Columnist Dean Juipe: History says NFL bettors need a ‘dog

Dean Juipe

Friday, Aug. 15, 1997 | 9:33 a.m.

NOTES TODAY and first up is a little food for thought if you're considering playing in one of those season-long NFL contests that various casinos promote.

Quick advice: Play the favorites but take at least one underdog each week. Research from the last seven years, covering about 2,000 games, indicates a player who takes only favorites will finish about +15 for the season. That sounds good yet +15 is about seven or eight wins out of the money, so the sharp player needs to select -- and hit -- an underdog every week. ... American Golf has three nice courses in town but it's not above occasional criticism from local players. The latest example is a somewhat misleading ad that has been running in both Las Vegas newspapers in which it appears as if 2-for-1 rates are in effect, yet a closer look reveals the prices quoted are per person. Worse, it appears as if the courses inflated their greens fees before "cutting them in half" for the purposes of the ad. For example, Painted Desert's listed summer greens fee for a weekend round after 11 a.m. was $55, but for the purposes of the ad it was raised to $86 and then advertised as half off at $43. Bottom line: It's $12 off and the ad is borderline unethical.

Mike Tyson was photographed by the New York Post spitting at a photographer and then weaving in and out of traffic on a motorcycle in New York City. The craziness never ends. ... Take a good look at the UNLV football schedule and it appears the Rebels will go 4-7, with the wins over Hawaii, Illinois State, TCU and San Jose State. ... National Hockey League execs must have lost their collective mind. They're actually going to shut down the entire league for 15 days next February so a few of their players can compete in the Olympics. If the Stanley Cup playoffs go the distance, a season that opens Oct. 1 won't end until June 24. ... Here's a tidbit that will win you a beer or two from your trivia-loving bar friends: In 1959, just 12 years after Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barrier and the first year every team was integrated, 17 percent of the players in the major leagues were African-American, while this year, 1997, only 15 percent of the players in the majors are African-American.

Wondering what happened to the annual mid-summer pro fishing tournament at Callville Bay? Well, you probably weren't, but it was moved to the fall. ... Barry Switzer's "just keeping the gun from the kids" story rang hollow after the Dallas Cowboys' coach was nabbed with an unregistered weapon in an airport. He'll be fired if they don't get off to a quick start. ... For all the complaints about pro teams holding cities for ransom and demanding new stadiums, the last seven times a proposed NFL stadium was put to voters the issue passed. (Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, Nashville, San Francisco, Seattle and Tampa Bay voters all said yes to funding new stadiums.) ... Kevin Garnett, 21, passed on the Minnesota Timberwolves' $103-million, six-year contract offer this week because he thinks he's going to be the next Michael Jordan and he plans to sign with the Chicago Bulls next year as a free agent. ... Could the Denver Broncos have come up with worse looking new uniforms? They look like something from the old USFL. ... Dixie Junior College, just up the road, is ranked No. 1 in the preseason juco football poll. The Rebels were 10-1 last year.

The Legion World Series will be held at Cashman Field one year from now, and local organizers Frank Brusa and Art Besser say preparations are coming along. "We're on top of the big things," Brusa said Thursday as he and Besser readied for a trip to this year's tournament in Rapid City, S.D. "The national board was kind of skeptical of us because this is the first time the event has been held in a big city," Brusa said. "They were dubious; they didn't think we could generate the support." Las Vegas Events has climbed aboard, and 9,000 brochures touting the 1998 Series will be distributed at the upcoming American Legion convention in Orlando. In addition, packages are available for local businesses in which they'll be asked to purchase tickets, and Sunset Station has been secured as the host hotel. ... With zero fanfare, something called the USABA World Series opened Thursday at Peccole and Hadland fields. Eleven teams, comprised of players 15 and under, are competing. The tournament runs through Aug. 23. ... Boxers from Japan have now lost 14 consecutive world-title fights, leaving the country without a single world champion.

Baseball ought to come down hard on California's Tony Phillips, caught red-handed with crack cocaine and a pipe in his hands by undercover cops Sunday. In retrospect, this may explain Phillips' crazy antics this season. ... Eddie Murray, cut by the Angels Thursday, owns a five-acre lot in Las Vegas and keeps telling friends he's going to build here. Oh great, another retiree. ... UNLV may have lost its assistant golf coach, but, no disrespect to Jim Higgins, his primary job was making travel arrangements for the team. ... Ted Oh leaving the Rebels with two years of eligibility remaining was a surprise, though. If anything, he underachieved with the UNLV golf team but he apparently was under pressure to come home and support his family in South Korea. ... Another trivia item that will win you a beer or two: Dennis Eckersley, now with the St. Louis Cardinals, is not only first among active pitchers in saves, he's second among active pitchers in complete games -- despite not starting a game since 1986. ... Hats off to PGA Senior Tour newcomer Johnny Miller, who is donating all his earnings from the tour to junior golf. "I feel I can give something back to the game and I hope some of the other guys might do something like this, too," he said. Miller just turned 50, has played one Senior event and plans on playing four more this year.

Senior Tour player Bob Betley, formerly of Las Vegas, has some skills as an artist and has finished a painting of Tiger Woods for the upcoming Las Vegas Invitational. Betley said he has 13 paintings currently in the works. ... With Buffalo Bills head coach Marv Levy having just turned 72, he ties George Halas as the second oldest head coach or manager in the history of professional sports. The oldest: Connie Mack, who was 87 in 1950 when he managed his Philadelphia A's. Halas was 72 in 1967 with the Chicago Bears. Other oldies: King Clancy, 69 when he coached the NHL's Toronto Maple Leafs in 1971-72, and Chuck Daly, who is 67 and is taking over the NBA's Orlando Magic this season. ... Renewed complaint: Las Vegas casinos that host pro boxing cards should feel some obligation to offer a betting line on the main event, even if the participants are relatively unknown. It's not that hard to come up with a line, especially when low maximums can be enforced. Arizona Charlie's, The Orleans and the Tropicana each held recent cards yet turned a cold shoulder toward their prospective boxing bettors.