Football Friday vol. 2 (belated)

I'm backdating this to Friday, but I'm actually writing it on Sunday. Since I haven't posted otherwise since Tuesday, though, I don't think it makes much of a difference.

On today's games me and Dave were even: he had the Steelers over the Ravens, and I had the Cardinals over the Eagles. I think I might be developing a mild affiliation for the Ravens, but we'll see how it goes. Even as a lifetime northside Chicagoan, my Cubs fandom is little better than halfhearted. I don't think I'm cut out to be a true fan of any team. Probably a personality construction thing. But it's further evidence for the hypothesis that prior knowledge about the teams playing in a particular matchup does not correlate, or may even be negatively correlated, with the ability to correctly pick the winner when two teams play.

I had a great idea for something me and Dave could do next football season, so I'm posting it up now so I don't forget. (Before Football Friday becomes Futility Friday for the baseball season and I use my text space to talk about the Cubs, and futile but desirable pursuits in general.) A fantasy gambling game!

Here's how it would work. We'd each start out the football season with, say, ten thousand imaginary dollars. Each week we'd be required to bet at least one thousand of those dollars on the outcomes of that week's games. The bets can be distributed among the teams playing in any way we choose. Imaginary winnings and losses would be determined by the appropriate Las Vegas gambling information, though I still haven't figured out whether fantasy gambling bets would have to take the points spread into account. The last player to lose all their imaginary money would be the winner. Unless by some bizarre coincidence more than one person were to end up with more than nothing, in which case the player with the highest total would be the winner.

It would be cool to have more than two people in on this game, but we'll see what happens when next year's football season starts. As it always does, just as the baseball playoffs are heating up and getting really interesting. Football will slime its hideously overmerchandised way back onto the airwaves and suck up all the attention and facetime that should rightly belong to the glory that it October baseball. With all of its hideous merchandising.

Dog, I hope America's influential and powerful people figure out how to get their domestic companies back on track, producing something other than "financial services" and entertainment. At least I live in Chicago. A city of lawyers, accountants, and corporate headquarters is not likely to stop needing upbeat, intelligent clerical workers with most of a bachelor's degree any time soon. As long as I don't have any major medical issues that need addressing and have no plans to try to get into real estate now that the market has crashed and burned, I should be able to sit here on my cheap DSL connection and wait out the economic crisis with good cheer.

Er, and go Ravens. Bears suck worse than the Cubs, even though they've both been rather good lately and I love those chokey blue bastards. Who may soon be in the market for Jake Peavy! I can't wait to see what'll happen to him if they trade for him. (Key words may include: ligament, elbow and freak meteor shower.)