Sundays in Vegas
What’s not to like about Las Vegas?
You have gambling, cheap drinks, great restaurants, gambling, nice hotels, great weather, cheap drinks, Cirque du Soleil, pools and did I mention gambling?
Probably the best part of Vegas, however, is the sports book on an NFL Sunday.
You arrive early to get a good spot for the day for the crew. Settling into a comfy chair with a cup of coffee and the morning paper, the casino around you slowly comes alive – well, more alive as Las Vegas never sleeps.
ESPN’s Gameday is on the big screens as you study the games and spreads for the day. As you pick, cross out, and then repick your 1 o’clock games and parlays, the room starts to fill up with fans wearing jerseys of their favorite teams.
After placing your bets, you grab some food and settle in for the early games as cocktail waitresses start circulating the large room. The hum and vibe rises as the multiple TV screens switch over to the early games for kick off.
Following the early games is a brief window to get up, walk around and check in with anyone in your group not at the sports book. Then it’s time to settle back in for the late afternoon games.
Once the late games finish, you have a window of time to walk outside for the first time in 10 hours, grab a quick bite of dinner and then review how the day went before placing the final bets on the Sunday night game.
It’s just a great opportunity to bond with your friends for an afternoon and meet and talk with NFL fans from across the country. Everyone should get to experience this at least once in their lifetime.
All of this is prelude to the announcement that we will be participating this year in Cleveland Frown’s 2010 Cheddar Bay Invitational Reality Football Pickstravaganza. Each week we’ll be picking four games (at least one college and one NFL) in a heated competition against Frowns and an assembly of other distinguished football fans.
I’ll also post my picks for the contest here, plus a pick for the Browns each week. As there is a Thursday game this week to kick of the 2010 NFL season, my inaugural pick is:
New Orleans (-5) over the Vikings.
Now where’s that cocktail waitress?
Red Right 88 