Sports Betting

Bettors take a break to reflect

The first Monday Night Football game of the regular season was this week. But you wouldn't know it by surfing the online betting forums.

Monday was also the fifth anniversary of 9/11 and just like that horrific day in 2001, it seemed no-one was talking about much except the terrorist attacks.

I'm a daily Lurker of the many Internet sports betting forums (Rx, 911, Madjacksports, etc.). And I fully expected the postings to be somewhat related to 9/11. But the global reach of the World Wide Web still amazes me. It's one thing to watch the wall-to-wall television coverage. But it's not interactive.

On two of the posting forums I visited - Rx and Madjacksports - there were people who quite literally brushed up against the walls of terror, and lived to tell the tale. And the best part was these people are regular contributing members of their respective betting forums. In many ways, they are friends of the other forum users in this cyber-community.

One person would post where they were on the day of the attacks, and then others would add their comments. The back and forth really made the betting forums feel like close-nit neighborhoods.

A frequent poster to the Rx.com forum succinctly expressed the point many sports fans did in the hours and days after 9/11. Vermonthorseplayer said he remembered how Ed McCaffrey broke his leg during the MNF game the night before the attacks.

He wrote: "I remember the night before it happened I went to bed feeling bad that Ed McCaffrey's career might be over (some might remember he was badly injured) in that Monday night game. Needless to say only less then nine hours later there would be a whole lot more to worry about. That still sticks with me to this day how one's world can change in the drop of a dime."

And then there was a poignant post on the Madjacksports.com forum that will stay with me forever. It was a reflection from a sports bettor from the Hudson Valley area of New York who said for months he was reminded every day of the lives lost.

"Every time I passed the Path train station parking lot near me I'll always see that car that people put flowers on for almost a year," wrote a poster with the handle, Box and one. "There were six people that parked there at the commuter parking lot on that morning.

"They never returned. Families later picked up their abandoned cars. But one family had hope and refused to pick the car up. Day (after) day people would put flowers on it until the car was almost covered. Driving by it had such an impact on me … a reminder … I wish they (had) just left it there as a reminder of Sept 11, 2001," he wrote.

Not everyone on the 9/11 posting threads had heart-felt reflections. Admittedly the opposing views were few and far between. But nonetheless it provided perspectives I might not have otherwise considered.

For instance, a guy with the handle WildBill wrote, "Who cares where we were? We can honor those who died and those who were heroes on that day. But I just don't get why it matters where we were and why you get upset when someone points out that at some point this will just have to be a sad memory.

"Lots of victims' family members have said so themselves. One woman said she feels like all the media coverage and anniversary ceremonies make it feel like she attends her husband's funeral annually and that isn't right," WildBill pointed out. "A simple moment of silence should do. Anything more and it just seems to devolve into political spin."

A bettor with the nickname, AngleBroom, was respectful in his reply to WildBill. And he used a gambling analogy to get his opposing view across. "I bet you'd have no problem - and with great accuracy - retelling the story about when and if you hit your first five-team parlay.

"People want to recall, because it just so happens it was one of the most unthinkable acts in world history. Those who were alive on 9/11/01 are part of history for infinity," AngleBroom explained. "So it does matter. Just like people remember where they were and what they were doing when King or JFK were assassinated. Infamous days in history (live) forever."

Sports-betting forums are an interesting beast.
Imagine being at a house party where everyone's talking sports. After a couple of brewskies, you're thinking, "This is great. I'm having a hoot, learning a lot, and just chillin' with people all with the same interest."
Forums should be open to everyone. I am a big fan of free speech, and cringe at the thoughts of having a chaperon or moderator to censor the discussion.
Every week, I will spend hours lurking through threads at the popular, and not so popular, forums and report back to you. I'll poke fun at the nonsensical banter, and point readers to some of the more intelligent discussions to learn more about this billion-dollar industry. I have no allegiances to certain sites, so all the forums will be reported on fairly. Sit back. Relax. And enjoy the party.