Robin always had a propensity for grand slams. One of the few players whom I would entertain arguments for truly being a clutch hitter. Hated that the Braves lost, but I could never dislike Ventura.

There was a two week period in the NFL last year that two teams lost on the final play (I think both on missed PAT attempts) on easy kicks. My roomate lost about 100$ on each... Glorious heckling ensued.

I wonder if Nolan Ryan lost a bet on this game and punched Ventura for it.

There was a game between Buffalo and New England a few years back. One of the teams scored the game winning touchdown to go ahead by two points with time expired. The losing team was so pis$ed off (a bad ref call I believe) they left the field. When it came time for the convert the winning coach pulled his kicker off the field and ran the two point conversion because of no opponents on the field. The result was a four point victory rather than a three point win. I can't remember what the spread was but in Canada where you can bet through your provincial lotteries on the NFL one can pick either side or a tie. To choose a side you have to win by more than 3 points, a tie consists of a victory of either side of less than 3 points. The refusal of the losing team cost countless people to tear up their parlay tickets.

Those are weak. On any given night there are probably 4-5 basketball games that have the point spread winners change because of last second shots. Or try having a bet down on a NHL team that is involved in a shootout...just brutal stuff there. You learn to expect to get kicked in the nuts a few times.

The bad beat I remember the most was a couple of years ago when Baltimore scored three times in the 7th to take a lead over the Yankees. The rains came though, and the game was suspended until the next day because the Yankees couldn't bat in the 7th. Vegas rules says the score reverts back to the last completed inning, so my winning bet on the O's (or at least canceled) was graded a loser.

I can't remember what year it was. Sometime in the past 5 years there was a NCAA football championship game that had the spread covered in the final minute on an inconsequential play that cost a friend $1500. Actually, after somehow losing $1500 in bowl games that weekend, this was the double or nothing bet. That one play cost him $3k net. He still hasn't paid off that bookie in full. Not sure how he has knees at this point.

How do you do an article like this and overlook the 1979 Super Bowl? The betting line moved late, from 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 points, and the Steelers won by 4. So many people had the Steelers -3.5 and/or the Cowboys +4.5 that the game is still referred to as "Black Sunday" in Las Vegas.

When that last-second touchdown was incorrectly disallowed in the Steelers game last week, didn't that prevent them from covering the spread?

There was a game between Buffalo and New England a few years back. One of the teams scored the game winning touchdown to go ahead by two points with time expired. The losing team was so pis$ed off (a bad ref call I believe) they left the field. When it came time for the convert the winning coach pulled his kicker off the field and ran the two point conversion because of no opponents on the field. The result was a four point victory rather than a three point win. I can't remember what the spread was but in Canada where you can bet through your provincial lotteries on the NFL one can pick either side or a tie. To choose a side you have to win by more than 3 points, a tie consists of a victory of either side of less than 3 points. The refusal of the losing team cost countless people to tear up their parlay tickets.

I didn't bet that game, but I was at a sportsbook watching it. It was like seeing a child die. Rage and anger just all over the place. The Patriots scored on an untimed down because of a pass interference call in the end zone on the last play of the game. The line was 3.5; the two point conversion allowed the Patriots to cover by a half point.

Wade Phillips was coaching Buffalo at the time. I still think of that game whenever I see him on the sidelines.

At work about 8 years ago, a co-worker had a ticket for the Canadian sports betting lottery thing, and had 6 NFL games picked. For his $2 bet, it would pay out over $5000 (he had longshots and 3 or 4 ties, which meant the score was within 3 points).
The final game was a Monday nighter, and I believe the Vikings were playing. One team was ahead by 1 or 2 points, and the other team was lining up for a field goal in the last minute of the game. My co-worker had "tie" for this game, so if they made the field goal, he won. If they missed the field goal, he won.
However, the field goal was BLOCKED, picked up by the defensive team, and run all the way back for a touchdown (making the spread more than 3 points).

It was heartbreaking to see my co-worker the next morning.

I can't believe that no one had mentioned Ray, and his 200-1 odds ticket for Tampa to win the WS.

On another Buffalo note, I would also like to bring up the Music City Miracle. I'm sure that one caused a lot of weeping and gnashing of teeth.

EDIT: Also, Norwood, wide right. And Hull, in the crease. Seriously, what the hell is up with Buffalo?

How do you do an article like this and overlook the 1979 Super Bowl? The betting line moved late, from 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 points, and the Steelers won by 4. So many people had the Steelers -3.5 and/or the Cowboys +4.5 that the game is still referred to as "Black Sunday" in Las Vegas.

