NETWORK TELECAST TO INCLUDE POINTSPREAD TALK
By Kevin O’Neill
www.consumerbet.com

Would you believe that a TV network is actually going to talk about pointspreads during their football telecasts? In order to spice up their Arena Football League coverage NBC will be talking pointspreads of the sides and totals variety. John Miller, NBC vice president of sports told the Las Vegas Review-Journal "It's a part of the game. There are a lot of people who like to place a wager on a game, so if there are lines that have been issued, we're not going to avoid talking about what that point spread might be….We're not going to necessarily advocate people gambling, but if they do, at least there are lines out there for them." Can we look forward to the same policy in NBC’s Notre Dame football coverage?

Our link of the week is from an Indiana-based humor site that ran an article suggesting that Purdue had made a huge error in their basketball recruiting. Some funny stuff, especially the quotes from those “involved”. Unfortunately for some media outlets they ran with the story. The San Diego Union-Tribune was forced to run a retraction after copying the story almost word for word. Jim Rome reportedly discussed the story on his national radio program as though it was factual as well. Check it out at http://www.hoosiergazette.com/Sports/sports003.htm.

Ooohhhhhh, that Jacksonville Jaguars/ New Orleans Saints game on Sunday. We had mentally counted the Jags as a winner, and had gone on to more “interesting” endings. Ooops. Incidentally, John Carney had hit 403 of 408 extra points in his NFL career when he pushed that one to the right. The last time he missed an extra point wide of the goal posts was in the 1993 season, though he had a couple blocked since then.

But while missing out on the cash in that one was difficult, we were just paying the piper for the fortunate win that we had received about ten minutes earlier. Detroit was getting 9 (bet down even lower late) and trailed 20-0 in the fourth quarter to Carolina. In the final stanza the Lions scored on an 89-yard punt return and a 62-yard fumble return to give us a spread cover we didn’t deserve in a 20-14 loss.

So we had a win taken away from us in a game where our team outrushed their opponent 243-61 and didn’t punt the ball until the fourth quarter. On the other hand we covered a game in which our team was outgained 384-106. And you think things don’t even out in this game? If you get upset for more than a couple of minutes after an “unjust” pointspread decision you’re just putting yourself in a psychological and emotional state that makes it tough to win. Because you definitely have positive results that have nothing to do with your handicapping.

Otto Graham died last week. You probably recognize the name but don’t know a lot about him. Would you believe that from 1946-1955 Otto Graham led the Cleveland Browns to the NFL title game ten years in a row and won seven of them? He led the Cleveland Browns to 114-20-4 record as their quarterback.

Despite Graham’s achievements and legendary status, the news of his passing was barely mentioned. He is the equivalent of a Joe Dimaggio, but look at the coverage that Dimaggio’s death received compared to Graham’s. Granted, baseball was a much, much more popular sport back in those days, but doesn’t the man who dominated the quarterback position like no other in the history of the game deserve more than just a passing mention? Just because the guy didn’t play baseball and didn’t play in New York doesn’t mean he wasn’t one of the foremost athletes of the last century.

Fox had an interesting graphic showing what a great year that Torry Holt is having compared to the top seasons that Rams receivers have had historically. One record that Holt won’t touch is the seasonal TD pass receiving record. Elroy “Crazy Legs” Hirsch caught 17 TD passes for the Rams in 1951. Hirsch signed with the Rams shortly after they moved there from Cleveland. Before signing with Cleveland Hirsch played for the Chicago Rockets of the All America Football Conference, a competitor to the NFL. I think it’s cool that the Rams record for TD receptions will likely remain in the hands of Crazy Legs Hirsch for many years to come.

Between the Browns and the Rams they’ve got quite the football history in Cleveland, don’t they? They better, because there’s nothing positive going on in the modern era. Giving heartless performances on a week-to-week basis, it is hard to remember that the Browns were a playoff team last year.

Here’s a brush with greatness, or at least a brush with celebrity. I get my call to do my weekly ten-minute segment with Steve Czaban who hosts Fox Sports Radio’s nationwide evening program. The producer says, “you’ll like your lead in” and I hear Czabe wrapping up an interview with Tom Cruise, who was saying that he doesn’t have a favorite football team but he likes Brett Favre. I figure they’re behind schedule and they’ll go to a commercial, but Steve just says, “Tom, thanks for being with us and all the best with your new movie. Now here’s our football investment analysis Kevin O’Neill” and they start playing my intro music. He went from an interview with one of the ten most recognizable people on the planet to an interview with one of the most least recognizable, me. And no, I didn’t crack any jokes about Tom Cruise. If you’re wondering what there would be to joke about…well, never mind.

