Archives
10:13:00 PM EDT
Hearing Panic!
Gambling Makes Everything Better (And Worse)
I really wanted to get into the World Cup this year. I'm not a big soccer guy but I don't dislike it either. I actually covered D.C. United for a couple years as a reporter and was in the locker room as they celebrated a championship. Bruce Arena's wife handed me the MLS Cup and said I helped them earn it. Pretty cool. I did nothing to really help them, but it was still cool. Now Arena is at the helm of the U.S. team. The Americans looked good going into the tournament and I wanted to get excited. And even if they didn't do well, it is the greatest spectacle in the world of sports so I wanted multiple rooting interests.
What makes people care about things they wouldn't ordinarily? Gambling of course, so I started a World Cup pool at work. 16 people, 32 teams. Each person draws two teams out of a hat. Winner gets 75%, second place gets 25%. First time through I draw Croatia. Not great, but not Angola either. I end up with the next-to-last draw. Two teams are left. One is Togo, the other is the U-S-of A. I reach in and immediately my hand is drawn to one piece of paper. I hesitate. Was I drawn to it by good or evil forces? After a beat I decide to trust the fates. I pull it out, slowly open it and see the stars and stripes. Do I think America is going to win it all? No, but I know they have a better chance than Togo and I'll be rooting extra hard when they finally play a game on day four.
I check scores constantly the first three days of the Cup. My plan of forced interest is coming to fruition and USA hasn't even stepped on the pitch yet. Of course, eventually they do play, and play poorly. By the time I can even get a glimpse of a TV they're already down 1-nil and we all know it doesn't get any better.
Why, cruel fates, did Parker draw the US team?
I'm not giving up. I'll be planted in front of the TV Saturday afternoon as they take on Italy. My heart will tell me they have a shot. My head won't listen. And if they play like they did against the Czech Republic, there's always Croatia vs. Japan Sunday morning.
I guess that's why this is the biggest event in the world. It took four years of plans, hopes, dreams and hard work to get there and five minutes of bad play to be gone. And that's why I figured I needed a pool to keep me going through the whole thing. Deep down I knew the US wasn't ready and I should have other teams to get behind. That's probably why the evil fates took my hand to that piece of paper. At least Togo scored a goal.
Written by dustyseafoam Blog about this entry |
Add to del.icio.us | 
digg this
6/19/06 12:06 PM