Usual disclaimer – I am not much of a football fan, let alone any kind of expert, and I am not placing any actual bets on these games – but here are my picks:
San Diego (+14) over NEW ENGLAND – New England to win
GREEN BAY (-7) over New York
I’m leaning towards the under on both games – anywhere from 46.5-48 on the first game, and 40.5-41.5 on the second.
Would the NFL be nearly as popular as it is without gambling? Why is it so commonplace to discuss point spreads and over/unders in football, but they’re never mentioned with the other big sports?
I have nothing against gambling, but there’s something really tedious about it.
Fan or not – your picks turned out better than most of the experts…
The NFL would be nothing without gambling and its offshoot, fantasy sports.
I disagree that the NFL would be nothing. Sure there are plenty of fans who latched on because of fantasy football, and many who gamble on the game. But I was a huge fan of the game before I began fantasy in 01,’ and I have never gambled outside of a five dollar wager here and there with a friend. I know that it would lose some of its following, but it would still do fairly well I would think.
“The NFL would be nothing without gambling and its offshoot, fantasy sports.”
I’ll assume you’re just exaggerating big-time, as football was wildly popular well before fantasy sports became popular… but it certainly has added to its popularity. Unfortunately, it’s taken something away for me, as I often find myself rooting for players instead of teams. I’ll even root agst my Jets… although that’s not a big deal, since I’m usually rooting for a top NFL draft pick by late September.
As for baseball and football… they’re my two favorite sports (it’s really close). I’m just somewhat surprised that fantasy baseball isn’t more popular, as it’s 100x more enjoyable than fantasy football. Most excuses are, “it’s too time consuming”… which is a legit reason, although it’s not overly consuming after the draft.
Btw (I realize I’m all over the place with this post)… every writer / sports talk host / etc should join fantasy leagues. It’s amazing how many times (i.e. Mike and the Mad Dog) these guys don’t know something going on in MLB… but every fantasy baseball owner knows about it. It certainly increases your knowledge of current players / teams.
Speaking of which, let me know if you want to join our fantasy baseball league!!!
Nice work, Keith. Stick to baseball, eh?