I thought that it was all hype.  There was no way that HDTV was as good as everybody was saying.  That was my thinking last week.  Before my new best friend, the cable guy, hooked up my new HD receiver.  I didn’t think that it would make such a difference, but I really don’t think that I can ever go back to the way it was.  Sorry regular t.v, no disrespect, but your time is over.  The new king of watching sports is HD.  I say new king, because I didn’t jump on the band wagon sooner.  Oh, all the games I’ve missed being so naive.  I could have watched the Gators trounce the Ohio Buckeyes in the championship two years ago.  I could have watched the miracle Giants beat the Patriots last year in the Super Bowl.  It is 100 percent better in HD.  I can see the sweat and dirt and grime and feel like I’m on the field.  Even NASCAR looks exciting.  It would have even made the Olympics bearable.  It would  have been glorious.  It should have been glorious, but I was stubborn.  After all, why should I get a new fancy television when the one I bought ten years ago was still working?  It didn’t make any sense.  I was wrong.  Big time.  I know that now and I take full responsibility for my actions.  Now, that I’ve forgiven myself and moved on; let the MLB playoffs start, let the NFL continue and hockey season can’t get here soon enough.  All hail HDTV!

Another week, another great football weekend.  After a disappointing loss to Tampa, the Falcons take care of the Chiefs.  The Chiefs better be careful, a 0-16 season might be on the horizon.  Buffalo wins another close game, beating the Raiders who are not looking great in this young season.  Tampa gets it’s second win in a row as they take care of the Bears in overtime.  Carolina beat Minnesota without too much trouble and the lowly Miami Dolphins beat up on the New England Patriots, handing the Pats their first regular season loss in 21 games.  The New York football Giants and the Titans both roll to three wins a piece.  I think the Giants want another ring.  Jacksonville and Seattle each get their first wins of the season and upstart Arizona gets a reality check, losing to Washington.  And the experiment in New York seems to be struggling as Favre loses big to the Chargers on Monday night.  There seems to be a lot of parody this season and other than Dallas and the Giants, there are no real standouts yet.  But anything can happen, that’s why they play the games.

Football season is finally here.  It starts this Thursday.  It seems like an eternity between the time the Superbowl ends and the regular season starts.  The pro-bowl and the pre-season don’t count, either.  This is the time when all the work spent during the off-season is either going to pay off, or another huge disappointments will befall the city of your choice.  Will there be another unlikely giant killer (pun intended) like the Giants of New York from last season?  Could it possibly happen again?  And is there a team that is as daunting as the Patriots were last year?  I don’t think that they could be as good as they were last season, in fact I don’t see any team going undefeated this year.  I would almost say that it was impossible, although I didn’t think that the Pat’s could do what they did last season.  Oh, to be so close and not be able to finish.  I still smile at the thought of the hail-mary like pass being snagged from mid air in front of the Pat’s cornerback, the gasps of millions of New England fans echoing across the country.  It was great.  Every time I see the re-play on ESPN,  it brings joy to my heart.  Lets just hope that it does happen to be another one of those great NFL seasons that will have at least one moment that will be talked about for years to come.

Since the New York Giants upset the Patriots in the Super Bowl, a record $2.6 million was lost by the Nevada sports books. Several smaller sized bets were placed on the Giants to win, making the total wagered to the Giants around 60 percent. This in fact caused the Patriots to only be favored by 12 points instead of the original 14 points.

Most of the people who bet chose Giants to win outright on the money line, which in turned cause the payouts to be up to $475 for every $100 wagered.

The overall total amount that was wagered at Nevada’s 174 sports books was $92.1 million, the third highest amount ever wagered. The last time the casinos had lost money on the Super Bowl was in 1995, when the San Francisco 49ers defeated the San Diego Chargers 49-26. In that Super Bowl, only $400,000 was lost.