I'll bet you ____ that ____

March 13, 2008 6:59 AM

Looking for some ideas for sporting-team-related-bets - I'm a Red Sox fan, coworker is a Yankees fan, and we're looking for ideas for both bets (e.g., Which team wins more games) and payoffs (e.g., loser has to wear opposing team's jersey to work for a day)

We're looking to avoid monetary bets, and he's already taken tattoos off the table. Fun/slightly embarassing ideas are good, permanent/potentially job-losing ideas are probably over the line. For bets, so far we've discussed # of wins, playoff finish, team ERA, team batting average, and team OPS, but I'm sure the hive mind has far more ideas than we could come up with.

If it matters or helps, he's in NYC, I'm in Boston, and we both work in IT consulting. We'd like to get as many small bets as possible lined up by the end of spring training. Thanks!

posted by um_maverick to sports, hobbies, & recreation (7 answers total)

I would bet who has a better record against teams with a better than .500 record. For something more random, bet who has less games lost to injury or the DL. You could also bet road attendance measuring who is more popular. Just need to back out Yankee stadium and Fenway park because of the difference in size.

As for the bet, I am partial to the loser having to eat something gross like a tablespoon of wasabi. Also having to post pictures publicly on the web of the loser wearing the other teams uniform and a dress type of payoff works.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 7:09 AM on March 13, 2008

I think stats related bets are kinda weak, but some off the wall bets which will require some news research by you guys:

-How many fights the Yankees can get in with Tampa Bay (do an over/under)
-Winning percentage against an inferior common division opponent (let's say, Tampa Bay)?
-Number of players arrested OR mentioned in a steroids investigation
-How many times during a randomly picked sportscenter "Joe Torre" and "yankees" are mentioned the same sentence.
-How many days out of first place each team is during the year

Just so you know, I hate the Yankees and now the Red Sox. Pirates fan, so you could say I'm an outside observer to baseball success.

I think a Boston related win would require you to wear a Manny dredlock wig and bosox hat to the bars. Not sure where this would be a big deal in New York City, since no one seems to be a real sports fan there.

I think a Yankees related win would require you to wear a yankees clemens jersey for a day out to the bars. In Fenway.
posted by sandmanwv at 7:10 AM on March 13, 2008

Whatever season bets you think of, also consider doing the same ones in head-to-head games. Road attendance is a nice idea, but the Red Sox will always lose (even last year when newspapers were writing stories about Boston surpassing New York in road attendance, Boston was actually under NY after controlling for stadiums). Go for something that will be close.

Having a logo shaved into your heads probably won't get you fired and will be gone within a few weeks or months.

Record against Anaheim would be nice, as they're the only team that's owned the Yankees recently.
posted by aswego at 7:15 AM on March 13, 2008

For the stakes, make the loser write a 5-7 page paper on the history of the opposing franchise, including discussion of their greatest seasons, greatest players, and most memorable victories against their rival. Paper must be re-written until approved by the winner. If paper is late, must include YouTube video of a presentation of the paper to an audience, including PowerPoint slides.

And you've gotta make the bets more like silly prop bets -- Who spends more days on the DL, Shilling or Mussina? Who makes the first starting appearance, Joba Chamberlain or Jonathan Papelbon? Who will lose more often to the Baltimore Orioles? Who has more players suspended under the substance abuse policy?
posted by Rock Steady at 7:17 AM on March 13, 2008 [2 favorites]

Rock Steady is amazing. As far as the bet itself, I'd go with the standard "who will get closer to winning the World Series" bet. (w/awesome side bets of course.) (wow, I totally wrote "sideburns.")
posted by 1 at 8:36 AM on March 13, 2008

Rock Steady, that may be the best bet idea I've ever heard. We're up to 6 bets so far, and we're looking for 10. I expanded on the paper idea a bit to be:

Loser has two weeks from conclusion of world series to write a 5-7 page paper on the history of the opposing franchise, including discussion of their greatest seasons, greatest players, and most memorable victories against their rival. Paper must be properly cited according to MLA guidelines, use wikipedia as a reference no more than 5 times, and must cite at least 3 actual paper books named by the winner. Font is 10 point arial, single spaced, 1" margins. Paper must be re-written until approved by the winner. If paper is late, must include YouTube video of a presentation of the paper to an audience, including PowerPoint slides. Rewrites required by winner must be based on concrete feedback - e.g., no "write this again" requests

Still in draft...we'll see what it winds up being.
posted by um_maverick at 10:00 AM on March 13, 2008 [1 favorite]

I prefer APA citations, but wevs. To expand on my re-writing theme, I think the idea is that the paper must express a suitably reverential and respectful tone. When the Sox prove their dominance this year, I want this guy's paper to sound like he's Doris Kearns Goodwin. Also, you might want to agree on some seriously punitive financial penalty (an amount that would be painful to you both -- maybe not the same amount if one of you is more well-off than the other) that must be donated to the Jimmy Fund or ... (do the Yankees even have a charity?) if the paper (and presentation) is not completed in, say a month.
posted by Rock Steady at 10:53 AM on March 13, 2008