01.08.11
He-lacked
President Obama is not the only one who has experienced a sound thrashing...a
total and thorough shellacking. In my case it's related to a simple wager
on the 2010-2011 college football bowl games. There are 35 televised games and if you
don't subscribe to cable or satellite TV you got to see four*...but that's fodder for
another blog post. Three college bowl games remain, but based on the results of the first
32 games played neither Louise or I will be called upon to share our bowl-picker
prowess...Louise picked half the winners, while I'm accurate just 30% of the time. In this
contest, anyway, I am not exactly prognosticating like Jimmy The Greek.
Examining the picks in this years college bowl games, I tend to pick teams I want to see victorious (or in some cases, picking teams I'd like to see lose). Generally speaking I support the Big Ten conference schools - but only three Big Ten teams won their games: Iowa, Illinois & Ohio State. Meanwhile five teams lost: Wisconsin, Michigan State, Michigan, Penn State, Northwestern. While some delight in the fact that eight out of eleven teams in the Big Ten were invited to post-season contests - the fact remains most Big Ten teams were out-played and out-coached. Louise's picks were more calculated - she studied the regular season...analyzed results (who beat who), considered intangible factors: travel, previous bowl record - and made some really great selections.
It's best that I stray clear of all forms of gambling given my lack of success. Matters not the contest: games of scrabble or backgammon? Loser. Lottery jackpots bulging to record heights so Mike buys a ticket. Loser. Two families out west will split the $390 million jackpot. "Why not me?" Mike whines.
* traditional network broadcasts: Sun Bowl (CBS), Outback Bowl (ABC), Cotton Bowl (Fox). The Rose Bowl was simulcast on ABC and ESPN. All the rest were shown on one of ESPN's networks. Not a cable subscriber?
[postscript] final tally – Louise picked 18 winners, Mike lagged with just 14. Also, the viewer ratings for virtually all games, compared to previous years, was down…hmmm. Wonder if advertisers are beginning to ponder the wisdom of broadcasting the bulk of the games on ‘cable-only’ stations. ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN Plus?