One of our favorite tricky plays in the NFL is the non-downed-ball punt return. In college football when a punt hits the end zone, the ball is immediately dead. Not so in the NFL, where a ball must be downed by the punting team. The Bengals Jeff Burris made a heads up play in Sunday’s game at the Rams when he scooped up a non-downed punt deep in his own end zone and returned it over 100 yards inside the Rams 5-yard line. The play was beautifully executed. As the Rams commiserated with a teammate who had just missed downing the ball near the goal line, Burris walked over, swooped in, and took off. The replay showed his teammates well aware of the rule and the opportunity for a return as they set up a blocking wall for the return. Clearly this was something they worked on and anticipated, and it put them in a position to tie the game in the third quarter. Unfortunately for the Bengals, the play was called back on offsetting “illegal participation” fouls, as both teams had players who walked out on the field from the bench under the mistaken assumption that the play was over.

Here’s an area where there was a breakdown in communication between the special teams coaches and the offense of the Bengals. The punt return team anticipated the play and executed it to perfection. After the game Burris said it is something they practice every week. If the coaches had kept the Bengals offensive players on the bench, Cincy would have had a live shot in the game after having tied the score at that point. Marvin Lewis has done a spectacular job in turning around the attitude and fortune of the Bengals, but this communication breakdown was a clear coaching error and changed the outcome of the game. Having expected first and goal from the 5, the deflated Bengals offense went three-and-out, leaving the Rams with great field position with which the converted a FG. Instead of 17-17 it was suddenly 20-10 on the way to a 27-10 final. Great job this year by Marvin Lewis, but a lack of communication between the offense and special teams went a long way toward you losing that game. It’s something that should have been avoided, and ultimately it is the coaches fault.

Of course there was no criticism of the offense or coaches from the CBS play-by-play team for the penalty. They were likely too confused and discombobulated from what they had just seen. Incidentally, on Monday morning on the 10:30 AM broadcast, ESPN News showed the play eight hours later and pointed out the admirable hustle of the Rams defender who pulled Burris down from behind. The anchor said that the defender had “saved a touchdown that would have tied the game”, misinforming their listeners who didn’t realize that the penalty had called the play back and would have negated the touchdown.

Let’s take a look at the Alamo Bowl between Nebraska and Michigan State in San Antonio this Monday night. This is a tough game to call, and while we don’t have a strong opinion on it (slight lean to the over), this writeup will give you some things to consider. Nebraska seems to have some matchup advantages in this one. The Huskers went 9-3 on the season and there three losses were to Kansas State (QB Ell Roberson), Texas (QB Vince Young), and Missouri (QB Brad Smith). Those may be the three best non-option running QB’s in the country. In this game they face a different style of competitor in Jeff Smoker. Mobility is not Smoker’s game. He is a typical dropback type of QB. But Nebraska really hasn’t seen many quality dropback style passers this season. Holding Colorado to 22 points to close the season was fairly impressive but the Buff’s Klatt made some key mistakes in that contest. It’ll be interesting to see how Nebraska responds to MSU’s offense, which will spread them out and wing the ball all over the field.

These teams come in off of similar performance patterns. Each won their final game impressively, but both also were in a lull immediately before that where they struggled against good competition. Interestingly, both teams didn’t play well against bowlers, each losing by an average of 7 points and being outgained by over 100 yards to their bowl competition. You’d like to see these teams as being fairly equal and looking to the points but Michigan State’s defense really didn’t step up well against quality competition. The Spartans allowed 33 points and 451 yards against bowl teams while Nebraska allowed 26 points and 400 yards on average against their bowl opponents.

Off the field issues in the lengthy period between the end of the regular season and the bowls often influence team performance. Nebraska supposedly has some unrest with their players right now. The Huskers are uneasy with the fact that they do not have a coach. Interim coach Bo Pellini (who famously complained the KSU had run up the score, not a popular statement in Lincoln) is discussing the head job but is being somewhat difficult and doesn’t seem to be showing the kind of “this is my dream job” attitude that the administration likes. If the Huskers hire a coach, he obviously wouldn’t coach the bowl game unless it was Pellini, but it could galvanize the players, lead to a good last few days of practice, and an inspired performance. Nebraska with enthusiasm could mean a strong performance on the offensive line and rushing success against a Michigan State team that allowed Michigan, Ohio state, and Wisconsin to run for 216, 182, and 245 respectively late in the season. We’ll lean to the over because of the perfect conditions and some matchup advantages for the offenses. But Nebraska’s mindset is in doubt here. Good luck if you elect to play this ball game and good luck with all of your bowl games.

Due to the early Christmas week deadline for this newsletter we have not had a chance to do enough research to provide you with a play in the final week of NFL action. But for NFL selections on gamedays and for substantive information on each evening’s hoops card, call our hotline at 1-770-618-8700.

A blessed Christmas to all. Thank you for taking the time to read us this fall. We’ll be back with you next week.

Kevin O’Neill is the director of content for www.consumerbet.com. His 24-hour free telephone selection hotline can be accessed by calling 1-770-618-8700.

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