In search of new options

Updated: 2011-10-16 07:54

By Dusty Lane(China Daily)

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In search of new options

My NFL Sunday starts around, oh, noon on Tuesday.

And that's why something else is probably going to have to fill the void the NBA lockout has left in China.

Anyway, on Tuesday, I start with an early check of the match-ups and gambling lines.

That's followed by six days of trying to stay up to date on injury reports, looking for features on players who caught my eye, reading picks columns and, ultimately, doing everything I can to make some money.

I've also got my Seattle Seahawks to attend to. They appeared to be terrible until they shocked the New York Giants - favored by 10 points, I might add - last weekend.

Then, I've got my buddy Kenny's suicide pool (classy name, right?). You pick one team every week to win, you can't pick that team again, and once you're wrong twice, you're done.

The winner - that would be me last year - receives an envelope full of cash.

Next down the list is a confidence pool. You pick a winner for every game, and rank them according to your confidence level in the outcome. There's a weekly winner, and a season victor.

Last and least is the fantasy football team that's failing to hold my interest, mostly because there's no money at stake.

So when 1:00 am on Monday rolls around and the first game kicks off in Beijing, the $250 or so I shelled out to get the NFL package online is worth it.

Meanwhile, college basketball's March Madness, and its ubiquitous brackets, also has a way of roping in fans. In the middle of February, only the diehards know who the No 3 team in the nation is. By the middle of March, everybody and their mother-in-law has an excruciatingly strong opinion on Hofstra's backup point guard. The sudden wave of crushing cultural relevance is rivaled only by the Olympics and World Cup.

So, maybe there's an opening there. Come next March, if the NBA lockout is still in place, you might see a rush of Chinese becoming overnight experts on the Big-12.

Just make sure and send me a bracket. I'll be looking for a way to make my money back after the football season.

Dusty Lane is the best American sports copy editor at China Daily. You can reach him at dustin.l.lane@gmail.com

(China Daily 10/16/2011 page8)