you know, just who the gambling people already are favoring only three days past The Fourth. The results are still surprising, and I'm guessing especially to those around here who seem to think the Cowboys will be returning to the 6-10 of Parcells' second season in Dallas when a few weeks into training camp they ran off Quincy Carter, the same Quincy Carter who subsequently now has worn out his welcome in New York (Jets), Montreal, Shreveport, Kansas City and now I see Abilene, Texas, of all places.
Here seems to be the consensus: The Cowboys' odds rank consistently in the top three to win the NFC and in the top six or seven to win the Super Bowl. That does not smell of 6-10.
Let's see, VegasInsider has the Cowboys third in the NFC at 6/1, behind the Giants (9/2) and Eagles (11/2). So, close. And when it comes to winning the Super Bowl, they have the Cowboys at 11-1, tied for fourth behind New England (4/1), Pittsburgh (15/2) and the Giants (9/1) but side by side with Philadelphia and Indianapolis.
Then there is the National Sports Advisors. In the NFC, again it's tight, with the Giants at 4/1, Eagles at 9/2 and the Cowboys at 11/2. A site named Touthouse has the Cowboys tied for the fourth best odds of winning the Super Bowl at 12/1, behind New England (9/2), Pittsburgh (9/1) and the Giants (10/1).
They were in about the same position at Bookmakers, listed at 12/1 to win the Super Bowl, tied with Philly and San Diego, but behind New England (4/1), Pittsburgh (8/1) and the Colts (11/1). And on The Spread, they were fifth at 14-1, behind the usual New England (9/2), Pittsburgh (9/1), Giants (10/1) and Indianapolis (12/1).
So all pretty consistent, but nothing like the 20/1 or 50/1 odds where some teams were listed.
The point being, and certainly I'm not touting any betting service nor do I think this is a healthy activity to participate in, but these people set these odds for a living, so either they know something a whole lot of people don't or, and this is always very possible, they are banking on the many Cowboys fans all over this world to put their money where their hearts are.
We'll see in due time if better becomes good enough.
