Sports made me fat.
Not playing sports - gambling on sports. I was totally obsessed with sports betting a few years ago. It had a lot of exciting features besides just immersing myself in sporting events - I like applied math - so the odds, statistics and occasions to use spread sheets was fun for me. I wanted to learn how sports betting worked. I read books, checked out bulletin boards, signed up for 3 online betting services, tried the Vegas sports books (people who hang out in sports books a lot...are generally really fat).
It was fun. I made thousands (of bets) and didn't lose any money - you can't say that about many gambling games. On Saturday mornings during college basketball season I'd get up at 8 am and be following 6 or more games throughout the day. It was a good mental exercise.
But it got tiresome.
There's a New Yorker cartoon that shows a little boy coming home from a baseball game with his dad. Mom is in the kitchen and the little boy is saying, "We covered the spread." That was one of the main problems for me after awhile. It isn't about who wins or loses but covering the spread. For example, say I'm a big Seahawks fan and the Seahawks are favored by 3 points. If I lay a bet on that game they have to win by 4 points for me to win, 3 points is a push and if the win by 1 or 2 points I lose.
That's the problem - even though I'm a big fan I'm not glad if they win by a point or two - I'm bummed out because I lost my bet. That takes the sport out of sporting events.
Sports betting is about a 50-50 proposition so it's kind of a stupid bet (still better than any Vegas games) - not to say it can't be very exciting.
I'm off the sports wagering deal now and getting back to being active. It feels a lot better. I'm not nearly as connected to sports. But when I do watch a game it's for the sportsmanship, the atheleticism...not the spread.
