Out-of-pocket gamblers' fury at victorious Vikings: Last-gasp heroes Minnesota take the knee [tr]

UK Daily Mail ^ | January 15, 2018 | Ariel Zilber

[C19fan]

The Minnesota Vikings’ final act of sportsmanship in their shock victory over the New Orleans Saints on Sunday cost bettors a lot of money. The Vikings won the NFC Divisional Round game over the Saints on a last-second 61-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Stefon Diggs at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. When Diggs ran into the end zone, the clock read 0:00, meaning the game was over. But the rules of football stipulate that even if a team scores a touchdown with no time left on the clock, it still needs to kick an extra point. Diggs’ touchdown gave the Vikings a 29-24 lead. An extra point would have extended the final score to 30-24, a six-point difference.

[SoCal Pubbie]

Australian rules football is not really rugby, though I grant you one could say it is a variation of rugby I suppose. In any event I don’t think rugby proper is the most popular sport in any country.

[discostu]

Doesn’t have to be the most popular sport, just the most popular sport among the ones sometimes called football.

[SoCal Pubbie]

“Any “soccer” player will think of the “football” rules as contradictory and senseless.”

Do soccer players think the rule allowing them to use their hands when bringing the ball inbounds ”contradictory and senseless.”

[Zathras]

I’m sure it was Trump’s Fault except in Minnesota

[adorno]

Do soccer players think the rule allowing them to use their hands when bringing the ball inbounds ”contradictory and senseless.”

The thought probably crosses their minds, at one time or another.

But....

I'm pretty sure that because they don't think of their game as "handball", like American football players call their game "football".

To follow up on your line of thinking, soccer players should probably call their game, "headball" since they often use their heads in control of the game and in scoring. But, they do use their feet a lot more often than their head or hands.

[SoCal Pubbie]

To follow up on your line of thinking, I guess basketball should be called hoopball, since there hasn’t been a basket involved in well over a hundred years.

[Enterprise]

Ok gang, fun with numbers. The final score was 29 - 24

1. If you took -5 you pushed. No win, no loss. Adjusted Score (AS) 24 - 24
1a. If you paid up for a half point, you would have won. AS 24.5 - 24.
1b. If the extra point was made you would still have won, AS 25 - 24 with minus 5 bet, and AS of 25.5 - 24 with -4.5.

2. If you took +5 you pushed. No win, no loss. AS 29 - 29.
2a. If you paid up for a half point, you would have won. AS 29.5 - 29.
2b. If the extra point was made you would have lost at +5 with the AS now 30 -29 if you took +5, and you would have lost if you had +5.5 with the AS of 30 - 29.5.

3. Ok, so you waited for some reason and took -5.5. You lost with an AS of 23.4 - 24.
3a. If you paid up for the half point, you tied with an AS of 24 - 24.
3b. If the extra point was made, you won with -5.5 with an AS of 30 - 24.5. And you still won if you paid up for the half point with an AS of 30 - 25.

4. If you took +5.5 you won with an AS of 29.5 - 29.
4a. If for some reason you paid up for an extra half point, you still won, with an AS of 30 - 29.
4b. If the extra point was made though, you lost if you had +5.5 with an as of 30 - 29.5.
4c. If you paid up for the half point then you tied with an AS of 30 -30.

[catnipman]

“Aprox half the bettors will be happy, and half will be bummed.”

the exact same numbers if the extra point HAD been kicked ...

[ncfool]

Probably didn’t even give it a thought about the gambling aspect. Tired and they one the game. Take a Knee..

[dfwgator]

True. Why risk getting anyone injured.

[Vince Ferrer]

But because the Vikings did not want to humiliate the crushed Saints even further by adding a meaningless point to the scoreboard, they took a knee and did not kick the ball.

I didn't watch the game, but that sounds completely made up by the author. The reason you would take a knee is because if you did try to get the extra point, there is a very small but still existing chance that the Saints could block it and run it in for their own touchdown, but by taking a knee, it is a certainty that the Saints can't get the ball back.

[adorno]

I guess basketball should be called hoopball, since there hasn’t been a basket involved in well over a hundred years.

But, it's not just a hoop. The strings handing from the hoop make the whole thing resemble a basket, sort of. HoopStringBall?

[Weirdad]

Exactly.

[sparklite2]

And despite my repeated FR calls for the death of the nfl, go Vikings!

---

Heh. Funny how that works. So all that NFL-bashing was just so much yodeling? I suspect you aren’t alone.

[dfwgator]

You can follow the NFL without them making a dime off of it.

[kosciusko51]

Actually, it would only be a two-point play, and would not have changed the outcome of the game.

My guess is that by taking a knee, they did not expose their players to an unnecessary risk of being injured on a meaningless play. And, perhaps sportsmanship.

[sparklite2]

In my case, I’d have to dump Sunday Ticket. Then I might dump DirecTV. Ah, but what the heck. My money won’t spend itself.

[expat2]

Yes, originally by the Brits sometimes to distinguish ‘rugger’ from what the rest of the world calls ‘football’

[Vision Thing]

I continue to nflol, but this doesn't mean I cannot be happy about the success of one of my favorite teams.

[expat2]

I assume you are referring to the picking-up-the-ball story and you may be right -- who knows. But the rest of my post is true.
There is another story that also may be myth: Balls were not easy to get, and when their only rugby ball was kicked too high out of touch to retrieve, the Welsh captain of one of rugby teams said "Ah, forget about the ball -- let's get on with the game"