(Late) Las Vegas Super Bowl trip report

This year I did something I've always wanted to do -- go to Las Vegas for the Super Bowl.  As someone who loves Vegas, I always wanted to see what one of the best betting days of the year was like.

My semi-last-minute trip came together through a combination of changes in my work schedule, and a bunch of free Amex miles.  In my continuing quest to eventually stay at every hotel in Vegas, I was at the Riviera.  I expected it to be a dump, but really it was fine.  And it gave me a chance to explore an area of the Strip I rarely visit, including meeting my old friend Neil for breakfast Sunday morning at the Peppermill/Fireside.  (Highly recommended -- great omelettes, and you can watch the hookers and pimps finish their Saturday night with breakfast Sunday morning!)

I arrived around midnight Saturday night, and immediately went over to the Mecca of Veags sportsbooks, the Hilton, which is right behind the Riv, across Paradise Road.  I had driven by this area of town before, but never been there on foot.  It was cool to see their two big signs up close.

At midnight Saturday night, there wasn't much of a wait at the Hilton.  It took me about an hour, however, to go through their massive list of props!

This was only HALF of the available props -- also available on a 25 page handout!

I placed about 30 bets, on everything from "heads" (even money), to "will there be a safety" (8:1).  Most of my prop bets were small, in the $5 - $10 range.  I liked the Packers, but I LOVED the over.  I knew it would be a high-scoring game, so rather than risk a parlay, I just put $50 on the over.  That allowed me to cheer everytime there was a score, no matter who scored!  I spent the afternoon high-fiving both Steeler and Packer fans!

For the game itself, thanks to a hookup from my buddy Fitz, we went to a comped VIP party at the Hard Rock.  I had been inside the Hard Rock once or twice, but hanging out there had also always been on my Vegas "bucket list".  The free beer was flowing, and there was free tailgate food, so we were winners before the game even started (literally -- my "heads" bet came in!).

I ended up losing about $75 total on the game (despite my "over"), but we had a total blast.  It was fun trying to keep track of all my props as the game was going on, and even more fun looking like a football savant to the people sitting near us.  On a relatively routine third-down conversion in the third quarters, I jumped up and down because I had hit my "over 5.5" on Steelers third-down conversions bet!  People were calling me the Prop Master!

All in all, the Super Bowl in Vegas was everything I hoped it would be, and I'm very glad I had the chance to do it.  But I really coulda used that safety!



1986 Mets retrospective on the MSG Network really sucked

buy the DVD set of the full Series.I have to tell you, I was rather excited when I first heard about the 4-part series about the 1986 Mets that was going to air on the MSG Network from March 1st to the 4th.  I was 15 years old in that magic summer of '86, and the Mets meant the whole world to me.  And that was one of the most amazing seasons any team has ever had, in any sport.  To this day, I can still do about 5 full minutes of Vin Scully's play-by-play, from memory.  Though, to this day, I never fully understood why he put the most emphasis on ".....behind the BAG!".  (Kind of like Danny Concannon being his most haughty on the "Dallas Morning News").

Anyway, the show turned out to be horrible.  As if we should be surprised that anything that that asshole James Dolan had the remotest hand in should suck.  It started before the show even came on.  They had been plugging this thing for weeks, everyone was looking forward to it, and when the hour finally came, they pushed it back while wasting 45 minutes on a Knicks postgame that ran late.

It became obvious rather quickly.  And we should have seen it coming.  MSG own no rights to any of the video footage of the Mets.  Consequently, there were ZERO highlights.  How can you have a highlight show and not show any highlights?

Secondly, most of the interviews were rather lame.  Yeah, they had Strawberry, Davey Johnson, and even Gooden (who I didn't even realize wasn't still in jail).  Plus a few others.  But this was like '86 Mets for Dummies.  Did you know they were a wild bunch?  Wow, what a freakin' revalation!  There were one or two good stories about how Darryl and Doc would get drunk on the back of the plane, but really, for anyone who was alive back then, there was almost no new information in any of these interviews.  Unless you really cared about how Baba Booey felt about the '86 Mets.  (I didn't.)

Even these relatively lame interviews weren't enough.  The show was produced with so much filler, repeating the same interview clips over and over.  There was probably about 10 minutes of actual "show" in each half-hour episode.  In other words, they spread 40 minutes of not very enlightening interviews, and no video highlights, over 2 hours, over 4 nights.  At least, I'm told they did.  I stopped watching after the first 2 episodes.

Mets fans looking to re-live the glory days should dig out their VHS of "1986 Mets -- a Year to Remember".  Or, buy the DVD set of the full Series.  It still holds up better than this new crap.