Friday, Oct. 26, 2007 | 7:27 a.m.
Here are four college football and four NFL predictions for this weekend from Las Vegas sports handicapper Joe D'Amico:
Boise State minus 3 points against Fresno State: "Boise is stronger than Fresno in every department," D'Amico said. Expect the Bulldogs to falter after looking good in a 30-0 victory against San Jose State a week ago.
Central Michigan minus 3 against Kent: The Chippewas should recover from a drubbing by Clemson against a much less imposing opponent. D'Amico says Central Michigan by at least a touchdown.
Ohio State minus 3 1/2 against Penn State: The Buckeyes' top-ranked defense has looked fearsome, but their superior special teams could be the key Saturday. "They'll consistently get good field position," D'Amico said. "There's a big difference between having to go 80 yards and having to go 55 yards."
USC plus 3 against Oregon: Take the better defense and the points, even against the Ducks' powerful offense. "USC is not going to be intimidated going into Oregon's stadium, and they're not going to be intimidated by Oregon's offense," D'Amico said.
Colts minus 7 against Panthers: Carolina has been putting up impressive defensive numbers, but it has not been playing the league's elite teams, D'Amico said. Peyton Manning and the Indy offense can "do things at will," he said. "Manning is looking more comfortable in the pocket than I've ever seen him."
Bills plus 3 against Jets: The Jets, with their 28th-ranked defense, rate among the biggest disappointments in the NFL this season, D'Amico said.
49ers plus 3 against Saints: A year ago, the Saints served as inspiration to a great but troubled American city and rode that emotion to a nearly magical season. That was last year. "The truth is, now they're a struggling team," D'Amico said. "San Francisco wins outright in a game that has the wrong team favored."
Packers plus 3 against Broncos: The point spread could be 3 1/2 by Monday. "Denver can't stop the run," said D'Amico (online at allamericansports.info). "Green Bay's defense will force (Broncos quarterback) Jay Cutler into making some costly mistakes."
The latest line on Sunday's game between the Giants and the Dolphins has New York favored by 9 1/2 points, according to a major British bookmaking outfit called Betfred.
English gamblers routinely make bets on American football along with snooker tournaments and the latest misadventures of the royal family, so there's nothing inherently unusual about that.
There's nothing unusual, that is, until you consider Betfred has the sports bookmaking concession at London's Wembley Stadium - the site of the Giants-Dolphins game, the first regular-season NFL game outside North America.
That's right. In a betting-mad country filled with legal bookie shops, the capital city's most venerated sports stadium has its own official bookmaker. Under a contract good through 2010, Betfred operates dozens of betting windows at Wembley.
In acquiescence to the NFL, the windows at the stadium will be closed for Sunday's game.
Yet copious gambling on the Giants and Dolphins will surely be taking place at the hundreds of other bookie shops, run by Betfred and other companies, throughout London.
An NFL game in a U.S. city with legal sports betting (read: Las Vegas) would be virtually unthinkable.
When the NBA played its All-Star Game here, it was under the condition - which Nevada gaming interests ridiculously agreed to - that no wagering would take place on the game or related activities.
NFL officials, though, are so virulently anti-gambling - or at least anti-Vegas - that the prospect of holding a game here has not reached even the level of serious discussion.
Remember, this is the league that cracked down on Las Vegas casinos for showing games on big screens at private parties for high-rolling gamblers. This is the league that prohibits promos for a dumb TV dramatic comedy called "Las Vegas" from airing during football telecasts.
It has become a running joke in betting circles that it is impossible to bet on the Super Bowl in Las Vegas - although you can wager as much as you want on the "annual professional football championship contest," or whatever goofy, non trademarked euphemism is en vogue among casinos these days.
But London gets off easy. OK, no gambling on the game ... inside the stadium. Big deal.
The NFL's schizophrenic stance on gambling has not gone unnoticed by sports -betting insiders in Las Vegas.
"This is another example of the monumental hypocrisy of the NFL when it comes to betting and Las Vegas," said UNLV professor Bill Thompson, who studies gaming issues. "Sports betting is so widespread throughout Britain, and yet the NFL continues to pick on Vegas."
Thompson recently spent a couple of weeks touring Ireland and was struck by the presence of a sports bookmaking shop in "every little town" of a few thousand souls.
The NFL is trying to expand its appeal abroad, where it will encounter a more enlightened approach toward sports betting than the prevailing attitude in the United States, best described as an unholy alliance of puritanism and paranoia.
"At some point, the NFL is just going to have to bite the bullet and deal with it," Thompson said.
The phenomenon of a regular-season NFL game 's being held in a city with rampant legal sports betting has received surprisingly little notice in the media, which is usually saturated with all things NFL.
If it were taking place in Las Vegas, the nation's self-described, self-promoting and self-important sports "experts" and pundits would be debating the issue ad infinitum.
"I think the NFL is hoping it goes unnoticed," said oddsmaker Jeff Sherman, assistant manager of the Las Vegas Hilton sports book.
An aficionado of European soccer, Sherman has spent time in London and is familiar with the city's bet-shop-on-every-corner layout.
"Even if betting is disallowed at the stadium, it will be going on right down the street," Sherman said. "I guarantee all the bookies in London will be taking plenty of action on this game. The NFL takes such a hard stand against Las Vegas, but they don't do anything to try to stop them."
Bookies in the United Kingdom are known for taking offbeat bets on topics ranging from U.S. politics (Hillary looks unstoppable) to which Catholic saint will be decanonized (Italy's Padre Pio accused of faking his stigmata!).
Dozens of betting propositions - or "props" - on Sunday's game at Wembley are expected to be offered in London, which drew Sherman's attention. The Hilton annually issues the most extensive selection of Super Bowl props in Las Vegas.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell recently floated the idea of one day playing the Super Bowl abroad. Can you picture a Super Bowl in Las Vegas and the ensuing betting frenzy?
"Give us a shot," Sherman said. "We could do a better job on props than anybody."
It's a far-fetched notion. But whether they like to acknowledge it or not , NFL officials took a small step in the right direction when they gave the OK to a regular-season game in a sports -betting city.
"If the NFL tried to say that betting on the NFL would have to stop before they played in London," UNLV's Thompson said, "well, they just wouldn't have been able to go to London. The NFL isn't going to stop the betting."
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