Man vs. Sportsbook

If you ever find yourself in Vegas during a major sporting event, by all means, spend some time in a casino sportsbook. Not only is the people watching something, the energy of the crowd is fantastic. You can witness a roller coaster of emotions as events unfurl.

During my trip, I so happened to stop by the sportsbook of the Orleans just as the Belmont Stakes was about start. I got up front so I could keep one eye on a TV and another on the crowd. When the horses bolted from the gate, there was the initial cheer. Or was it relief that the wait was over and now all of these bettors could release that nervous energy.

As the horses went around the first turns and down the backstretch, the crowd had calmed down a bit. There was a lot of racing to go and no one wanted to waste the energy anymore. There were calls from around the room for a horse to keep it going or for someone to make a move.

But it wasn't until they were about to make the last turn. It starts out small and slowly builds as they hit the final stretch. The noise was getting louder and louder, the excitement building to a crescendo. The place was going bonkers as they hit the finish line.

And then it was over. Except for some cussing and the tearing of tickets.

It is simply an amazing thing to watch. I highly suggest you take it in, whether it be a horse race, the Super Bowl, a World Series game, or any championship. It is magical.

Before I went to my father's house on Sunday, I found myself watching a show on Discovery called Man vs. Wild. They appeared to have a marathon going of this former British special forces soldier going all over the world and getting himself out of different difficult situations. Whether it be the mountains, the arctic cold, deserts, swamps, etc, he can show you how to survive and find your way back to civilization. It is a pretty interesting show as you watch him climb, swim, kill, dig and walk for miles.

But one thing bothers me as he goes about. He has at least one camera man (if not more) following him. So if he is in a swamp and he eats a little frog- just for the calories mind you- someone is there to get it all on tape. Basically, though this guy is showing you how to survive, he has a camera guy lugging around all of this equipment doing the exact same thing he must to do get out of their predicament.

What I am getting to is, the guy with the camera is a much better survivor person that the guy hosting the show. I mean, he carries all of the equipment as he gets out of the place. That is who the show should be about. Just saying.

I will be doing my own surviving this weekend. I will start by going through the jungle that my lawn became overnight. Got some rain but it looks like the lawn grew by a 5 inches overnight. Maybe I can just buy a goat.