Heading to Las Vegas

Well next week, I'll be in Las Vegas for a few days. I get sent out to Phoenix and Vegas on occasion as part of hot weather testing for cars. In case anyone didn't know, I'm a fuel systems engineer for a large supplier here in Detroit, and part of my job is to go on these test trips. The cool thing about hot testing is that we stay in Phoenix and Las Vegas and these are two GREAT cities to visit. The bad thing is that we go in the summer when the average temps are well over 100F. It makes it hard on the cars to keep running, but thats what we do the tests for - to make sure our systems don't break down because of the heat. The major OEM proving grounds are all around the Phoenix area, so we usually fly in there. But Death Valley is the hottest spot in the USA, and that's about 8 hours from Phoenix but only 3 hours from Vegas, so we go to Vegas for a few nights. The Death Valley day is a LONG day of testing - usually about 12 hours on the road between driving there, testing and returning, and it's usually 120F+ in Death Valley, so these days are anything but a picnic. But we do get to spend the nights on the strip in Vegas, so...

That really brings me to the main point of this post. Since I'll be spending time in Vegas, I intend on hitting a few Sports Books to check out the odds on the Lions for the upcoming season. I figure I can lay down a few smallish size bets (impossible to bet large when you have 3 kids) if the odds seem interesting enough. I'll definitely be looking at the over-under for wins, and the Super Bowl odds. My gut is telling me that any odds for the Super Bowl are worth spending only a $20 on as it's still a pie-in-the-sky type of dream. But the over-under has me intrigued...

If anything, it will force me to commit to what I think the Lions record will be next year. If the O-U is at 6, I'm definitely betting the Over. But what if the line is 8? Do I feel confident enough yet to bet the over? What if it's 9? Am I pessimistic enough to bet the under? The problem is that I'll be making these bets prior to seeing any pre-season action. Not that pre-season action has typically ever told us how the Lions will play in the regular season, but I'll really have no clue about all the question marks we have with the club. I'll be betting blind. Plus, I have no idea how much I'll be betting. I'm thinking to keep my total bets to under $100, so that would leave $80 for O-U and other bets after my Super Bowl bet.

With all that said, I'd love to hear people's opinions as to which way to go with bets. I'm going to open up comments without moderation so that I don't have to approve each and every one before it is posted (and I'll still delete all the BS 'pimp viagara pills' posts to keep it clean). I'm very curious about what people really think, and if they'd put their own money down on this team. Let me hear it! I'll get into Vegas on August 6, so there is time before I get there...

And here we go...

It's finally here - Lions pre-season 2006. It's time for me to begin posting more once again, since the dog days are finally over. It sure has been an interesting offseason for the Lions, and seemingly everything has changed. New head coach, new assistant coaches, new quarterbacks, new rookies, new hope. Well, at least I can temper my hope a bit until I see the team on the field.

This promises to be a very interesting season. Depending on if you're a glass half-full or half-empty type of person, you think the Lions were either miles away from the playoffs last year, or that they were improperly screwed out of being at least 8-8. And that can go a long way toward what you expect in this coming season. Personally, I've always been a glass half-full type of guy.

In any case, it's time to get excited. I now have season tickets, although it already looks like there may be 1 preseason and 1-2 regular season games I'll have to miss due to other commitments (Florida at Christmas kills one...). But this should be fun.

And here's another cool thing - I just created a Frappr group for Lions fans. Log in, join the group. How the map below works to display the group on this page I really don't know, but it does. Feel free to log in and have fun.