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 Tuesday, January 23, 2001
This Super Bowl bettor's sheet is quite the proposition
By Marc Connolly
ABC Sports Online
Whether or not you've spent one second of your life under the bright lights of Vegas or in the C-list celebrity haven that is Atlantic City, you've probably succumbed to gambling fever once or twice on Super Bowl Sunday. With every third person asking you to buy a $2 square in their pool, and all the proposition bet scenarios, who could blame you?
|  | | All over America, people actually made money on Lamar Hunt's coin toss at last year's Super Bowl. |
You don't need to know the difference between Ray Lewis and Carl Lewis to win a quick $20 for picking tails in the coin flip. The same principle applies in guessing whether there'll be a safety, overtime, successful two-point conversion or onside kick.
The greatest proposition bet that has now invaded your local papers concerns which player will score the first touchdown. That gives you a rooting interest without having to wager any more than you spent on a cover to get into your Super Bowl party. For example, I won $200 on a $5 bet that Jay Novacek would score the first touchdown for the Cowboys in Super Bowl XXVII against Buffalo.
But this column isn't about persuading you to gamble (Come on, Baltimore minus-3 is FREE MONEY) or to highlight some of my past triumphs (I'm worthy of my own 1-800 line). It's to make fun of the betting pandemonium that now surrounds Super Bowl XXXV, a sideshow on the same absurd level as over-hyped commercials, MTV personalities and the Tampa strip club scene.
If you really want to make some wagers with your friends between now and Sunday's Ravens-Giants slugfest, print out this little proposition card.
First player to be blessed/cursed by the "Big players make big plays in big games" comment:
Ray Lewis - 3-1
Kerry Collins - 10-1
Shannon Sharpe - 15-1
Jason Sehorn - 25-1
Rod Woodson - 35-1
Trent Dilfer - 500-1
First player that Phil Simms says is visibly rattled by the glare of the Super Bowl:
Trent Dilfer - 8-5
Kerry Collins - 2-1
Ike Hilliard - 5-1
Qadry Ismail - 10-1
Number of times you see Jason Sehorn's face on TV:
Over/under -- 15
Number of times you see the opposing wide receiver's face on TV:
Over/under -- 1
Number of times you see Angie Harmon's face on TV:
Over/under -- 20
First penalty:
Offsides - 4-1
False start - 5-1
Late-hit - 10-1
Face mask - 15-1
Unsportsmanlike conduct - 20-1
Head-butting your head coach - 800-1
First player to get flagged:
Harry Swayne - 5-1
Cedric Jones - 5-1
Trent Dilfer - 8-1
Ray Lewis - 10-1
Michael McCrary -- 15-1
First player to violate the six-foot "lap dance" rule this week:
Tony Siragusa - 2-1
The field - 10-1
Promos for Survivor II:
Over/under - 38
Promos for various CBS shows such as Everybody Loves Becker from Queens:
Over/under - 27
Number of times Ray Lewis tackles Tiki Barber:
Over/under - 7
Number of times Ray Lewis tackles Ron Dayne:
Over/under - 7
Number of times Ray Lewis tackles something:
Over/under -- 14 ½
Amount of flashbacks CBS shows of Phil Simms winning the Super Bowl in 1987 with the Giants:
Over/under - 2
Number of times Phil Simms alludes to playing in the Super Bowl:
Over/under - 17
Number of times John Fox is mentioned as a sure-fire head coach in the future:
Over/under - 6
Number of times Marvin Lewis is mentioned as a sure-fire head coach in the future:
Over/under - 11
Number of times the CBS announcers use the words Super Bowl and boring in a sentence because of the two defenses:
Over/under - 0
Number of times Simms mentions Bill Parcells:
Over/under - 15
Number of times Simms mentions L.T.:
Over/under - 16
Number of times Simms mentions Jeff Hostetler:
Over/under - 1/2
First rookie to score a touchdown:
Ron Dayne - 3-1
Jamal Lewis - 4-1
Ron Dixon - 25-1
Cornelius Griffin - 75-1
Adalius Thomas - 85-1
First rookie to fumble the ball:
Jamal Lewis - Even money
The field - 65-1
And finally, an actual prop ...
Tiger Woods' fourth-round score on Sunday being larger than the total rushing yards by the
Giants:
Even money both ways
Marc Connolly is a senior writer for ABC Sports Online.
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