NOT A SPORTS FAN? NOW YOU ARE

The last time I explained about being a sports fan?

Last night.

In what has become a highlight, we spent the evening with another couple.

Watching Friday Night Wrestling on the Big10 Network.

My pal had never seen a wrestling match. He was a fast learner.

B: How do they score.

Me: If one guy gets the other on the ground and controls them, he gets three points.

B: I see.

Me: If the guy being controlled gets away, he gets one point. If he reverses and takes control of the other guy, he gets two points.

B: They don’t seem to be doing much.

Me: That’s the beauty of college wrestling. It looks like they’re not doing much, but each step, each touch, is done to measure the other guy’s response.

B: They don’t look very responsive.

Me: Every guy on the mat has had hundreds of matches and thousands of hours in the practice room. They are waiting for their opponent to make the wrong response, or forcing them to make one.

B: How did this ever start?

 

The Rules Of Engagement

Me: College wrestling looks boring and slow because these guys don’t make big mistakes. At the same time they don’t take big chances. Sometimes a 3-1 win is monumental.

B: But where did it begin?

Wife: Uh oh.

Me:

From history.com:

 

“The Greeks valued physical and athletic prowess, and the toned male body was sought after as aesthetically pleasing,” says Zina Giannopoulou, an associate professor of classics at the University of California, Irvine who has compared the ancient and modern Olympics.

“Physical strength and prowess were also signs of moral strength, denoting self-discipline, hard work, and dedication to winning.”

Athletes were seen as the epitome of arete, a Greek word that means virtue or excellence.

 

B: So there are rules.

Me: And two referees making sure the rules are followed. You can hear them telling the wrestlers to “keep it legal” when things get bent too far the wrong way. That’s how my freshman year ended.

B: You did this?

Me: Yes I did. It all started in the basement of an old high school gym that has long been torn down.

Wife: Oh, no.

B: Do you have one of those outfits?

Me: Yes, I do. It’s called a singlet.

B: They look naked.

Me: That’s the tradition, but I don’t recommend it if you to keep your gootch intact.

B: Gootch?

Wife: Don’t get him started.

Me: She has a favorite movie with naked man wrestling. Two English guys.

B: Who?

Wife: Alan Bates ane Oliver Reed.

Me: It’s not a match with a score or referee.

Wife: It’s ‘Women In Love’ and I love Alan Bates and Oliver Reed.

Me: Don’t get her started.

B: I think it’s too late.

Me: Oh, no.

 

The Sporty Part Of Being A Sports Fan? 

Baby boomers have lived through more than one Golden Age of sports.

We didn’t have Babe Ruth or Jack Dempsey, Red Grange or Bobby Jones, but we’ve had more than our share of football and fighting greats, basketball immortals, and the new Babe Ruth.

We have Terry Bradshaw with four Super Bowl wins with the Steelers; Joe Montana with four Super Bowl wins with the 49ers. Together they have one more than young Tom Brady.

Muhammad Ali won the heavyweight championship three times.

Michael Jordan got six titles.

Shohei Ohtani is warming up in the bullpen.

With all of that said, let’s agree that boomers are the best sports fans.

We know the rules, know the fundamentals, and we don’t make the most bets.

Why?

Not because disputed NFL calls during games go to off-field observers, not because undisputed bad calls were allowed to stand, and not because NBA point shaving refs went to jail.

 

An Instant Replay Field Operator will bring the referee a Microsoft Surface tablet on which the referee will review the play. After the referee reviews the play with the AMGC, a senior designated member of the officiating department will make the final decision on the review.

 

Imagine a baby boomer, a baby boomer blogger if you will, in the role of King Pin of sports betting in their own world.

That’s beyond my imagination. But . . . ,

Once things look shady, like rules are getting bent beyond the legal limits, and there’s no referee on the mat yelling, “KEEP IT LEGAL, KEEP IT LEGAL,” people turn away from what they know comes next, the snapping sound, the soul-wrenching scream of being dismembered, the shock, the surprise.

For some people it’s no shock or surprise, after all, things happen.

Shaving points? Things happen.

Fixed games? Things happen.

Giannis Antetokounmpo invests in prediction-betting company where people bet on whether he changes teams when he calls for a trade, then isn’t traded? Things happen.

What happened?

 

PS:

Cha-ching for Giannis.

PSS:

Via Shane Garry Acedera of BasketballNetwork.com, $23 million was wagered on Kalshi regarding Antetokounmpo’s next team. Which has prompted accusations that Antetokounmpo stoked rumors of a potential trade in advance of Thursday’s deadline simply to fuel more action on Kalshi, to his direct financial benefit given his role as a shareholder.

PSSS:

Let’s agree that skimming money on the sly, from a loophole, creates a situation with consequences.