Well, because the article is about gambling weirdness due to scoring idiosyncrasies. No matter how much a line moves, that what lines do, it's the way it works.

Nothing that happened in the '79 Super Bowl GAME affected the outcome of the betting in the same way as the game that are referred to in the article did. It's just a different issue.

On another Buffalo note, I would also like to bring up the Music City Miracle. I'm sure that one caused a lot of weeping and gnashing of teeth.

EDIT: Also, Norwood, wide right. And Hull, in the crease. Seriously, what the hell is up with Buffalo?

STOP TALKING ABOUT THOSE! STOP IT! STOP IT! STOP IT! AHHHHH!

STOP TALKING ABOUT THOSE! STOP IT! STOP IT! STOP IT! AHHHHH!

If it's any consolation, it's been nine years, and I still believe that it was an illegal forward lateral. My brothers also know that I believe this, which is why they bring it up as often as possible.

Also, #### John Carney.

The entire city of New Orleans went from elated to royally pissed in the span of 3 or 4 minutes in 2003.

There was a guy from my city who had a friend who went to Vegas in the Spring of 1991. He told his buddy to lay money on Minnesota North Stars to win it all. The guy got confused and bet on the wrong team for his buddy. The guy sat there in frustration as the North Stars pulled off upset after upset and longshot North Stars were in the Cup Finals. The North Stars eventually lost to Pittsburgh however.

THE KEY DETAIL TO THE STORY: The confused buddy placed the wager on another Minnesota team to win it all. The longshot Minnesota Twins paid off handsomely when they beat the Braves in the fall.

Nothing that happened in the '79 Super Bowl GAME affected the outcome of the betting in the same way as the game that are referred to in the article did. It's just a different issue.

Talk to Jackie Smith.

The line was 3.5; the two point conversion allowed the Patriots to cover by a half point.

Wade Phillips was coaching Buffalo at the time. I still think of that game whenever I see him on the sidelines.

here's the game

Flutie & Bledsoe were the QBs

here's the game

Nice. The Patriots had Adam Vinatieri run for the 2-point conversion. Nothing like thumbing your nose at an already pissed-off adversary as you leave the field.

Belichick being Belichick

Belichick being Belichick

At the time the Patriots coach was Pete Carroll.

Actually, it was Pete Carroll being LIKE Belichick.

EDIT: The lesson, as always, never go up against Answer Guy when trivia is on the line.

Whoops. Color me careless.

I wonder who is a bigger prick, Belichick or Carroll.

Actually, I had to look it up. I knew it was pre-Belichick-as-head-coach, but I forgot if that game was Parcells-era or Carroll-era. This was probably the most memorable game in the history of the Patriots-Bills rivalry, such as it is, which is weird considering how often the teams play each other.

For some reason Bills fans get mad when I point out how no one in New England ever gets worked up about the Bills. When they were title contenders the Patriots usually sucked, and the Bills have not been a serious obstacle during the Pats' latest run of success.

Pete Carroll is coaching royalty in college, which I find amusing. I wonder how he recruits as well as he does, since that appears to be the main source of their success. Carroll has never impressed me as a tactician, and he's certainly not one to enforce discipline particularly well.

I mean, yeah, Southern Cal sells itself to an extent, but it's hardly the only school that offers national media exposure and incredibly hot co-eds.

Latest Bill Simmons column:

3. Adam Vinatieri's Two-Point Run: A forgotten Monday night moment from 1999, when the Pats were 3.5-point favorites and scored a controversial go-ahead TD as time expired. The Bills left the field in protest, only the Pats still had to kick the extra point … so Vinatieri joyously ran it in against the first 0-0-0 defense as Pete Carroll pumped his fist and reacted like a guy who would definitely be coaching college in two years. Final score: Pats 25, Bills 21.

Stories like the ones in this thread are exactly why I will never, ever, ever, EVER bet on sports. My god.

#12 makes sense. Color me illuminated!

The was a playoff game between when the Bills visited Cleveland (1989 or 1990). The Bills were driving for the game winning TD and Jim Kelly hit Ronnie Harmon in the chest for the game winner. Harmon never caught the ball however. Rumors had persisted that Harmon was known for suspicious plays when he played at Iowa also. Others suspected Ronnie was on the take for that game. It was also the last time Harmon wore the Bills uniform.

Sorry to bring this up Bills fans but it has been a story I heard of from different sources a few times.

Ronnie Harmon played for the Bills? I only remember him as a Charger; he was pretty good in Tecmo Super Bowl.

