Joe Speaker

Erick Lindgren is insane. When the Hall of Fame for Prop Bets is erected in Primm, NV, that golf course stunt should be at the center of everything, with all lesser wagers emenating from a gold pantheon.

Okay, maybe that’s a little extreme, but still. That was awesome.

In case you’ve been living under a rock, which equates to not reading Pauly at this time of year, Lindgren bet a host of pros that he could shoot under 100 for four rounds of golf in a single day, walking and carrying his own bag in the Vegas swelter. Think about that. I suffer heat exhaustion walking from the Rio to the Gold Coast.

Lindgren won the bet, banking a reported $340K. He was predictably hurting afterward, saying he was dizzy and nauseous and believes he might have “taken years off his life.” I would guess so.

Though I grew up with a gambler’s heart, I was never one for prop bets until I met the poker bloggers. And their desire to bet on pretty much everything stirred that degenerate within me. Still, I wonder how much money I could have made in my teens and 20s, since I did so many stupid things anyway. I could have gotten paid for being an idiot.

Like the time I ran naked through a crowded campground simply because I was dared to do it. How could I not cash in? Or drinking that six-pack of generic brand beer. Nobody would do that unless they were betting on it, right? How about getting married? Talk about getting in with the worst of it.

Of course, I’d also have lost a good number of those prop bets. I didn’t make it over that redwood fence without shoes. I didn’t escape punishment when I pounded a nail through a vital hose in our house’s air conditioner. That skateboard I tried to make with a 2×4 and aluminum cans did not roll.

But adolescence would have been far more action-oriented had I earlier learned the happiness that comes from pocketing money on something stupid. Fortunately, there’s still time to make up for it.

High card out of the muck, anyone?

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 3rd, 2007 at 11:09 am and is filed under Uncategorized.