(Preface: this post is seasoned with a bunch of links. I recommend taking the time to look at the links because it helps explain and compliment the post)

Occasionally, I post strange fun facts that seem to come out of absolutely nowhere.

For example: The term "Pediddel" (Meaning a car missing a headlight) in fact originates to a 1984 episode of "Not Necessarily the News" with its usual segment of Rich Hall's Sniglets.

Some of you may think... What the hell is 'Pedidel?'; Some might think, "Pedidel was a sniglet?'

The real question is, "This is the sh&# that Andrei researches?"

So... If you've ever seen the episode of Pinky and the Brain where the response is, "I think so, Brain, but what if the hippopotamus won't wear the beach thong."... or even if you haven't...

Here's where my brain came from.

I was flipping thru youtube videos and saw a shot of a young girl. Maybe 13-15. It made me think of the one young girl I'd seen on TV that I'd really like to see again. Mary Lou Retton in 1984 taking a perfect score of 10 on the vault. Well, from there it was Torvill and Dean skating to Bolero. This got me wanting to find "ABC's Wide World of Sports."... I knew I'd see "Agony of Defeat" but... I actually wanted to see the whole thing.

I found it, But it was part of an interview with Jim McKay concerning "The agony of defeat." This took me to WikiPedia to look up more about Vinko Bogataj, the man known to most Americans (Over 25) as "The agony of defeat."

This is where I felt inclined to make one of my posts. Talking about the famed "Agony of defeat." A man who received a standing ovation at a high class banquet for the 25th anniversary of ABC's sport show. The ovation confused him, because in his native Yugoslavia he never really got a lot of notice. In the States on the other hand... living legend.

It turns out that Bogataj's mishap is commemorated with a sniglet "Agonosis" meaning, "The syndrome of tuning in on Wide World of Sports every weekend just to watch the skier rack himself."

Well, okay.. an accidental click there in wikipedia on Sniglets and there it is. "Pediddel"

My first thought was, "So that's how it's spelled."

I think it was one of those driving games I learned by rote... And by an ironic twist was a word I discovered that until now, I'd never... um... "Wrote".

The next thought was, 'So it actually started as a sniglet. That's kinda cool.' Well, cool from my point of view.

And this is what I do when sick on the couch.

Tags: brain, nostalgia, olympics, research, sports, wikipedia, youtube
Current Location: FreePeople House: Sofa 1b; seat 9a, variant 2p15//s321
Current Mood: contemplative
Current Music: Go Away Godboy - S.J. Tucker (on Apple TV)

Thanks to shimmeringjemmy here is a wonderful link to an article looking across the pond at the madhouse this country can become during the first week in February.

Tags: football, humour, link, sports
Current Mood: amused

In sports betting the rule is usually 11 gets you 10. What this means is that if you bet $11 on a game and the game goes the way you are betting, you get your $11 back plus another $10.

The way you bet a football game is that the odds maker will pick a winner and how many points the winner must win by. The idea behind this is that if the odds maker has found the perfect 'point spread' (or points one team must win by), bettors will pretty much bet 50/50 across the wager.

Here's an example: This weekend the Steelers played the Bengals in the wild card match up. Odds makers said that the Steelers had to win by more than 3. Thus, the idea is that oddsmakers think that 50% of the bettors will bet that the Steelers will win by 3 while 50% will bet that the Steelers won't win by that much or possibly not even win.

If you take 2000 people betting this way, it looks like this:
1000 bet $11: Steelers by 3
1000 bet $11: Bengals "Beat the spread"
All tolled, the bookie (or bet taker) takes in $22,000

Now... this could go one of 3 ways:
1) The Steelers win by lots (at least more than 3)
2) The Steelers win by 2 or less or even lose
3) The Steelers win by exactly 3

In cases 1 & 2, The group that bet correctly gets their $11 back + $10
This pays out $21,000 to 1000 bettors. Thus in a perfect 10:11; The bookie makes $1 for every 2 bets on either side of the line.

This of course can backfire. If 4 days before a game 3 star players are killed in a car crash, it's pretty obvious that team won't play as well. Usually at that point the odds/spread will change. All future betting will be at the new spread/odds.

3 weeks ago the Steelers were 22:1 to win the Superbowl. Now there are only 8 teams left and the Steelers are among that group, they are now 12:1 to win. (Bet 1 get 12 back)

So... What about this word, "Parlay".
In Horse racing we have the trifecta. This means not only picking the winner but the 2nd and 3rd place. Since it is placing multiple bets... it raises the odds.

In sports betting you can lump multiple bets together. It raises the odds but also raises the possibility you will lose.

So looking at the past weekend's football I bet the following parlay:
(201) Washington Redskins +3 (-130) Sat@1:30
(204) New England Patriots -7.5(-115) Sat@5:00
(207) Pittsburgh Steelers -3 Sun@1:30

Now we get math...
An evenly matched odd is 1:1, that would pay $1 for each $1 spent. Or $2.
So the multiplier is 2

Let's say the odds are 4:5, this would pay $0.80 for each $1 spent: $1.80
So the multiplier is 1.8

So the numbers in parens above are the odds in amt to bet to win $100.
Washington is Bet $1.30 to win $1. or bet $1 to get $0.76
The multiplier is 1.76

So we take 1.76 * 1.86 * 1.90 (assume -110 if not listed) = 6.21984

Thus had you bet a $10 parlay this way, it would have returned $62.19; So you would have won a little over $50

Tags: betting, football, sports
Current Mood: pleased

AAAGH!

Overtime!

Tags: football, game, sports
Current Mood: enthralled

Tuesday, the voice of the Pittsburgh Steelers on radio, Myron Cope, hung up his microphone.

Now while I have become a die-hard steelers fan over the last 5 years, I rarely listened to Cope's broadcast. Granted, he was the truest example of the Pittsburgh stereotypical accent that you could find.

Myron (pronounced Mahrn) came up with the terrible towel and came up with the term, "Immaculate Reception." He is retiring because operations on his throat have not improved his health or his voice.

Prayers and wishes to him in his retirement. The team and the sport will not be the same to the fans who've listened to Cope for generations.

Tags: football, nostalgia, sports
Current Mood: nostalgic

err.. sort of.

I can almost control my goofy-footed toe side edging. Heel side... not so good.

But for day 1... not bad...

Hmmn. not even 10 pm. Zzzz

I feel like I've been beaten up.

Tags: sports, travel
Current Mood: exhausted