-TM> GC> 2) One thing most people forget - the "spread" is not always
-TM> GC> a reflection of the difference in strength between the two
-TM> GC> teams.  It is first and foremost, a mechanism to balance or
-TM> GC> hedge, if you will, the betting.  A large spread will
-TM> GC> encourage bettors to take the underdog and the points.  If
-TM> GC> there is too much action on the underdog, the Vegas books
-TM> GC> change the spread.
-TM> That's closer.  The books almost always want equal action
-TM> on both teams, because that ensures they'll make money.
I did say "FIRST AND FOREMOST" -- many others in here forget
that the "Vegas line" is a gambling line, and not a prediction
of how they expect the game to come out (necessarily).
 
It's funny - how the NFL used to cry that gambling was 
evil, and gambling and the NFL don't mix.  But on 
NFL sanctioned network broadcasts, both NBC and CBS
had "beat the spread" segments on their pre-game shows.
 
Pretty strange, when you consider that the only place
where sports betting was legal was Nevada - a state
with no NFL team and less than 1/2 of one percent of
the nation's population.....
 
Ol' @#$%^^&*! Billy Sullivan, the ousted former
owner of the Patriots, did a crocodile-tears,
song-and-dance before a state legislative 
committee on gambling.  This was when he owned
what was then a very-sorry NFL franchise.  We
wondered out loud that if the state gave him
some vig from the gambling take, would he stop
crying and feel better?
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