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The San Francisco 49ers search for a coaching staff continues on, with the team still looking to hire an offensive coordinator. There will be plenty more news, although I expect most of it to be about Geep Chryst becoming the favorite, and eventually getting the job. It will piss off some folks here, but that's life I suppose.
In the meantime, I figured it was time for some potential Super Bowl week distractions. Some are ignoring this week entirely, but there are is certainly one way to have some fun with it: gambling!
This week, I'm going to take a look at some of the prop bets related to the game, and I might just put a wager on a few of them. I'll look at some of the actual football-specific wagers, but I enjoy looking at some of the more random wagers. When you can bet on the length of the National Anthem and the color of the Gatorade shower for the winning coach, why would I possibly pass that up?
Let's start with the coin toss. Bovada.lv lists the odds as the same for each side, which is not surprising. It actually leans more toward 51/49, based on whatever side is up before the flip. Professors from Stanford's Mathematics and Statistics departments put together a study on coin clips. It is important to note that the study assumed the coin was tossed and caught. In the Super Bowl, the referee lets the coin hit the ground. I bet you did not expect to learn all this today!
Here is a rundown of the various wagers. I'm thinking of betting on tails, given that it so obviously never fails! My two favorite statistics about the coin toss: 1) Heads and tails have split evenly over the first 48 Super Bowls, 2) the team winning the coin toss has won the Super Bowl exactly half of the first 48 Super Bowls. There have been streaks for each side, but it's funny that it comes up 50-50 at this point in history.
Coin Toss
Heads: -105
Tails: -105
Team to win the coin toss
New England Patriots: -105
Seattle Seahawks: -105
Will the team that wins the coin toss win the game?
Yes: -115
No: -115
Will the team that chooses Heads or Tails in the coin toss be correct?
Yes: -115
No: -115