JFG Nation, what’s that I smell in the air?  sniff sniff….smells like the SUPER BOWL. Look, this week you’re going to read hot take after hot take about the game. I’m not here to give you analysis (yet). No, today and probably for much of this week, I want to talk about PROP BETS.

Now, for the uninitiated, a prop bet is basically a bet on ANYTHING happening before, after, during, or related to the game. For example, over on Odds Shark, there are four different bets regarding the coin toss itself! The same list has bets on what the first score will be (almost even money on field goals by either team) and WHO the first TD scorer will be ($100 nets you $700 extra is Cam rushes the first TD in. Interesting, if Peyton Manning takes the ball in himself for the first score, $100 wins you $5000! But who are we kidding. Have you seen Peyton run? I’ve seen water evaporate faster.)

But then there are the more interesting prop bets. What color will the Gatorade poured on the coach at the end of the game be? (Purple is the long shot here at +1000). Odds Shark also has “Exotic Props,” bets such as “How many times will Cam Newton do the Open-Shirt-Superman Motion?” (The over/under is 2.5 – take the under).

But here are some of my favorite props I’ve seen so far:

1) O/U on the number of times CBS mentions it’s the “most watched network”: 3.5 (from this list) – are you kidding me? Do you guys even WATCH CBS? I’ve seen so many commercials for Scorpion I might puke. There’s no way CBS doesn’t shove this phrase down our throat at least ten times….a commercial break. Take the OVER on this all the way.

2) Odds there is an earthquake in San Francisco during game (at least 2.0 magnitude within 50 miles of the stadium): 56/1. On the same list, Odds someone catches on fire during the halftime show: 150/1. – Well, that’s reassuring. Somewhere odds makers are actually saying to each other, “I mean, an earthquake at least COULD happen. But someone going full on Human Torch?  Naaaaaaaaah…..offer 150 to 1 on that joint.”

3) Will Mike Carey Be Wrong About a Challenge? Yes (+135) / No (-175) (from here) – What the hell? Mike Carey, the NFL’s go-to-former-ref-now-TV-challenge-predictor is ALWAYS WRONG ABOUT CHALLENGES.

“Was that a catch, Mike?”

“Yep, that was definitely a catch”

On-field ref: “The ruling that it was a catch is overturned.”

THAT HAPPENS EVERY WEEK. The fact that I can catch +135 on this is ridiculous. Take out a home equity line on your home and put it all on YES here. (Update: Bovada has this as +145. Seriously this is free money, folks.)

What fun prop bets have YOU seen so far? Let me know in the comments below.

Today’s junk food: White Strawberry Shortcake M&M’s!!

White Strawberry Shortcake M&M’s, I FINALLY FOUND YOU. After many visits to random Targets, I found you…on an endcap display facing AWAY from normal walking traffic. WHAT? Target, what are you doing? These were on the BACK end of a display, facing cases of Deer Park water. YOU’RE DOING IT WRONG, TARGET.

Now I’m only a so-so fan of these white chocolate M&M flavors (like Candy Corn) so I admit, I approach this candy with a bit of reservation. Still, I do like Strawberry Shortcake, so why not? After all, the Green M&M is wearing rabbit ears, so these are …for Easter?

White Strawberry Shortcake M&M’s contain NO strawberries. So, all chemicals then, M&M’s? Gotcha…just wanted to make sure we were on the same page.

Opening this bag of White Strawberry Shortcake M&M’s, they certainly SMELLED like strawberry…sort of that fake strawberry aroma you get from strawberry Starburst or when you stick your nose close to some strawberry ice cream. Nice pastel colors too. Could be used for both V-Day OR Easter.

M&M’s, after some misfires on flavoring your M&M’s, I think you NAILED this one. Biting into one, or several, of these White Strawberry Shortcake M&M’s, I DID get the immediate flavor of strawberry shortcake! It had that strawberry mixed with whipped cream flavor that was REALLY sweet and really sugar-y. In a lot of ways, these reminded me of this frozen confection:

The Good Humor Strawberry Shortcake ice cream bars! These M&M’s replicated this flavor almost EXACTLY. That sort of milky strawberry taste, and the crunch of the candy shell reminded me of the crunches I got from the outside of this ice cream bar. Uncanny.

I liked these a LOT – the white chocolate flavor wasn’t too dominating, and helped complement the important part, the strawberry, reminding me a lot of strawberry shortcake I’d had. No cake, of course, but the flavor profile was on point. If you find these, get some – this could be a re-buy for me.

PURCHASED AT: Target, Mosaic District, Dunn Loring, VA

COST: $$3.00 on sale

Thoughts? Please comment below or hit me up on Twitter @junkfoodguy or LIKE my Facebook Page and message me there. I also have Google+!! Let’s hang out.

Sincerely,

Junk Food Guy