Controversy erupted following the New England Patriots’ 56-10 win over the Buffalo Bills, when Patriots Coach Bill Belichick was accused of point shaving. Point shaving is the illegal practice of reducing a game’s point difference below the “spread,” a gambling handicap that gives those who bet on a weaker team a chance to win. The spread for the New England-Buffalo game was 105 points.
“The score should have been something like 150-3,” said Mildred Terpin, a Patriots fan who mortgaged her house, cashed in her life insurance policy, and sold her entire stock portfolio to bet that the Patriots would beat the spread. “Why did he let them off so easy?”
“The Pats’ low score was a complete surprise to everyone” said Charles “Big Charlie” D’Amato, spokesman for the National Federation of Bookies and Handicappers (NFBH), “and it once again brings Coach Belichick’s integrity into question.”
Belichick was accused of videotaping opposing teams’ defensive signals earlier this year and fined $500,000 or approximately 3% of what a coach can make from point shaving.
“We’re just taking things one game at a time,” Belichick said at the Patriots-Bills post-game press conference and at every press conference for his entire career. “There’s another game next week, and that’s all I’m thinking about.”
The Patriots play the Eagles next week. The spread is currently 310 points.
Photo: Silas216 on Flickr
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