easy money

(photo by Brian Murphy)

When you have a name like Homer McFanboy sometimes you have no choice but to put your money where your mouth is. That was clearly the case this past weekend when the wife and I snuck away to Las Vegas for a mini-vacation. It had been nearly a decade since I last visited Sin City, so pretty much everything seemed new. But one thing that hadn’t changed was the sheer number of sports books ready and willing to help me prove my undying devotion to the Washington Redskins.

With this being the first game of the 2008 regular season I wasn’t on the sidelines for, I felt obligated to show my favorite football team some love. So the wife and I went to Caesars – home of the Pussy Cat Dolls Lounge and PURE Nightclub – and placed our bets on the ‘Skins to win. While a lesser man might have taken the 6.5 points Vegas was gladly offering against the Philadelphia Eagles, the wife and I were so confident that the Redskins would come out victorious that we threw cash down against the money line, no point spread needed.

As you all know by now, the ‘Skins won. So while the team was heading off the field, we were giving our best “Hip Hip! Hooray!” after collecting a cool $300. The only question became – what should the wife and I do to celebrate with our winnings? Since the Redskins won the money for us, it seemed only fair that the players should have a say in how we spent it.

“You got kids,” asked running back Rock Cartwright.

Nope, none that I know of.

“Maybe you and your wife could buy you something nice together. Maybe you guys could go out and treat yourself to a fancy dinner. Look at it as a blessing and do whatever you need to with it. Maybe you could pay a bill with it, you never know. Three hundred dollars can go a long way, so hopefully we can continue to win you guys some money.”

Pay a bill or take the wife out for a fancy dinner? Both sound ideas, but I figured it wouldn’t hurt to ask a few more guys, so I headed over the veteran defensive end Andre Carter, one of the key players in the 23-17 win in Philly.

“Congratulations,” Carter said. “Go ahead and take the wife out for a nice, little dinner. You can spoil her with a nice dinner at Ruth’s Chris or Morton’s.”

Sensing the irony of the situation, offensive tackle Chris Samuels came up with a different solution.

“Buy me something,” he said. “Because I was the one out there taking the licks so you could get that money. Nah, I don’t know. Go to a nice dinner on the Redskins.”

And right when I was all set to make reservations at a swanky restaurant, offensive lineman Randy Thomas came in as the voice of reason in this less-than-perfect economy.

“Save it for gas money,” he said.

Who knew the Redskins were so practical?