I dodged a major bullet last night

.... and I feel the need to share my story with all of my loyal readers. Those of you who read yesterday's blog know that I liked the San Antonio Spurs last night in Game 6 of their series with the New Orleans Hornets. So just before game time I am sitting at the bar, having already placed the wager at a relatively good number. My favorite bartender has just put a cold beer in front of me and another bartender, who I have a somewhat tumultuos past with, was on her way out the door, following another uncomfortable hug. To my left sits young Jorgen, who incidentally has a bet on the other side. Things are looking up. (Way up after he told me that.)

And then it happened.

I look down at my phone and see that Andrew Ross has sent me a text message. He's been known to make me laugh (sometimes even with him) so I figure I'll take a look at what he has to say....

"Chad just said the Spurs are a lock...."

The words sent shivers down my spine. A million different thoughts came rushing to me at once:

* Should I try to have the bet voided (even though I placed it hours ago) by lying and complaining that the ticket writer (a certain baseball wunderkind) had messed up and I had not bothered to actually look at it until just now?

* Should I try to sell the ticket for 5 dollars to the nearest degenerate? (At the time it felt like a worthless piece of paper.)

* Should I beat up Jorgen and take his Hornets ticket? Betting tickets on the opposite sides of Chad's "locks" should be used as currency.

* Should I yell at Ross for not telling me this sooner? When Chad releases a "lock" you need to get that information out to the masses ASAP.

I briefly considered grabbing Jorgen's man-purse and clocking him over the head with it but he just looked so pure and innocent sitting there nursing his beer. I couldn't do it.... so I decided my only hope was that somewhere out there an even dumber and louder person than Chad had called the Hornets a "lock" and that this person's stupidity would override Chad's.

Even when the Spurs were up by 20 points in the 4th quarter and the Hornets players were in full blown "Tim Thomas The Year After a Contract Year Mode," I was still nervous. Everytime the Hornets made a shot I thought about Chad, sitting there watching the game, laughing maniacally for no apparent reason. When it was finally over and I could write the W in the top right hand corner of my ticket, I clutched it to my chest and laughed at my own good fortune. So good was my mood just then that I yelled out "Another round of drinks for everyone on me!" and the whole bar cheered. (Okay, that never happened. Actually I waited for Jorgen to go to the bathroom and announced that my rich foreign buddy was buying the whole bar a round and had the bartender bill it to him. When his bill came I told him that they charged like 50 bucks for a plate of potato skins and he bought it. These kids from Iowa are adorable....)

So that's my story. I bet on the same side as a Chad Jackson "lock" in a major sporting event and I won. Savor the flavor Johnny Boy, because it won't happen again!


There are two games tonight in the Lakers-Celtics Invitational. I will be rooting for both home teams to force Game 7s. It'd be hilarious watching the refs panic if the Jazz could keep it close in Game 7 at Staples Center. I'm pretty sure David Stern would be holed up in some dark basement somewhere with his finger literally on a button that sent shockwaves to the refs genitals whenver they called anything for the Jazz. Perhaps he will outfit the refs with collars(like the ones dogs wear to be kept in the yard) that will electrocute them any time they try to send the Jazz to the FT line. That will teach them to be careful about not showing favor to the (alleged) rapist.

It's too bad that LeBron James doesn't have even one good teammate in Cleveland. If the rest of that roster was even average, he'd be able to cruise past this horrible Boston team into the Eastern Conference Finals. If Boston can't win road games in Cleveland or Atlanta how exactly are they going to win in Detroit or Los Angeles? They are giving themselves a very slim margin for error. Speaking of the Celtics, I know that Ray Allen is getting older but wow is that guy ever finished. Bodog has him matched up in player props with Wally Szczerbiak. (Yeah, I did double check that spelling. So what? Wanna fight about it?) I'm going to bet Wally World +2.5.

Here's the rest of my card for Friday:

Blue Jays (Silver Bullet Special)

Nationals

Cavaliers


I've been told that the Phillies can't hit lefties so I'll take my chances against the garbage Jamie Moyer tonight. Did you know that the Nationals are 1-8 against the Marlins and 17-16 against the rest of the major leagues so far this season? (Damn - that would've made a great blurgb.) As for the Cavaliers pick, Chad has called the Celtics a lock tonight. I know he was right about the Spurs last night and I won my bet but I still feel like I was on the wrong side of that game. Yeah, the game played out exactly how I predicted it would but the mere fact that Chad Jackson came to the same conclusion I did about that game, makes me feel like I was way off. I'm going to re-evaluate some stuff now. Why don't you guys just go and....



Enjoy the game.