Say what? Vegas line has Blue as underdogs

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This article was published 12/08/2011 (5531 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

VANCOUVER — One team is 5-1, alone in first place in their division and riding a three-game winning streak as the hottest team in the CFL.

The other team is 1-5, tied for last in their division and the only team they’ve beaten is a sad-sack outfit out of Regina that has the same lousy record as them.

Quick — Which team is favoured by Vegas bookmakers to win this week?

The obvious choice at first glance would, of course, be your very own 5-1 Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Yet the Bombers have been installed as anywhere from 1-1.5 point underdogs.

Now, the default reaction of Winnipeggers to these perceived slights is almost always that we are being disrespected — and maybe we are.

But money doesn’t know disrespect and the simple math of bookmaking is this: You set a line in such a way — and move it as necessary — to generate roughly equal action on both sides of a given contest.

So it begs the question again: How is it so many people this week are being presented with what looks to be a very lopsided equation and are betting hard earned money that B.C. is the team that is going to emerge victorious?

There appear to be three lines of thinking in this regard:

1. That gaping hole in the Bombers defensive line is, in fact, a gaping hole.

With starting defensive tackles Doug Brown and Dorion Smith both sitting this week, there is a case to be made that both the vaunted Bombers pass rush and their rush defence will suffer this week. The problem with this theory is that the Bombers without Brown and Smith held the best offence in the CFL last week to just two points and a couple dozen yards rushing in the second half.

2. The Bombers are ripe for a come-uppance.

Going into the T-shirt sales business in the middle of a football season — as the men of Swaggerville have done — is, at the very least, demonstrative of something less than a single-minded focus. At worst, it is a slap in the face of opponents and an invitation to a whole pile of bad karma.

On top of that, the Bombers are heading into a bye week, with thoughts of returning home on their mind and plane tickets in their pockets.

Lack of focus? Head coach Paul LaPolice says he’s made clear to his team that they are on a “business trip” this week. “I think they got that message.”

3. There remains a perception that the Bombers’ turnaround from a 4-14 team last season to a 5-1 juggernaut this season is smoke and mirrors.

That’s some smoke.

“This is a talented team and I think we’ve got good potential to keep it up,” said offensive tackle Glenn January.

You can bet on it, in fact. Plus one point.

paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca