Week 2- Great Moments in Sports (gambling) History

This week’s Great Moments in Sports (gambling) History is brought to you by the American Egg Industry…because eating our eggs is the ultimate gamble.

Week one of the season brought a sports (gambling) highlight from an unlikely source, the Dolphins/Bills game. As with most of week one’s games, the offensive performance by both teams was putrid. The punter had so much playing time I thought I was watching the Rockettes.
But just like the NBA, the real action came in the last two minutes.

The spread on the game mostly fell at the Dolphins as a 3 to 3 ½ point favorite. Nearing the end of the game, the Fins were up by three and it looked as if it would end this way. Especially after a Fins defensive back dropped an easy interception and walk in for a TD. The crowd at my local sports entertainment facility (aka sports book) gave a collective groan of agony. Hands flew up. Hats were thrown to the floor. $1 Buds were chugged down to dull the pain. It was at that moment I realized more that few people had this game as the key to their 3, 4, and 5 team parlays.

Dejectedly, they realized at best they would push this game since there no way the Dolphins offense would put up any more points. What they did not realize was Chan Gailey coaches the Bills. As any one of his previous teams will tell you, Chan is a favorite of the fans…of the other team. And he was about once again about to rise up to the occasion and live up to that reputation.

Crazy like a ferret Chan had plans. When lined up to punt out of the end zone with 2 minutes left in the game, he had his team take a safety. Playing the field position game was a dubious decision at best. Asking Trent Edwards to lead a team to a game winning TD was just dumb. It is like asking Mel Gibson to attend a Seder dinner.

But for all those people holding tickets with the Dolphins at minus 3, it was a gift from the gambling heavens. Needless to say, the Bills would not score again and the Dolphins covered. This latest version of the Orchard Park miracle saved thousands of parlay tickets… that would later be crushed when the Colts lost to the Texans.

That’s this week’s edition of Great Moments in Sports (gambling) History. Brought to you by the American Egg Industry…because only wusses get salmonella.

After going 9-6-1 for week one, I am staying with my method of picking the LOSING team in each game. Here are my picks for Week 2 with the losing team in BOLD.

Week 2

Steelers at Titans -5.5
Dolphins at Vikings -5.5
Cardinals at Falcons -6.5
Ravens -2 at Bengals
Chiefs +1.5 at Browns
Bears +8 at Cowboys
Eagles -5.5 at Lions
Bills at Packers -13
Bucs at Panthers -3.5
Seahawks +3.5 at Denver
Rams +3.5 at Raiders
Texans at Redskins +3
Patriots -2.5 at Jets
Jaguars +7.5 at Chargers
Giants at Colts -5.5
Saints at 49ers +5


Last Week 9-6-1
Season 9-6-1