyone knows are going to be great gridiron battles when you can “level” the playing field and get 12, 14, or 16 of these games? That's exactly what the Salary Cap (from now on to be known as The Devil) has done.
So now we have we have four television stations getting into the action (ABC, CBS, FOX and ESPN). And what does that mean, boys and girls? It means billions of dollars to line the NFL team owners’ pockets.
When was the last time you heard about an NFL team losing money? It was pre-salary cap, that’s for sure.
We now have “classic rivalries” that, as a 25 year veteran of NFL fandom, I certainly didn't know as rivalries. Every week there is a “classic rivalry”. What does that equal up to? It's an easy one, c'mon, you can get this one... That's right, Money!
But what is the cost? A lot of you will argue that it has made it more interesting to watch the games. That teams that never would have stood a chance of getting into the playoffs are getting in. Well my question to you is this, does an 8-8 team REALLY deserve to be in the playoffs? Does this seem like fun football? Don't at least some of you miss hating (or loving) that one dynasty team?
As a kid I Loved the “Steel Curtain” of the Pittsburgh Steelers, in the '80's I Hated the “West Coast Offense” and the steam rolling San Francisco 49ers'. And finally in the Nineties, I couldn't wait to cheer against whatever underdog was playing Aikman, Smith, and Irvin of the Dallas Cowboys. With the exception of The Steelers, I LOVED having these teams to root against. I miss them. I miss what they brought to the game. But most of all I miss that feeling that I got when one of them was upset and actually beaten by a 12 point underdog. Those days are gone. They will never return, period.
But it's not just The Devil that caused this. There is also the draft system that awards the top picks to the worst teams. And lastly and in my opinion, least of all, free agency. I say least of all because if The Devil didn't exist this wouldn't be as much a bother.
And as if that wasn't bad enough it has taken what should be the ultimate NFL Fan Fantasy of owning your own NFL Team and turned it into a measure of black and red on some four-eyed (I'm glasses wearing programmer, so no offense meant) accountant’s spreadsheets. It's slowing deteriorating into a game of profits and expenses when it should be all about wins and losses. I mean who cares about wins and losses when the DGR is equally divided amongst all 32 teams. Let me digress for a moment and explain The Devil...
The Devil is determined through a complicated calculation system. The Devil is based on income that the teams earn during a League Year. A percentage of that income, termed Defined Gross Revenues (DGR), is allocated for player expenditures. The DGR is based on ticket sales, merchandise sales, and broadcasts. The DGR is divided equally amongst all 32 teams.
For all of you nerds out there (like me who wanted to understand the calculation), here is the actual mathematical calculation:
Projected DGR x Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) Percentage = Players Share DGR
Players Share minus Projected League wide Benefits =
Amount Available for Player Salaries
Amount Available for Player Salaries / Number of Teams =
Unadjusted Salary Cap per Team
Wow! And I thought this was football. But apparently it's not. It's about advertising, merchandising, broadcasting, and put bluntly, dollars and cents. And we all thought it was a game, played on a field, with a ball and twenty two players grinding it out for a victory.
Now I can hear you askingyourselves yourself, “What has this got to do with your picks, not betting until week 6 or later, or anything else about Gambling on the NFL?”. Well my loyal readers reader, I'll tell you. The teams change drastically every single season. Therefore the statistics from previous seasons, for the most part, mean Jack Diddly this season. So you have to gut out the beginning of the year until you have valid numbers to properly evaluate the match-ups.
Now, if you are anything like me, you hate to watch a Sunday go by without getting a little action in on the games. I feel your pain, I really do. But I seriously advise that you at least keep your bets to a minimum amount and always look closer at the Over/Under at this point in the season. You will have greater success betting Over/Under right now than playing what amounts to roulette with the point spread.
"The dynasties have gone the way of the dinosaurs, you'll never see it again. ... The system has changed to preclude that."
Art Modell, former Baltimore Ravens' Owner
”My mailman likes me a lot.”
Seahawks', QB Matt Hasselbeck
Geeze Louise, did I ever take a pounding in week 3. Thank goodness no one actually reads this!
I broke my Cardinal Rule of NFL Handicapping and placed money on games way earlier than I normally would. Over the last four years, with the exception of some very select games, I have not started betting until at least week 6. Why?
Because there simply isn't enough information on the teams to make valid bets. That being said, for the first week of the blog I put my money on the games that I picked as my top five and well you know the rest of the story.
To backtrack just a bit, I said there isn't enough information. At first read this may sound like non-sense, but it is a fact.
