Behind The Betting Lines Sept 22 2003

September 22 2003
By Wilson King
NFL Football Sports Betting – Inside the NFL football betting lines

Every once in a great while, the public surprises us. Today was not one of those times. With most league powers hosting perennial powder puffs, you did not have to pull Eddie Mush out of the closet to know which way the public was going to go this afternoon.

As has been his M.O. this football season, Johnny Action came into Sunday looking to avenge Saturday’s losses, which came at the hands of the unusually unpredictable college slate. In keeping with his trend, he went with favorites at home, and he did so with tremendous fervor and conviction. The public fired huge money at favorites across the board. If we told them Baltimore was a 17-point favorite in Super Bowl III, they would have bet the limit on Colts.

At the start of the 1PM games, Steve Stone turned around from his lineboard and delivered his day’s pep talk, “It’s gonna get ugly. Real ugly.”

Steve certainly is not the posterchild for the “Optomists of America,” but I could sense he spoke the truth. Anytime Cincy, Jacksonville, Detriot, Atlanta and Houston can make or break your day, you know you are in trouble. As the four o’clock hour approached and the favorites continued to roll, Steve once again turned to me and said, “I haven’t seen a beating like this since somebody stuck a banana in my pants and turned a monkey loose.”

Following his lead, I delivered the obligatory Chevy Chase’s retort, “Thanks for the pick me up Eddie.”

But before we could circle the wagons and lick our wounds, the public came back for the 4 PM games with even more confidence in the favorites than they had in the beginning of the day. They liked San Fran and Green Bay. They liked Seattle and Baltimore. And they spared no expense letting us know it.

What we let them know is that this aggression would not stand. Despite being 7.5 point underdogs, the Cardinals defended their home field and beat Green Bay, breaking up mad exotics. The Browns won on the road, knocking out the other half of big exotics. St. Louis rounded out our big wins and helped soften the blow a little.

But when it was all said and done, the public rode the favorites as far as the would go and found themselves up on the day going into Sunday night’s Miami/Buffalo game. Which goes to prove that every dog has his day, especially when those dogs are favorites..

-Wilson King
Oasis Casino & Sportsbook