So, I won the season-long NFL pick'em contest at my gym...
galaxy27
Posts: 7,149 ✭✭✭✭✭
...and because my prize turned out to be considerably cooler than I anticipated, I feel the need to share. I swung by and grabbed it about an hour ago.
Quickly about the contest. Identical to ours here -- pick the games straight up. Weeks 1 to 17. If you missed a week, you were dead. Far too many participants, far too much ground to make up. Roughly 50 or so peeps went the distance. In week 4, I took the lead and held it until week 15, when a guy tracked me down and took the lead by 1. In week 16, he extended his lead to 2 points (2 more correct picks). At that point I knew I was up against it. I told myself I'd have to go (at worst) 14-2 in week 17 to have any chance. When I only went 13-3, I felt the silver medal coming on. In fact, my gut told me I had lost by a point, which is the absolute worst. I'd rather be blown out of the water in any contest than lose by 1. I'm the type of guy who hates losing more than I love winning..........if that makes sense.
Well, the Tuesday after the regular season ended I received a text from the fella who runs the gym. I had won by a single point. I was incredulous. The guy who went on a torrid run to catch me only managed 10-6 in week 17. My first thought was, I really feel for that dude. Again, losing by one is the equivalent of being on the receiving end of a throat punch, as far as I'm concerned.
A couple of days later I went to the gym to claim my prize. Rusty (the manager) said, "Normally we have a number of prizes for the winner to choose from, but seeing as the past 10 months or so have been insane due to covid, I'm just going to give you a budget of $150 and let you go crazy on NFLshop.com. As soon as you find something, let me know and I'll order it."
But I have to let you in on the rest of the convo.
He said, "Are you into apparel? I know you're a Bears fan..........what about a Trubisky jersey?"
I said, "Before we go any further, I need to know if you are being serious. If you aren't, give me a moment to compose myself so I can laugh at that. If you are, I'll just pretend like I didn't hear it."
HE laughed.
I said, "You know, I've loved the Bears since the late 70s, but I honestly don't have a favorite player on the current roster. Maybe that's because most of them suck? I do think Allen Robinson is a stud, but no way in hell am I getting a jersey of his when he'll be (in all likelihood) playing for a different team next season. Mind if I peruse the website and get back with you?"
He had no problem with that.
So I scoured and scoured. Nada. Then, I found it. An item that will forever be a constant reminder of why I've chosen to be a suffering Bears fan for over 4 decades: a sweet HOF photomint plaque of my all-time fav NFL player, Sweetness. Vintage Payton in the shot.
When I win something or someone gives something to me, I get weird about it. It truly is special, therefore I do odd things like create a short novel about it.
Thanks for letting me share.
Comments
Congrats and cool story!
m
Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
Congratulations, great story, that is awesome!
Nice item, and very classy looking.
You deserve it after that hard fought handicapping contest win.
Felicidades!
Winning that against that many other contestants is very impressive. Seriously.
And that's a great prize! You earned it.
I like this story a lot. Thanks for sharing it!
Only thing that would of made the plaque even better is if it had SN 0034 for his uniform number.
Awesome!!! Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy!
"I spent 50% of my money on alcohol, women, and gambling. The other half I wasted.
Congratulations bud! That is awesome, great story and I’m happy for you 🍻👍👍👏
Neat, congrats!
Congratulations.
http://www.unisquare.com/store/brick/
Ralph
Sweetness
One of the best photos EVER! Walter ran over my Vikings a lot and I always thought he was the best I ever saw.
NICE!
I just re-visited this post. I really, really like this story and I appreciate you sharing it. I try to give little glimpses into me as a person, and I enjoy reading tidbits about all of you as well.
As for Payton, he makes me think back to my childhood. I was a ten year old Patriots fan when the Bears "beat" us in the Super Bowl. In the words of a local Dallas sports writer and commentator, "sports is fluid". I am sure Bears fans expected more SB wins after SB XX. And I am sure Patriots fans were pretty hopeless. But you never know what the future brings, in sports or "real life", and it is best to enjoy the ride. There was something magical about that losing Patriots team, as my fellow fans can understand (squish the fish, etc). Community, and shared experiences (such as found here) really do mean a lot. I realize this comment is a bit all over the place, but I hope I got my point across.