Rumors had persisted that Harmon was known for suspicious plays when he played at Iowa also.

It was more than rumors. From Wikipedia:

Harmon was better known for his receiving rather than his rushing capabilities, a reputation he earned after committing four fumbles, all of which resulted in turnovers, in a 45-28 loss for Iowa against UCLA in the 1986 Rose Bowl Game. It is also a very popular rumor that he was paid to "throw", or fumble in this case, that game away. Harmon later admitted to the allegations.

It sounds like there may be a good reason for people to believe that he was also on the take when he played for the Bills.

Carroll is an excellent defensive mind. When he ran the defense and Norm Chow ran the offense, USC was unstoppable. Now though, the offense is in much less capable hands and is usually to blame for the one or two embarrassing losses they suffer annually.

You could do a lot worse than Pete Carroll for your team's NFL coach.

Kelly to Harmon - Okay it wasn't in the chest but you be the judge:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OOWQxv2_M4

One game that struck me as quite odd was a Skins/Cowboys game about 15-20 years ago. Dallas was down by more than a TD (2 point conversion was still a college thing at the time) and Jimmy Johnson opted to kick a pointless field goal near the end of the game that just so happened to cover the spread.

For some reason Bills fans get mad when I point out how no one in New England ever gets worked up about the Bills.

Winning the last ten games and 15 out of the last 16 (I believe) will do that. From a Buffalo fan's perspective, New England stinks like 1970s-style fish.

The Music City Miracle was a forward pass. I'm a fan of neither team, but I'll go to my grave believing it.

The first time I went to Vegas was during the opening of the NCAA tourney, would have been 2000. We had been at the tables all day, and went to see Blue Man Group (when it was still the original guys before they moved to open the next show) and were killing time before the show in the Luxor sportsbook checking our bets on active games. Ball State v. whomever (UCLA?) in the opening round. Opposing team is up by 9 (I think), walking the ball up the court with so little time that it'll just run out. Ball State guard picks the pocket of the ball handler, who doesn't care, runs the length and lays it in with .5 seconds to go. To cover the spread by a point. None of us had anything on the game, but I have never before or since seen a sportsbook react like that. Instead of above ("like watching a child die"), it was like the entire room got ants in their pants at once. My favorite Vegas moment ever.

Winning the last ten games and 15 out of the last 16 (I believe) will do that. From a Buffalo fan's perspective, New England stinks like 1970s-style fish.

Like I said, that's the way it is now. But it's been the other way around too, maybe not as dramatically in the head-to-head statistics, but certainly it was never the case that New England ever in any substantial fashion stood in the way of any of the Bills' Super Bowl campaigns. The only year I can think of where they were both contenders was 1996. They haven't faced each other in the playoffs since the merger. If a Patriots fan were to list the 10 sweetest victories and 10 most bitter defeats not one would involve Buffalo, and I'm pretty sure the same is true in reverse.

I should mention Drew Bledsoe I suppose. There are some New England fans that piled on him during his Buffalo years but I don't think that was the majority view and it certainly wasn't mine. I always wished him well, to the extent you can do so for a QB for a division rival, and just wished that he was more mobile; if he's your signal caller, you better damn well have the best O-line in the NFL if you're going to win it all and the Pats of that year clearly didn't. I imagine if he had ended up on a more neutral team Atlanta or Kansas City there'd have been cheers at his introduction in Foxboro.

The funny thing is, before Belicheck ran off to New England and got the Jets-Pats fighting going, I'm pretty sure that all of the other 3 teams in the division, if asked who their biggest rival was, would have said the Dolphins.

The funny thing is, before Belicheck ran off to New England and got the Jets-Pats fighting going

I think that started with Parcells jumping to the Jets after the Super Bowl XXXI, precipitating the "Tuna Bowl" phenomenon, enhanced by Curtis Martin ending up in New York while the Patriots have never really had a steady presence at feature back for more than a year at a time since then. Though Belichick going to New England definitely upped the ante, as did the Belichick-Mangini drama.

Maybe from the Pats' end, I hadn't thought about that. But beyond anything else, I think it took Jets fans about 5 years to recover from the Marino fake spike game.

If you know horses and understand odds and can synthesize that disparate info you can win at the track. I wager on the horses whenever AT the racetrack. Never on-line or via another avenue.

I avoid all other sports gambling. Having spoken to enough pros I know that is for chumps.
I have discussed my horseracing/gambling exploits in The Lounge so to avoid redundancy won't bore everyone a second time....

What, no stories of laying down to cover on Seabiscuit, Harvey? :-)