You know what? I'm not going to anymore Super Bowls

MrBator,
I liked the Pats and liked them even more after following your detailed analysis.  I, like you, felt that the ML was a complete lock.  So I bet more than I would have if I didn't read your posts.  But I am the one who increased my bets; not you. 

I appreciate your posts above and understand that you feel bad for all of us who followed your advice.  But, like a few people posted above, we are the ones who took our money to the sportsbook and laid the wagers.  Don't beat yourself up too much.  You are a great capper and I will still listen to your posts.

Best of luck going forward.  And, as they say, "there's always next year..."
Cheers!

Mr. B, it takes a lot to admit you were wrong. sunday's game was brutal to watch, but it's always ultimately up to each individual on what side they bet. you've done enough here to earn the respect of myself and others that have been around to see some of your great calls play out. forget the haters, they'll always be around because there will always be people who are jealous of the attention and respect you've earned. you've won a lot more of these big games than you've lost. hope to still see you around in nba, your insight and approach to handicapping games is still appreciated.

Especially his post in the NBA recently that pointed out that teams with huge 1st quarter leads (20 points, etc.) often end up losing the game.  He called one perfectly and I will always remember that useful nugget when betting second half lines!

B, What about my 8- 10 pending parlays who all waiting for NE -12 ?? JUST KIDDING  that was bad

I just wanna say thanks much for all the lessons on how to take great DOGs, Something that I wouldnt understand until last year when I read your threads every fuckin nite .  Even though 2 of my biggest pattens were telling to take the GIANTS, I still tailed you with NE-12 since I thought you knew somethin that I dont.

 I even called  5 of best buddies who are local bookies to confirm if Patriots was a good bet and none of them said yes, yet knowing that they were pounded by Giants bets. They all got screwed but they knew that thing like this only happenned once every great while..

Anyhow, it's all GOOD to see back !!!

 

You have a tremendous following on this board and you naturally feel an obligation to them, but you owe no apologies.  As a couple of worthy posters noted, we all make our own beds.  At any rate, that was an excellent, heart felt post.  I cannot imagine the torture of watching that game in person.  Hell, yes,  I had the Pats too and my thoughts at the various points you enumerated during the game exactly mirrored yours.  You just kept waiting and it was never gonna happen.  Messrs Strahan, Umenyiora, and Tuck saw to that. DAMN!

Bator you are a class act.   You could have left here forever but apoligizing and admitting you were wrong shows class. Most people who are wrong in big games never own up to it or vanish entirely.

I warned you last week that you would get killed on here but all the idiots who were hiding on the cracks just waiting to pounce if the Giants won and when they did the posts started on here but people I have never even seen before were absurb. A lot of them ripped you and all us Pats backers back, and almost all of them never even posted their pick (as I expected). There were a number of posts that ripped you directly and 1 asshole even went out of his way to make an avatar to bash you, but you should just ignore all that crap.

I too was convinced the Pats would roll (I was convinced in the 2 previous playoff games as well) and 0-4 ATS on Pats in the playoffs later I have learned my lesson.

Hindsight is 20/20 but there were red flags all over the place that the Pats probably wouldn't cover the spread and might lose outright. Here's a few of them: 

- The Giants ML was awfully low for a 12 point spread.

- The fact that the spread was ONLY 12 given the Belichick factor with 2 weeks rest against the inferior NFC team and the Pats had bigger spread the previous 2 weeks against Jacksonville and San Diego.

- The Pats had reached their "peak" earlier in the year and weren't playing their best down the stretch and looked tired and beaten up in recent games while the Giants were scorching hot and were just reaching their peak.

- The Patriots had become the monster that everyone thought they would never be. The similarities between this game and the 2002 Pats Superbowl against the Rams were downright scary. In 2002 the Pats were the gritty ball control team with a great defense and lead by a confident young QB against the high flying and at the time greatest offense ever. The Rams had won before... they had all the stars, all the flash, all the flare. Who were the Patriots? There was no pressure on the Pats, they came in scorching hot, they weren't expected to even compete. The Rams had the pressure to put up the big points, to start a dynasty, to prove they were the greatest show on turf. But alas the underdog Patriots were hotter and used everything against them as motivation and  they did the unexpected. The 2008 Patriots were the 2002 Rams, they had all the stars, all the records, all the flash. They were the talk of the country, they had all the pressure, even more than the 02 Rams because they could become perfect with a win. Who were they Giants who had been up and down all year but grinded it out in the playoffs? They couldn't possibly keep up with the high flying Pats could they? Well the 08 Giants played the role of the 02 Patriots, huge underdogs, no pressure with everyone expecting them to roll over, David vs Goliath, the stars and flash vs a team playing great team ball. In hindsight this seems obvious. Bill Simmons wrote an interesting article on this as well and he said before the game he saw Tom Brady shaking hands with Pat O'Brien for fuck sakes......would the 2002 Tom Brady have shaken Pat O'Brien hand before the Superbowl? Fuck no he probably would have punched him in the face and told him to go fuck himself.

- The pressure. The pressure on the Patriots was massive, they had been hearing how good they were all year, winning had worn on them, spygate had worn on them and now they were faced with more spygate questions. They were tired. One day last week I saw Randy Moss on TV giving an interview and I think it slipped up or the reporter asked him what he would do after the game and he said he was tired both physically and mentally and he was looking forward to having some time off and relaxing and spending time with his kids. At the time I thought huuuuuuuuuuuuh??? Shouldn't you be motivated and focused on the game? Even though I mulled over it as a sign for a few minutes I thought it was only one game and so much was on the line surely he could get fired up and surely he didn't reflect the feel of the whole team right?

I could go on and on and on here on the signs but as I've already said congrats to the Giants and their backers

I should also add them I am still in disbelief at the playcalling. I understand a lot of it had to do with the Giants pass rush but what happened the the short passes? The 3 and 5 step drops and screens to neutralize the pass rush? Why did they not go for the short 4th downs like they had been doing all season? That screams that you are lacking confidence and can kill the mindset of your team and in particular you're offense. And that last drive will be something I will mull over forever. 35 seconds left and 3 timeouts you just need a fucking FG to force overtime. First play was a sack and burned timeout, OK so you move on, the next 3 plays they went for it all, almost like the had given up!!! What happened to the 15 and 20 yard pickups that we had sen from this team for yards to get them into position for a FG try? Why did Brady just throw it up to Moss? They looked like they had given up.

Anyways that's my SB rant which I haven't had yet. Anyways class act Bator and see you next year. Ignore the Haters.

Good because "bad play calling" and"missed penalties" happen in EVERY game in EVERY sport. Get over it!

We are all still hurting for what we thought was a "lock." It takes a big man to admit when he's wrong. Hopefully, you don't catch a lotta shit over it. The pain of losing that game was quite enough.

People have to look at your overall record. I think you have won people more moeny than you have lost them. Thank you for your contributions, right or wrong.

I admit I tailed you, but like someone said "you didn't hold a gun to our heads." We knew the risks. Its called gambling for a reason. Good luck to us all, and we will eventually get over it. 

Nice job admitting you were wrong to go in other people's threads and ridicule them for being on the other side.

You'll probably always get shit from posters when you are wrong, but you'll get even more shit if you instigate them.

From a kickoff the Tuck rule to the kickoff that went out of bounds in the Carolina Super Bowl, the Pats have had luck on their side.

The clock struck midnight for your Cinderella Patriots.

Do you want some cheese with that wine?