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The Sun rose this morning.
The Sun rose this morning. The power was on. The heat was working. There was no armeggedon the day after Canada loses a hockey game to the US. Now, don't get me wrong. I am as Patriotic a Canadian as the next guy. I wore my 2002 Gold medal winning Canada jersey all day yesterday. I wore it in studio yesterday morning and all day long, right through the entire game. But, I am also a businessman and a gambler. I can not pass up a truly good value when I see it which set up yesterday's Yay-Boo scenario.
Canada was made a -3.00 favourite against the US yesterday. We identified it on the show all morning yesterday. Laying 3.00 in that game yesterday was just absurd. There was no way Canada was -3.00 favourite in that hockey game. You could take somewhere around +250 on the US and that was an absolute gift. Win or lose, you just had to take it. So what does a patriotic Canadian do? He bets a little bit to win alot in case the US does win to limit the pain and roots for Canada. If Canada wins, I am happy. If the US wins, I am not happy but I have 2 1/2 to 1 in my pocket to dull the pain. Hope you grabbed it as well, but I doubt you will see that kind of value again, unless of course they make Canada favoured over the Russians (assuming Canada beat Germany).
Part of the reason Canada was made such big favourites might be because the oddsmakers just don't know hockey that well and think Canada is the be all and end all of hockey. I don't think that is the case, as I have alot of respect for the linesmakers. The reason is more accurately that the hockey lines are dictated by the thousands and thousands of Canadian bettors who blindly bet the home team no matter what. The money dictates the lines and Canadians would never bet against Canada in International competition. Well, I have news for you Canada, you have to. If you don't the books will continue to saddle you with ridiculous lines like yesterday's. Your job as a gambler is to identify those mistakes and make the books pay for them. You didn't yesterday and you got robbed and jobbed. What you did do is to give anybody who is a slightly savvy bettor to take a gift of a line. I am not saying I was sitting there knowing the US would win. I actually thought and definately hoped that Canada would win, but taking +2.50 in a game that was obviously going to be close was just to juicy to pass up. I was upset last night, but to be honest had to be less dissapointed than anybody who laid three dollars.
Canada made the mistake they have made many times in the last few International contests using pro players. They relied on a veteran who's best days are probably behind him. Martin Brodeur looked like a 38 year old goalie who thought he was just better than everybody else and played to his own whims. Wondering away from the goal, trying to play defence, swatting pucks out of mid air, trying to make rink long passes. Roberto Luongo is the best goalie in Canada and should have gotten that start. Here's hoping that starting Tuesday Luongo is our goalie and begins our run of four straight wins to the Gold.
I think the Canadian atheletes are doing a wonderful job. Sure there have been dissapointments. The men's and woman's ski teams have not showed up and the men's long track speed skating were expected to get more medals. The Olympics have not been off our TV in our home since the games opened a week ago Friday. My daughters and I have been watching them together religiously. There is a saying that has been used constantly around our house to continued laughter. Another Canadian crushed by the steamrolling boulder of expectations. I identified several months ago that the Own the Podium program and the constant commercials stating that we will win a gold medal on home soil put an amazing amount of pressure on these atheletes. It wasn't needed. We are not a nation who puts every onus on winning medals, we have never been. Trying to change that mindset in such a small period of time put way to much pressure on our Olympic atheletes. Over time, with the addition of the venues in Vancouver as well as the existing venues in Calgary, we should get better and even possibly become a behemoth on the world's stage, but it wasn't going to happen overnight, no matter what the Canadian Olympic Committee and the Consortium said.
Here are the results from yesterday's plays on Inside the Lines:
Steve
Russia -1 -110 W
USA +250 W
Randall
Cleveland Cavs +2 L
NJ Nets +5.5 L
St. Bonnaventure +4.5 W
Cincinnati -2 L
Dave Malinsky
Villanova -2.5 L
Celtics u198 L
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