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http://mvn.com/ncaa-mississippistate/2008/07/15/what-vegas-has-to-say-about-msu-bulldog-football/ The over/under on win totals for 48 DI college football teams have been posted over at Vegas Watch. The o/u for Sylvester Croom’s Mississippi State Bulldog football squad has been set at seven games, and Vegas doesn’t like the odds for the Bulldogs to cover the over. Not to condone gambling, but the numbers out of Sin City always serve as an interesting predictor for upcoming seasons. The money lines for the Bulldogs winning more than seven games is +155 and the under is -175. Of the eight other schools listed as having seven set as their o/u (Iowa, Maryland, Michigan State, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Purdue, and Texas A&M), only Mississippi State and Purdue are underdogs to achieve the over. The Boilermakers are less of a dog at +120. The true value on MSU Bulldog wins is 6.48…..so, 6-6 gets you to a bowl game, but does it keep Bulldog fans satisfied? Looking at the true value of other SEC schools, here’s where the Bulldogs rank: MVN.com 7/15/08

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=keown/080715&sportCat=nfl Brett Favre should play as long as possible. He should play for some team, Packers or otherwise. He should play because he still can and he still wants to. He should play because not playing is forever. Mostly, he should play because it's nobody else's business but his. Still, the ongoing Favre saga -- Greta van Susteren, for crying out loud? -- is in dire need of a referee. They're holding pathetic, and failed, rallies in support of Favre at Lambeau Field, and the he-said, they-said nature of the discourse reminds all of us of our time throwing rocks at the slide in the tot lot while Jimmy Earp kept an eye out for Sister Aloysius. Really, we could call a rally right now for something we didn't even care about and draw more than the 100 or so people who showed up at Lambeau to support Favre. The rally came at the urging of some guy trying to fill the hole in his heart with a domain name. A tip for aspiring cause-related rally-givers: Free doughnuts would guarantee 125 people, minimum. At some level, though, the Favre fiasco seems to be coming down to a question of gratitude. Everyone seems to agree the Packers owe Favre some limitless debt of gratitude for remaking the franchise in his image. We're all for the worker, even if it's a fabulously compensated worker, since so many people have the mistaken idea that a guy who doesn't shave and lets himself go gray is just like them. But is it all one way? Is gratitude the sole responsibility of the Packers, or should there be some reciprocation involved? We know what Favre did for the team, but what did the team do for Favre? For starters, it did enough to be given the right to handle the situation in a way it deems best for the organization. That might sound a little corporate, but that's life in the NFL. You choose to live in a world of Dallas Cowboy recliners and Atlanta Falcon dinnerware, that's what you get. Favre is doing what's best for him by stating his desire to return, and the Packers are doing what's best for the team by refusing to comply with his desire for a release. The Packers see Favre as an asset that can help them improve the team, so a trade makes far more sense than an outright release. Favre sees himself as an athlete betrayed by a system that forced him to make a decision before he was ready. He also sees himself as someone who should be granted his release as gratitude for the tremendous career he had and the phenomenal amount of money he made for the Packers. So, stalemate. espn 7/15/08