YEAH BAYBIE...

I wanted to break out of the mold at The Other America’s Team and get into the madness that is March. And because of the harsh economic times, we thought a great way to supplement some of our lost income would be to bet on sports games.

Since the Packers are a NFC North team, I’ll choose a game in the Big 10, and because I’m a Hawkeye fan I’ll be betting on the #7 seeded Michigan Wolverines versus the #10 seeded Iowa Hawkeyes.

Also, because The Other America’s Team headquarters is so closely located to the University of Iowa campus it just made sense to interview the students. Oh and we’re not interviewing them because I want to make small talk, I’m interviewing them because I need some odds BAYBIE. I won’t be using a spread or any other crazy Vegas invention, I’m just betting straight up.

I made it out to the campus this morning to start my interviews and let’s say that Hawk Fever is still in a very dilapidated, rundown state. If the basketball enthusiasm had to be rated on a scale of 1 to 10, I’d give it a 13 because that’s probably how many people believe the Hawks have a shot at winning the tournament, and yes, those 13 people are all on the team.

However, there were a few out there that gave Iowa a chance.

Kyle Bowlsby, a junior at the UI, left the outcome of the game to a flip of the coin.

“I’d say 50/50,” Bowlsby said. “They’re rebuilding and getting better.”

Alright so there’s one on the board. I made my way down the hall of the journalism building with notebook in hand and met a young woman named Olivia Petersen who was able to offer some of her insider knowledge.

“I didn’t really know there was a game, “Petersen, a junior at the UI said.

OK

Let’s just keep moving on. My next two victims were both in the throes of school work, so it only made sense that I interrupt them.

“Excuse me,” I said. “Can I ask you about the basketball game going on today?”

The student I asked, Jason Manola a junior at the UI, turned and looked not surprised that I had asked him for a smoke of his basketball knowledge, but rather that I must have been smoking something other than knowledge to ask a question about a team who placed second to last, right above an Indiana Hoosier team that saw no longer Head Coach, Kelvin Sampson, illegally messaging anyone in the state of Indiana that had college basketball illegibility.

“What are the chances Iowa wins,” I said.

“I’d say 10 percent,” Manola said. “But you never know.”

And thus I stumbled upon the crux of my problem. I believe that Bowlsby was right in saying that it was 50/50, so I chalked that up to a win for Iowa but then Manola told me Iowa had a 10 percent chance at winning and said anything can happen. And let us not forget the wonderful Ms. Petersen who had no idea that a game was going on.

I needed a tie-break and I found one.

When I reached Shawn Reader, a senior at the UI, he was clearly working on something more important than the contents of this story. Now I’m not saying this for sure, but he was working on a paper that was filled with complex formulas and graphs and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to weigh the insight of a possibly gifted mathematician.

So I introduced myself, and asked him my first question.

“Odds Iowa wins today, “I said.

Reader turned from his work and said…

“They’ll lose because that seems to be their trend.”

“So what odds would you give them?”

“.1 percent,” Reader said.

(So that’s how my day started. Since then, I’ve made it back to the office and have started to place my bet.)

And here I am on the phone ready to place my bet and all I can think about is Reader giving Iowa a .1 chance.

“Sir?” the woman on the phone says. “Who will you be betting on.”

With Reader’s words bouncing through my head I knew I should be rational and make the right decision.

“Ahhh… put me down for Iowa.” I said in a confidently, forgetful matter.

- Shawn Reader
- Kyle Bowlsby
- Olivia Petersen
- Jason Manola