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Time again for fall football
By Brian D. Rossman
Are you ready for some football? Seeing this in the subject line of the email made me smile. Since I was, in fact, ready for some football, I opened the message. It was an invitation to join a football pool. As the changing colors of the leaves, it was my signal that fall had arrived.
Generally, a football pool follows the playing schedule of the National Football League (NFL). Beginning on Labor Day Weekend, every Sunday for the next 17 weeks, the 31 NFL teams square off against each other. Football pool participants combine their money (hence the term 'pool') in a competition to choose the winner of each NFL game.
The individual who picks the most winning teams is the winner. There are a number of variations, including use of a point spread and a weighing system. The winner of the pool is compensated with the proceeds. That is one reason for its popularity. After examining the email, I realized it was time to get down to business. It was time to crunch numbers, to analyze patterns, and to break the law.
Did I say break the law? Yes, because participants in these pools are considered to be engaging in gambling activities. (And, as we all know, outside of Nevada, Louisiana, Mississippi, Puerto Rico, Indian Reservations, cruise ships, casino nights, poker establishments, bingo halls, the Internet and fundraisers, gambling is completely forbidden.)
Even though there are more office football pools than office romances, only the former is legally prohibited. However, the risk of getting caught does not stop participants from embracing either activity. In fact, the football pool has become even more popular. Just check out the Internet, where football pools have cropped up everywhere. They are no longer isolated on sports websites. Popular portals, such as Yahoo! and AOL, are attempting to cash in on their popularity. These sites promote their ability to create and manage office football pools electronically. I could not have imagined a more flagrant display until I read about various police departments and district attorney offices that run their own office pools. Apparently, the football pool holds a certain decriminalized place in our society.
If that is the case, then the law prohibiting football pools should be officially stricken from the books. It should go the route of other antiquated laws. You know the type: In Cincinnati, for example, there is a law that makes it illegal to ride your elephant backwards during a parade.
If not officially outlawed, how about regulated similar to the lottery. A state-run football pool, instead of the lottery, would be a great improvement. What could be more tedious than randomly selecting six numbers? Boring! What are the numbers that we usually select? Our birthdate, telephone number, address. Yet, we still do not win. Most people just let the computer choose, anyway.
A state-run football pool would be much more interesting since it would involve true skill. Pick all 15 games correctly and win. Instead of examining the astrological number chart, a contestant would examine the latest point spread.
This would also settle the continuing debate over the value of professional athletes in our society. Likewise, if the lottery money continued to go to the schools, maybe it would not look so hypocritical if our youth's role models are professional athletes.
Professional sports would be helping our schools and the programs necessary to train students to become anything they want; even professional football players. Heck, they could even offer a class in handicapping football games. It would be for a good cause. Now, I ask you, are you ready for some football?
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
