World Cup Week 2
Adding some more action no doubt spurred by the increase in scoring that was inevitable, even if it was hard to profit from some of the scoring. We took a bad beat taking Australia/Ghana o2.5 +165 when there was no scoring after Harry Kewell’s red card and subsequent penalty prior to the half hour mark. England drawing 0-0 didn’t help either.
Denmark & Cameroon meanwhile looked incredibly poor in their opening games and laughed at o/u 2 as neither team defended well or with much interest. The 2-1 final should have been more like 3-3.
Action we are adding:
o2½+140 (IVORY COAST/BRAZIL)
o2+120 (SWITZERLAND/CHILE)
TO WIN – FIFA WORLD CUP URUGUAY +3500
We know from the given match odds that Uruguay is roughly 75% likely to win their group, doing so with a win or draw against Mexico. If they succeed, their reward is a 2nd round game against Greece/South Korea/Nigeria, all three of whom they will be favored against. Getting 35:1 on a team that’s a favorite to advance to the quarterfinals is good value. Also keep in mind that the way the bracket shakes out, teams from Groups A-D won’t face Groups E-G until the semifinals. There’s a decent chance pre-tournament favorites Spain and Brazil will face each other in the round of 16. Uruguay winning their group would also see them avoid Argentina in round 2. Should Uruguay fail to win their group, any value at 35:1 will cease to exist.
Lastly, the Marlins gave away vuvuzelas to all fans attending last night’s game against Tampa.
Looking to feed off World Cup soccer buzz, the Marlins gave away plastic air horns to fans as they entered the stadium, the toy instruments creating a loud and never-ending soundtrack for the night. Similar to the vuvuzelas that dominate the audio landscape at matches in South Africa, the buzzing of the horns blared from long before the first pitch, and some were still going at the end.
The horns might have been a hit with fans, but they were a big miss with those on the field, especially because all the noise could have prompted a lineup-card miscommunication between Gonzalez and Barksdale.
“It was the most uncomfortable baseball game I’ve been a part of in a long time because of that,” crew chief Tom Hallion said. “Whether that had anything to do with it, I don’t know, but it could have. When’s the last time you heard something like that at a baseball game? Never. You don’t see this kind of stuff at baseball games.”
Said Maddon: “I really believe the horns should be banned from Major League Baseball.”
Added Marlins second baseman Dan Uggla, who, like the umpires, resorted to earplugs: “That was the worst handout or giveaway I’ve ever been a part of in baseball. This isn’t soccer. I know the World Cup is going on, but this is baseball.”
And this from Marlins center fielder Cody Ross: “It was awful, awful. I can’t tell you how awful it was.”
