In this season when the New England Patriots continue to set records, another one could fall this week. An LA Times story says those who like to wager could set a betting record on the Pats game against the Indianapolis Colts.
"Without question, this will be the most wagered-on game of the 2007 regular season," Michael Seaton, general manager of Spread Media Inc, is quoted in the story.
"The point spread opened on Monday at New England minus-4 and within hours moved to minus-5 1/2 to minus-6 1/2 at most sports books. By Tuesday morning, our public betting information already showed 10,000 bets being placed on this game. That is almost four times as many bets as the other games this week and it's only Tuesday."
The record number of points being scored by New England continues to be the subject of debate throughout the media. There's more than just a risk of hurting other teams' feelings, according to a Boston Globe story today.
"I think the risk he [head coach Bill Belichick] is weighing is that those guys could get hurt in those situations," said Bill Cowher, the former Steelers coach and now a studio analyst for CBS.
"I don't know if I would be willing to risk that. At some point if this continues, someone's going to take a cheap shot. Is that worth subjecting your players to if it comes to that?"
But FOXSports.com offers an opposing view. Here's a sample:
So with all the bad press for running up the score, in reality, Brady has only put 7 unnecessary points on the board. I still think the points end up on the scoreboard, but they should have padded Cassel's stats, not Bradys. Even if you take the 7 points off the stats, the Patriots still stay right where they are, and are still that far ahead of anyone else in the NFL. And the vilification by NFL fans and the sports media is more unjustified than the 7 points the Patriots should not have scored.
QUICK HITS
For more on the point-scoring debate, check out Sports Illustrated's website.
USA TODAY offers a column saying the Colts may have already beaten the Pats in at least one area.
With most Patriots games being over by halftime this season, today's Boston Herald notes that the 4th quarter could be the deciding time for the Pats-Colts game.
