Saturday, January 31, 2004
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GUACAMOLE BOWL
I've been asked to come to work early tomorrow. With The Game kicking off about 1:30PM Honolulu time, it is expected that the bar will have many more afternoon patrons than usual and our three TV sets, which are normally discreetly camouflaged and attuned to Off, will be called to action.
I'm not so much a sports fan but with my media training, I am impressed with the hype. I heard on the radio that 270,000 visitors are in Las Vegas this weekend, many specifically to watch the game on TV as sort of an upscale version of the neighborhood Super Bowl party. Most will place a bet or two - legal in Nevada. What I didn't realize, until a discussion last night, are the intracacies and varieties of betting. Let's say the New England Patriots are favored by 7 points. As I understand it (but I won't bet I remembered all Cliff's notes correctly), if you bet on the Patriots and they win by 8 or more, you win. If they win by 6 or less (or - obviously - lose), you lose your bet. If they win by 7, you simply get the amount you wagered returned - sort of like kissing your brother (Angelina Jolie excepted).
You can also bet on dozens of minutiae like total points, which team will have the most running yards, how many fumbles will be lost, which player will score the first touchdown, who will win the most valuable player award - on and on - even which team will win the coin toss (and strange to me, the odds are slightly in favor of "heads" such that $100 on a correct "tails" bet wins $100; but to win $100 on "heads" you have to wager $105).
All of this led me to ponder ways in which to apply this silliness to the blog world. For example, we could bet on the date when Caren will hand her manuscript for Book 3 to her agent. Or, further along, who will star as the protagonist in her first filmed screenplay. (Early money is on Mandy Moore at odds of 8 to 1; by comparison, Gwyneth Paltrow is 10 to 1 and J. Lo is 100 to 1.) And we could make bets as to when Amanda's blogpatrol count of unique visitors will hit 5,000. No?
I've been asked to come to work early tomorrow. With The Game kicking off about 1:30PM Honolulu time, it is expected that the bar will have many more afternoon patrons than usual and our three TV sets, which are normally discreetly camouflaged and attuned to Off, will be called to action.
I'm not so much a sports fan but with my media training, I am impressed with the hype. I heard on the radio that 270,000 visitors are in Las Vegas this weekend, many specifically to watch the game on TV as sort of an upscale version of the neighborhood Super Bowl party. Most will place a bet or two - legal in Nevada. What I didn't realize, until a discussion last night, are the intracacies and varieties of betting. Let's say the New England Patriots are favored by 7 points. As I understand it (but I won't bet I remembered all Cliff's notes correctly), if you bet on the Patriots and they win by 8 or more, you win. If they win by 6 or less (or - obviously - lose), you lose your bet. If they win by 7, you simply get the amount you wagered returned - sort of like kissing your brother (Angelina Jolie excepted).
You can also bet on dozens of minutiae like total points, which team will have the most running yards, how many fumbles will be lost, which player will score the first touchdown, who will win the most valuable player award - on and on - even which team will win the coin toss (and strange to me, the odds are slightly in favor of "heads" such that $100 on a correct "tails" bet wins $100; but to win $100 on "heads" you have to wager $105).
All of this led me to ponder ways in which to apply this silliness to the blog world. For example, we could bet on the date when Caren will hand her manuscript for Book 3 to her agent. Or, further along, who will star as the protagonist in her first filmed screenplay. (Early money is on Mandy Moore at odds of 8 to 1; by comparison, Gwyneth Paltrow is 10 to 1 and J. Lo is 100 to 1.) And we could make bets as to when Amanda's blogpatrol count of unique visitors will hit 5,000. No?
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