Reporting from Las Vegas — Jay Rood is at quarterback and the playing field is mined with the volatility of the stock market, the cheap drama of a teenager's text message and the lunacy of television addiction.
Brett Favre is talking to ESPN with his truck's engine running, making his retirement audible barely audible. But Rood is tuning in, listening and watching for any hint whether the hunting-cap-wearing Favre is going to indeed retire to Mississippi or return to be the Minnesota Vikings' quarterback for another season.
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/aug/04/sports/la-sp-nfl-odds-20100805
"We don't have a definitive answer," Rood said after hearing Favre on Wednesday. "So we'll be guarding against inside information."
Rood, who is director of the MGM/Mirage Race and Sports book and sets odds at 10 Las Vegas properties, is charged with cutting to the chase through the onslaught of 24-hour NFL news cycles. Favre, he cares about. The impressive catches of Dallas Cowboys rookie receiver Dez Bryant, now injured and out four to six weeks, and the nickname of new Cincinnati Bengals teammates Terrell Owens and Chad Ochocinco? Factored in, but mostly irrelevant.
Rood, to the tune of "seven figures" and up to $30,000 in bets a day by MGM/Mirage customers, knows followers want to simply know who's going to win this season's Super Bowl. So he takes the gabbing out of the equation, separating himself from the other analysts by putting his money where his mouth is.
No comments:
Post a Comment