I just had a telephone conversation with my Mother, who is all fired up about the Super Bowl, and who informed me in no uncertain terms that the Patriots will win.

How she made that choice is, as usual with her sports pronouncements, a total mystery. (I suspect uniform color has a lot to do with it.)

Like me in my earlier days, she is not afraid to put her money down on a game. Unlike me, she usually wiggles out of paying when she loses (she's big on moral victories). It is a somewhat mitigating factor that her usual bet is a dime (ten cents, not what real betters call a dime). On a big game like this, she will probably go up to a quarter.

The person she bets with is "Shorty", called that all his life because he's 6-2. Shorty is her best chum, and they will be watching the game together.

I told her to at least make Shorty give her the points, vs even money.

-- Anonymous, February 03, 2002

Answers

My God, she won. Needless to say, because of the tinyness of her wagers, it's really all about bragging rights, and wrt to that, she has few peers. "Peter, I told you so" will just be for starters. I should never ever have shared one of my phrases, which I have always used judiciously, "Had em all the way."

-- Anonymous, February 03, 2002