Ravens: The oddsmakers get even
Okay, I'm officially conceding that the Vegas oddsmakers are way smarter than me. If the Ravens do one more thing right -- or don't waste a couple of time outs -- there's a pretty good chance they would have lined up for a possible sixth field goal that would have put them ahead 18-17.
The oddsmakers originally posted the Ravens as a 1-point favorite, and I was one of the people who thought they were absolutely nuts. The betting public pushed the line toward the Colts, who went off at gametime as a 1 1/2-point favorite, which turned out to be an almost perfect line. The Colts won by 2. Can't get much closer than that.
I don't know what that means, other than that they have a better feel for the Ravens defense on the other side of the continent than I do here in Maryland. That's pretty humbling.
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Comments
ESPN's Pigskin Pickem' Game had the line at -7 for the Dolts
Posted by: Geo Guru | November 23, 2009 10:09 AM
No one seems to celebrate the Ravens futility more than the good folks at the Sun, and that makes me crazy. You had an opportunity with this post to talk about how, unlike what you so rashly predicted, the Ravens put up a fight. Instead, you commit the cardinal sin of journalism and make the story about yourself. Congratulations. Now that you're so "humbled," why don't you discuss what exactly happened? Like how, instead of being graphically violated in every aspect of the game, they made the best offense in football work for it, and they made the last undefeated team in the NFL sweat bullets before pulling out of town. Again. Show a little sympathy Sunshine, this isn't southern California. I don't care about USC, UCLA, or any of that crap, I care about the Ravens. You would think that after a bitter, hotly-contested loss to the hated Colts, you'd have more of a storyline than this. You act like the game wasn't even close! Yeah, we made some mistakes, but the infallible Peyton Manning threw two picks and looked pretty common from where I was sitting. Maybe that's a better story angle than "Vegas was right, go figure." Give me a break Schmuck.
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Pete's reply: It's a blog, friend, which means it's basically my observations. If you want to determine what's written in a blog, I suggest you exercise your constitutional right and start one of your own. The Ravens played better than I expected, but they proved they don't know how to win yet. Sorry to point that out to you. But, and I'm guessing John Harbaugh would agree with me on this, losing better than expected is still losing. And if you want to read exactly what happened, we have stories all over the paper and the Web site about that...just a click away. Also, if you want a blog to be about only Ravens, we have Ravens Insider just for that purpose. You obviously came to the wrong place. If I were you, I wouldn't make the same mistake again.
Posted by: Tins | November 23, 2009 11:23 AM
Pete - as I have mentioned before, Vegas had Ravens over/under season wins at 8.5, and that's right where we are headed. And SI had us at 9-7. Any reasonable fan saw this year shaping up this way based on the schedule and out talent. I just don't get these folks that thought we were Super Bowl shoo-ins after last year and are ready to fire everybody. Maybe they think we can get Mangini or Matt Millen to get us to the top.
Posted by: Bob W. | November 23, 2009 12:44 PM
Pete, I'm surprised to see you so reactive to Guru. He obviously has tender emotions and doesn't know the difference between a blog and an article but, as they say, "knowledge talks and wisdom listens".
Posted by: beeb | November 23, 2009 3:27 PM
WTF? 11 - 0 for the 2009 - 10 NBA season? "The Sports Betting Champ" John Morrison: His story is almost unbelievable: He Wins 97% of his NBA & MLB sports bets, rakes in $70 K a week! You have to Check it out! http://www.LasVegasSportsBettingGuru.com
Posted by: Zack | November 23, 2009 8:13 PM
WTF? 11 - 0 for the 2009 - 10 NBA season? "The Sports Betting Champ" John Morrison: His story is almost unbelievable: He Wins 97% of his NBA & MLB sports bets, rakes in $70 K a week! You have to Check it out! http://www.LasVegasSportsBettingGuru.com
Posted by: Zack | November 23, 2009 8:15 PM