The Odyssey enjoys perusing betting sites which offer all types of odds. Wednesday night, Delaware played at Jacksonville State in a pretty obscure game. The first half total intrested us. At one site, you can grab over 27.5 if you were willing to pay 20% juice. At one other site, the total was 28.5. These figures bracketed the key first half total of 28.
Jacksonville State races off to a 21-0 lead. Delaware scored a TD with slightly under 2 minutes to go in the first half.
21-6. Inexplicably, the Fightin’ Blue Hens go for 2! A trick play seemingly works but the receiver in the end zone, all alone, drops the 2-point conversion pass. Jacksonville State proceeds to drive down the field and narrowly misses a 47-yard field goal to end the first half.
The 21-6 halftime score was costly to those who had the over of 27.5 or 28. If Delaware had just kicked the extra point, the gambling impact was significant.
Now, exactly why did Delaware go for 2?? We still have no idea. But we wondered if some cynics about the impact of gambling came to a likely faulty conclusion: That the Blue Hens went for two to try to beat the 28 and 28.5 totals out there. That we would think such a thought is very likely a byproduct of an overactive imagination. Then again, we remember Pete Rose betting on his own team. The corrosive shadow of gambling strikes again!