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05/18/2009 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - More than ever, a professional athlete's public personality is directly under his own control.
We do not get to choose, nor do we have the chance to ignore, those athletes we see on a regular basis on the television sets in our own homes or from the sidelines at the game.
Yet so many athletes choose to ignore these opportunities to display qualities that might make them more palatable -- tact, humility, grace -- in favor of disagreeable behavior that makes us roll our eyes, or worse, curse their names.
In the game of golf, there isn't much a player like Sergio Garcia could learn from James Driscoll.
Driscoll would be no help, for example, trying to teach Garcia how to drive the ball. No one in the world does that better than the Spaniard.
And it would be folly for Driscoll to attempt to teach Garcia how to win a tournament. He's never done that anywhere bigger than the Nationwide Tour.
What Driscoll could teach Garcia, however, is how to lose gracefully.
On Sunday, Driscoll, a no-name 31-year-old grinder from Brookline, Mass., came within one hole of winning the Texas Open, one of the oldest tournaments on the PGA Tour.
Firing a 62 in the final round, Driscoll came face-to-face with defending champion Zach Johnson in a playoff, losing on the first extra hole at La Cantera when Johnson rolled in a 10-footer for birdie.
Johnson, the 2007 Masters champion, was among the biggest names in the field.
Driscoll, who hadn't made a cut in three months, was not.
Because he came from so far behind in the final round, Driscoll waited nearly two hours for Johnson to finish. It was an unfortunate variable not in his control.
The layoff didn't appear to make Driscoll rusty in the playoff -- he hit the fairway and green in regulation -- and he didn't use it to make excuses, though that opportunity certainly presented itself.
After all, Johnson's position as the third-round leader afforded him a spot in the final group, which allowed him to tap in for a closing par and head directly back to the 18th tee.
Driscoll had been loitering for the same amount of time it takes to play six or seven holes.
"That didn't really affect me," Driscoll said in a post-round interview. "I spent like a half-hour on the range just staying loose. So it's definitely nice to finish off your round, sign your card and go back out, kind of like playing just a 19th hole, you know. But I felt fine.
"On that tee shot I felt fine, and I did not feel like it affected me at all."
On the loss, Driscoll said: "When you're that close, it's hard not to feel a little disappointed. But [Johnson] birdied the first playoff hole. He deserves it."
You'll rarely hear Garcia offering the same sentiments.
In 2007, after Garcia lost a thrilling playoff to Padraig Harrington at the 2007 British Open, with both Europeans chasing their first major championship, the temperamental Spaniard found every matter of excuse for his misfortune.
The Carnoustie grounds crew that delayed his approach to No. 18 "seemed to take a long time to rake two bunkers," Garcia lamented.
Talk about variables not in his control.
And the ball that looked like it was going in, only to hit the flag stick and carom away?
"You know what's the saddest thing about it?" Garcia asked. "It's not the first time. It's not the first time, unfortunately. I don't know. I'm playing against a lot of guys out there, more than the field."
Garcia couldn't keep his mouth shut at this year's Masters, either. Stopped by the Golf Channel after he closed with a 74 in the final round to finish 13 shots back, he let loose on Augusta National.
"I don't like it, to tell you the truth. I don't think it's fair, and it's just too tricky," said Garcia. "Even when it's dry, you still get mud balls in the middle of the fairway. It's just too much of a guessing game."
He was asked what he would like to see changed.
"I don't care. They can do whatever they want," Garcia responded. "It's not my problem. I just come here and play, and then go home."
Garcia later apologized for the comments, but the damage was done.
Is it unfair to compare Driscoll's situation -- chasing a win at the Texas Open -- with Garcia's? No, because both players were chasing firsts: Driscoll his first PGA Tour win and Garcia his first major championship.
Garcia isn't the only professional athlete who lacks the discipline to think before he speaks. And it might not be fair to single him out. But public outbursts have open consequences.
Somebody get him a Brookline phone book.
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Underdog bettors love the Super Bowl and, history suggests, the underdogs love them back. And the big dogs bite harder.
Even so, there is a warning in store for Super Bowl gamblers who must love dogs: The Arizona Cardinals Super Bowl betting lines might not be enough of a Cinderella to make it worth your while.
Although the Cardinals were widely panned as one of the worst division winners and least playoff-worthy teams in recent memory, their trip to Super Bowl XLIII Jan. 31 in Tampa against the Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl betting lines comes with a little more respect from the oddsmakers than you might imagine. They are a 7-point underdog at most sports books.
If you count yourself among those who covet the big dog in the big game, this isn’t exactly great news. You should have been hoping for more points. This is because the facts show that the bigger the dog, the better the bet in the Super Bowl.
Case in point: Over the past 13 seasons, double-figure underdogs in the Super Bowl are 4-0-1 ATS and have won the past three outright. In fact, the last double-digit chalk to do the deed for bettors was the 1995 San Francisco 49ers, who managed to beat the astounding 19-point spot afforded backers of the San Diego Chargers in the 49-26 romp in Super Bowl XXIX.
