I BET this article won't get featured....
Sports and gambling, hand in hand they go....
from 
JoeUser Forums
JoeUser Forums
Just sitting here watching the football playoffs and killing a little time blog clicking and blog exploding (see links in the "Bring more traffic to your blog" area of my sidebar for more info on those services) and thinking that I really wish there was a pool for this weekends playoff game for the local team.
We've had pools for every week of the regular season, we have pools for the NCAA basketball tourney (coming back again soon), and we have pools for the superbowl. One big pool for that one actually. But somehow we missed the playoffs, I guess because it took until the last possible game to determine that the Washington Redskins would actually make it into the playoffs. Still, I'm a bit surprised that the folks that get the pools going around the office play didn't get something going before this weekend's games. We are talking about normal, redblooded U.S.A. citizens. Gambling is in their blood. They'll bet on just about anything, and take a gamble on anything they can, or at least it seems that way this time of the year.
Gambling is a big sport in the U.S.A. Though some of the sports that used to go hand-in-hand with gambling have experienced a serious decline. The Washington Post recently opted to drop their "racing form" type information from the sports pages because of a lack of interest. Of course that lack of interest in the D.C. area might come from the fact that Maryland, a state that was formerly very well known for it's horse racing industry, has failed to pass a slot's machine bill that the Governor would accept and that the Democrats would pass for him. Though Governor Bob Ehrlich ran on a platform that promised to bring slots and slot revenue to the state (earmarked for schools and such), and though his compatriots in the state legislature have tried, he just hasn't been able to get the pig-headed Democrat Speaker of the House to cooperate. Because of that, Maryland has seen it's horse racing industry dealt an almost fatal blow, while neighboring states (Delaware, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia) have used slots revenue and slot machines at tracks in those states to help turn their own tracks into popular attractions for those inclined to feed any sort of gambling addiction.
Tony Kornheiser was yakking on his radio show a bit about the horse racing business. He mentioned being a big fan of horse racing back in his younger days, but acknowledges that it's virtually dead now. Between himself and the reporter he was yakking with on the phone (in the radio interview) the conclusion was that off-track betting, which was supposed to have helped save the racing industry, was partially responsible because with off-track betting there is just no need to even bother going to the track (short of the slot machines, of course).
Another sport that Kornheiser was commenting on was boxing. One that used to be huge in the U.S.A. Back in the 60's and 70's, and even into the 80's, thanks to Foreman, Frazier, Ali, Hearns, Hagler and Sugar Ray Leonard and a few others professional boxing was huge. Of course that too was something that the gambling addicts could bet on. Huge amounts of money would change hands based on who was going to win a fight, what round the fight would end in, whether or not there was a going to be a knockout, etc. Unfortunately, over time, boxing became a joke. After Tyson's heyday, we got boring fighters, and matches that just weren't that impressive. Now people just don't even bother to watch most fights, since no one has that much emotional attachment to any of the current characters in the business.
Oh well, in a few weeks there will be this year's superbowl. It'll bring the regular pool again. Actually the big "super special" superbowl pool. Promises of big pay-offs. Not quite lottery winner type, but still nice "found money" if you win. Hopefully the numbers will be there for me, and I'll have something better than the crappy numbers I had in the regular season. Maybe I'll even win back the money I lost there.
If not, hey, there's always March Madness. Or the Mega Millions or Powerball if the jackbot gets big enough to coax a little money out of my pocket. (Of course there's not the office bragging rights for winning the lottery, so why bother with the sucker bets there on most weeks?!?)
We've had pools for every week of the regular season, we have pools for the NCAA basketball tourney (coming back again soon), and we have pools for the superbowl. One big pool for that one actually. But somehow we missed the playoffs, I guess because it took until the last possible game to determine that the Washington Redskins would actually make it into the playoffs. Still, I'm a bit surprised that the folks that get the pools going around the office play didn't get something going before this weekend's games. We are talking about normal, redblooded U.S.A. citizens. Gambling is in their blood. They'll bet on just about anything, and take a gamble on anything they can, or at least it seems that way this time of the year.
Gambling is a big sport in the U.S.A. Though some of the sports that used to go hand-in-hand with gambling have experienced a serious decline. The Washington Post recently opted to drop their "racing form" type information from the sports pages because of a lack of interest. Of course that lack of interest in the D.C. area might come from the fact that Maryland, a state that was formerly very well known for it's horse racing industry, has failed to pass a slot's machine bill that the Governor would accept and that the Democrats would pass for him. Though Governor Bob Ehrlich ran on a platform that promised to bring slots and slot revenue to the state (earmarked for schools and such), and though his compatriots in the state legislature have tried, he just hasn't been able to get the pig-headed Democrat Speaker of the House to cooperate. Because of that, Maryland has seen it's horse racing industry dealt an almost fatal blow, while neighboring states (Delaware, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia) have used slots revenue and slot machines at tracks in those states to help turn their own tracks into popular attractions for those inclined to feed any sort of gambling addiction.
Tony Kornheiser was yakking on his radio show a bit about the horse racing business. He mentioned being a big fan of horse racing back in his younger days, but acknowledges that it's virtually dead now. Between himself and the reporter he was yakking with on the phone (in the radio interview) the conclusion was that off-track betting, which was supposed to have helped save the racing industry, was partially responsible because with off-track betting there is just no need to even bother going to the track (short of the slot machines, of course).
Another sport that Kornheiser was commenting on was boxing. One that used to be huge in the U.S.A. Back in the 60's and 70's, and even into the 80's, thanks to Foreman, Frazier, Ali, Hearns, Hagler and Sugar Ray Leonard and a few others professional boxing was huge. Of course that too was something that the gambling addicts could bet on. Huge amounts of money would change hands based on who was going to win a fight, what round the fight would end in, whether or not there was a going to be a knockout, etc. Unfortunately, over time, boxing became a joke. After Tyson's heyday, we got boring fighters, and matches that just weren't that impressive. Now people just don't even bother to watch most fights, since no one has that much emotional attachment to any of the current characters in the business.
Oh well, in a few weeks there will be this year's superbowl. It'll bring the regular pool again. Actually the big "super special" superbowl pool. Promises of big pay-offs. Not quite lottery winner type, but still nice "found money" if you win. Hopefully the numbers will be there for me, and I'll have something better than the crappy numbers I had in the regular season. Maybe I'll even win back the money I lost there.
If not, hey, there's always March Madness. Or the Mega Millions or Powerball if the jackbot gets big enough to coax a little money out of my pocket. (Of course there's not the office bragging rights for winning the lottery, so why bother with the sucker bets there on most weeks?!?)
