It is officially Super Bowl week......without the Green Bay Packers.
As a football fan, I will pay attention all week. And I will watch the game. But my interest level is not very high. I have no strong affection for either team.
The New England Patriots are cheaters. Even worse is they’re so good, they don’t have to cheat. They are heavy favorites to win, AGAIN, so in game situations like this, I generally support the underdog.
That would be the New York Giants. With the Giants, there are no great story lines, no captivating angles, no player who guaranteed a victory to a dying child in a hospital. Plus, they beat the Packers. No Giants paraphernalia in my house or anywhere on my person or car.
Patriots.
Giants.
Ho-hum.
Yes, I’m aware the Patriots are undefeated and the Giants could end that streak by winning the Super Bowl.
Yawn.
There is one variable that could get me excited about next Sunday’s game:
A bet.
A pool.
Putting money on the contest.
Last year’s Super Bowl saw $93 million bet in Las Vegas. Vegas is hoping to crack the $100 million mark this year and the thought was a New England-Green Bay match up between Tom Brady and Brett Favre would have all but assured that size of betting total. Because Green Bay didn’t advance, there is the conventional wisdom that there will be less interest, and less money bet, or at least less than $100 million.
I just want to get into one of those friendly, innocent, paltry pools that the authorities seem to take so much glee in uncovering and shutting down.
Not at my office, of course, because there couldn’t possibly be wagers, as small as they might be, in the state Capitol.
Somewhere, somehow, I need to….let me re-phrase that…I would like to place a few dollars into some, how shall I put it……game of chance.
At some churches in town, they call that BINGO.
And no one’s arresting those nice little old ladies, are they…
Getting into a pool of some sort might be the only way to heighten my interest in a game that, for me, is quite unusual. Normally in a game of this magnitude, I want one team to tear the other team’s heads off. Last year it was soooooooo easy to root for the Indianapolis Colts against the Chicago Bears. This year, I don’t like either team.
But if, say, 5, 10, or 20 dollars is at stake, suddenly, I might actually like Eli Manning.
In the mid-90’s while at WTMJ, I interviewed an expert on problem gamblers.
Suffice to say that the vast majority of Super Bowl bettors are not gambling away their homes. Yes, some gamblers make huge, irresponsible decisions. That’s about one to three percent of Super Bowl gamblers, making the law enforcement effort to clamp down on such games rather silly.
What about all that lost productivity at work because of the ultra-hype?
Last year, the Associated Press reported the week before the Super Bowl, “A consulting firm estimated that lost wages could exceed $16 million a minute as millions of Americans chat about the game, plan parties, organize betting pools or research big-screen TVs. That's more than $820 million from the week before the game alone. Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. based its estimate on an anticipated audience of 90 million tuning in to the game, along with figures about the national employment rate and average pay. Its analysts calculated that employers around the nation will pay football fans $162 million for every 10 unproductive minutes they spend discussing the game or reading about it online.”
That’s not to say all the attention paid to the big game is bad.
The AP also reported, “John Challenger, the firm's chief executive, emphasized that his firm isn't trying to put a damper on the fun or suggest that companies ban betting pools. He acknowledged that some productivity gains can come from a friendlier workplace and higher employee morale.”
So there.
It’s going to happen. Lighten up everybody. What’s a few bucks between friends.
For guys like me, it might be the only way to truly get into and enjoy this year’s Super Bore.