By contrast, 7-point favorites are 2-1-1 ATS in the same span, the last such contest resulting a cover grinded out by the Colts in their 29-17 win over the Bears two seasons ago in Super Bowl XLI.
In 2004, the Patriots failed to cover the number in their 32-29 triumph over the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl props while the Rams and Titans gave everyone a refund in 2000 after the Rams posted a 23-16 win as a seven-point favorite.
So while Arizona’s run has included impressive upsets as a 10-point road underdog to the Carolina Panthers and Sunday’s 32-25 win in the NFC championship game to the 4-point favored Philadelphia Eagles, their long-shot story lacks a bit of the David vs. Goliath storyline of past Super Bowl underdogs.
While the seven-point spread represents a significant gap in the perception of strength between the two teams, it is far from monumental. For example, last season the Giants were the wild-card afterthought turned road-warrior buzzsaw, with stunning wins over the Buccaneers, Cowboys and Packers to earn their place in the Super Bowl.
There, they played spoiler to New England’s bid to become the first 19-0 team in NFL history and cemented their place in sports betting lore with a 17-14 win as a 12.5-point underdog.
In other words, the Cardinals appear to have their work cut out for them as a mid-range underdog. But in homage to the spread beaters who have come before them, here is a brief look back at recent colossal upsets in the Super Bowl:
SB XLII -- 2008 -- New York Giants 17, New England Patriots 14 (Giants +12.5) – Eli Manning’s 13-yard touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress in the final minute clinched the historic upset for the Giants, who used a masterful defensive plan to slow down Tom Brady and the previously undefeated New England Patriots.
XXXVI -- 2002 -- Patriots 20, Rams 17 (Patriots +14) – This was the coming out party for the aforementioned Brady, who went from obscure sixth-round draft pick to Super Bowl hero in one fell swoop. He led the game-winning drive in the final minute – eschewing analyst John Madden’s advice to take a knee and play for overtime – leading to Adam Vinatieri’s memorable 48-yard field goal that split the uprights as time expired.
XXXII 1998 Broncos 31, Packers 24 (Denver +12) – The first of John Elway’s two consecutive Super Bowl titles to put an end to his Hall of Fame career was an upset for the ages. The Broncos used the determination of Elway and a 157-yard, three-touchdown performance from Terrell Davis to turn back Brett Favre and the heavily favored Packers.
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Two playoff teams from 2007 take center stage on the NFL Network Sunday night in a Week 2 NFL betting match-up when the (0-1) New England Patriots betting head south to Florida for a contest with the (1-0) Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
New England HC Bill Belichick couldn’t care less about the way his team plays in the preseason. With a chance to tie last week’s game with the Baltimore Ravens betting, He elected to go for the two-point conversion and outright victory. The conversion failed, and the Pats ended up falling to the Ravens by a 16-15 final count.
New England rolled off twelve unanswered points to give it a chance at securing the victory, but it never threatened to cover the 3.5-point spread. NFL bettors saw this one coming, as they bet the Ravens down from +6 to +3.5 as the week progressed. QB Tom Brady didn’t take part in the Patriots first preseason clash, but could see action this weekend.
His three replacements all put up embarrassing numbers. They went a combined 17 for 33, and threw three interceptions and no touchdowns. The New England defense was encouraging, as they held the Ravens to 2/12 third down conversions and surrendered just ten first downs. That ‘D’ should be bolstered with the addition of former Bucs and Denver Broncos betting safety John Lynch, who could make his Patriots debut on Sunday against his former mates.
HC Jon Gruden had to be impressed with the way his Bucs played on both sides of the ball in their dominating 17-6 victory over the Miami Dolphins in Week 1’s NFL pre-season betting action. Bucs bettors were quite happy with the effort, as they made a mockery of the fact that they were underdogs in the game.
The logjam at the quarterback position didn’t get any easier to separate for Gruden, as all four of his QBs had positive experiences in the first exhibition of 2008. The four combined to complete 28 of their 40 passes for 204 yards and a touchdown, and that was without starting QB Jeff Garcia in the lineup.
RB Michael Bennett had 19 carries and four receptions, totaling 90 yards and a touchdown. Expect to see more of Bennett, Kenneth Darby, and Earnest Graham, as they all compete for playing time with Warrick Dunn in the backfield this season. Defensively, the Bucs recorded four sacks and held the Fins offense in check all day.
First round draft pick Aqib Talib was impressive in the secondary, recording a tackle and two pass defenses in his debut. Don’t be surprised to see Talib in the starting lineup opposite Ronde Barber for the Bucs in ’08.
The betting trends suggest that NFL bettors should be backing the Bucs in this intra-conference exhibition.
These two teams hooked up last year in Tampa Bay, with the Bucs winning that game 13-10. The Buccaneers have only lost one preseason game at home dating back to the beginning of the ’05 preseason. The Patriots have had a mixed bag of results in their recent exhibitions. They have gone 2-2 ATS and SU each of the last three years.
New England currently sits as modest 1-point favorites in this preseason showdown with the ‘total’ now sitting at 34.5.
You can find these lines and all of the NFL betting lines , so be sure to login and get your wagers down before kickoff!
Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines .
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