Tuesday update: Sports betting, Calhoun’s TVs, SDB has a warrant and bum deterrent idea, pizza, and more

I need to find a good sports betting site.  I realized this Sunday at Calhoun’s, when there were 5 NFL games on 5 TVs and I just couldn’t get into any of them.  I don’t have “my teams” in the NFL like I do for college football.  Even the Titans – the fact that they represent Tennessee isn’t enough.  So I need to find a way to have a personal stake in the games.

People have suggested I look into fantasy football, but, no.  Fantasy football is statistics-based rather than team-based, and the most important element of football is teamwork.  Besides, my idea of a good fantasy involves waitresses in miniskirts carrying trays of beer, not sweaty men running up and down a field.

So if anyone knows of a good sports betting site, where I can place relatively small bets on games (I’m thinking $25 range, just enough to keep me interested) let me know.

Speaking of Calhoun’s and their 5 TVs…. you remember those novelty rear-view mirror sunglasses that joke shops used to sell?  Those’d come in handy at Calhoun’s.  No matter where you sit, one of the TVs is bound to be out of view.  Come to think of it, those glasses would come in handy at the Saucer, too, although for different reasons.

For those of you who know who Sharp Dressed Bum is, keep an eye out for him… he has an outstanding warrant.  The Handling-Panhandling group has been keeping close tabs on which long-time panhandlers have warrants, so we can help provide them with transportation to jail to get those matters cleared up.  SDB has been down here at least 6 years.  He usually dresses nicely, will walk up to tourists, ask “where you from?” and do the tour guide act, but when they turn down his request for money, he’ll follow them down the street cussing them and threatening them.  He’s probably in a two-way tie with St. Jude Bum for the title of most hated panhandler in Downtown Memphis.  We have his full name and mug shots of him on the Handling-Panhandling forum.

Sunday I had an idea for a new form of bum deterrent… those metal lampposts on the sidewalks.  What if the city embedded voice recordings in the posts.  “Welcome to Downtown Memphis… (maybe 30 seconds of info for tourists)… please do not give money to panhandlers.  Thank you.”  Inside metal lampposts, the bums wouldn’t be able to get to the equipment playing the recordings, and if they tried, they could go to jail for vandalizing government property.

Looks like Second Street Shoppers, the convenience store/deli on Second between Big Foot and the Flying Fish, is serving pizza now, for $1 a slice.  Not sure if they’ll have it every day, but it was on the sign board last night.

It appears that none of my BFF candidates are happy with my decision, whereby Jenny and Michelle will become BFFs for October if they beat us at trivia tonight, and otherwise Lauren will win.  Jenny’s response was the “I give up” type, something like, “(sigh) So I guess we’ll never be BFFs.  We’ll try tomorrow at trivia, but you know we won’t win.”

Michelle was angry, with a response like, “How dare you!  You know we can’t beat you at trivia!  We’ve worked all month to prove we deserve to be your BFFs, and this is the thanks we get!”  Um, can someone say, “loser mentality” here?  Both Jenny and Michelle have already accepted failure as the outcome here, although they’ve expressed it in different ways.  I hope they don’t approach their research jobs the same way.

And yet, I feel a little sad that I made the trivia challenge, which realistically, Michelle and Jenny probably will fail.  They really, really wanted to be BFFs.  And they did deserve it.

It’s just that they had equal competition.  Lauren isn’t totally happy with the trivia thing either.  I ran into her last night at Bardog Tavern, and she said, “I wanted to win on my own, not because someone else lost.”  Sigh.  It looks like I haven’t made anyone happy.  The best I can do is say that whoever does not get named October BFF is far and away in the lead for November.

So anyway, a little over 12 hours and we’ll find out whether the October BFF will be a double, as I had with Darbi and Kristin in August, if Jenny and Michelle win; or if it will be the more traditional single BFF, with Lauren winning.  Or, we could get an inch or more of snow and Meghan would win (would that be considered a single or double?)

I don’t think I’m totally over being sick yet, but I was well enough last night to get back into my usual routine of sitting at the window of the Saucer and drinking Pint Nite beers for a good part of the evening.  Then I stopped in Bardog on the way home and had a few PBRs.  By the way, I got there at 10:00 and the place was pretty busy… when I left at 11:30 Bardog was full.  On a Monday night.  That place is going to make it.

Oh!  I came up with an interesting idea for a fundraiser last night.  Details to come.

Off to work.  Glad I have an interesting project to work on, because there’s nothing worse than sick + bored + cubicle.  Hopefully the day will fly by, and then it will be trivia time.