Since the Salary Cap was instituted in 1998 the much heard phrase “League Parity” has been thrown around like a, well, worn-out pigskin. So much so that most of us have really missed what it truly means or meant. There are those that would have you believe that it was pure economics and the desire to minimize or rather avoid what has happened to the MLB.
Others would have you believe that it's roots were to be found in the small market team owners’ wanting a fair chance to put a competitive team on the field and compete with pre-salary-cap-era, spend-happy teams like the Dallas Cowboys or 49ers. This just didn’t happen prior to the institution of the salary cap due to lack of revenue.
But, while both of these do hold some truth, they are by no means the whole truth or even the majority of the reasoning behind The Salary Cap.
It's PARITY. It's about TV ratings points. It’s marketing. In a nutshell, it's about the dollar signs, the bling bling, the Cadillac Escalade with 20” spinners.
Why schedule four or five major games a year that everyone knows are going to be great gridiron battles when you can “level” the playing field and get 12, 14, or 16 of these games? That's exactly what the Salary Cap (from now on to be known as The Devil) has done.
So now we have we have four television stations getting into the action (ABC, CBS, FOX and ESPN). And what does that mean, boys and girls? It means billions of dollars to line the NFL team owners’ pockets.
When was the last time you heard about an NFL team losing money? It was pre-salary cap, that’s for sure.
We now have “classic rivalries” that, as a 25 year veteran of NFL fandom, I certainly didn't know as rivalries. Every week there is a “classic rivalry”. What does that equal up to? It's an easy one, c'mon, you can get this one... That's right, Money!
But what is the cost? A lot of you will argue that it has made it more interesting to watch the games. That teams that never would have stood a chance of getting into the playoffs are getting in. Well my question to you is this, does an 8-8 team REALLY deserve to be in the playoffs? Does this seem like fun football? Don't at least some of you miss hating (or loving) that one dynasty team?
As a kid I Loved the “Steel Curtain” of the Pittsburgh Steelers, in the '80's I Hated the “West Coast Offense” and the steam rolling San Francisco 49ers'. And finally in the Nineties, I couldn't wait to cheer against whatever underdog was playing Aikman, Smith, and Irvin of the Dallas Cowboys. With the exception of The Steelers, I LOVED having these teams to root against. I miss them. I miss what they brought to the game. But most of all I miss that feeling that I got when one of them was upset and actually beaten by a 12 point underdog. Those days are gone. They will never return, period.
But it's not just The Devil that caused this. There is also the draft system that awards the top picks to the worst teams. And lastly and in my opinion, least of all, free agency. I say least of all because if The Devil didn't exist this wouldn't be as much a bother.
And as if that wasn't bad enough it has taken what should be the ultimate NFL Fan Fantasy of owning your own NFL Team and turned it into a measure of black and red on some four-eyed (I'm glasses wearing programmer, so no offense meant) accountant’s spreadsheets. It's slowing deteriorating into a game of profits and expenses when it should be all about wins and losses. I mean who cares about wins and losses when the DGR is equally divided amongst all 32 teams. Let me digress for a moment and explain The Devil...
The Devil is determined through a complicated calculation system. The Devil is based on income that the teams earn during a League Year. A percentage of that income, termed Defined Gross Revenues (DGR), is allocated for player expenditures. The DGR is based on ticket sales, merchandise sales, and broadcasts. The DGR is divided equally amongst all 32 teams.
For all of you nerds out there (like me who wanted to understand the calculation), here is the actual mathematical calculation:
Projected DGR x Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) Percentage = Players Share DGR
Players Share minus Projected League wide Benefits =
Amount Available for Player Salaries
Amount Available for Player Salaries / Number of Teams =
Unadjusted Salary Cap per Team
Wow! And I thought this was football. But apparently it's not. It's about advertising, merchandising, broadcasting, and put bluntly, dollars and cents. And we all thought it was a game, played on a field, with a ball and twenty two players grinding it out for a victory.
Now I can hear you asking
Now, if you are anything like me, you hate to watch a Sunday go by without getting a little action in on the games. I feel your pain, I really do. But I seriously advise that you at least keep your bets to a minimum amount and always look closer at the Over/Under at this point in the season. You will have greater success betting Over/Under right now than playing what amounts to roulette with the point spread.
"The dynasties have gone the way of the dinosaurs, you'll never see it again. ... The system has changed to preclude that."
Art Modell, former Baltimore Ravens' Owner
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