(10-17-2009 08:20 AM)Bearcats#1 Wrote:  17 is not misleading...the point is, with Pike running the helm we had 17 at the half. ...Anyway you slice it, Pike at the helm put up 17 pts by half.
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With Pike running the offense, we were we had 17 pts. at the half....that's my point.

... true, if you just mean that statement to stand on its own with no further inferences. But if you mean it to imply that he was largely responsible for and thus should be 'credited' with those 17 points, then for 10 of them, that inference is correct. But for 7 it is not, and thus my point about 17 being misleading.

Vegas does their own thing because a sh!tload of money is on the line, and not the prestige of the most popular teams - or your alma mater. The vast sums of money involved eliminates all favoritism. Favoritism is unprofitable...

(10-17-2009 08:57 AM)bitcruncher Wrote:  Vegas does their own thing because a sh!tload of money is on the line, and not the prestige of the most popular teams - or your alma mater. The vast sums of money involved eliminates all favoritism. Favoritism is unprofitable...

Right, but .. the vegas opening line is often influenced by favoritism. If the oddsmakers know that one team is very popular or hyped and has loads of fans that want them to win, they know that this will create a tendency for these fans to bet their hearts, not their minds, and they will then set the line accordingly.

And this is most likely to be the case for big games, because that's when the oddsmakers know the game is going to attract a flood of emotional, fanboy money.