Super Bowl XVI

Picture it...January 24, 1982, I was six years old and the man on the block, probably dressed in some really stupid sweater with a butterfly collar on underneath it (man my parents dressed me bad)...anyway, I was at church, should have been focusing on what Bob West (the preacher of Grace Chapel - a church of about 30 people in Dover, Ohio) was saying, but what was honestly on my mind was the score of the game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the S.F. 49ers...Now I realize that most six year olds are not too concerned with the outcome of the Super Bowl, but not this six year old...you see I had a week's allowance riding on this game (or in 1982 terms - 1/2 of a Star Wars figure) - a whole $1.00!

A couple of days before, I was playing down the street with my good buddies Andy Zolner and Laverne Duke (that really was his name). Andy and I began to discuss the game and of course I was for my boy Ken Anderson (Bengals QB)...btw, now that I think about it, I dont think I knew any of the player's names for Cin...what I did know was I had a Bengals helmet in my garage that my Dad had made using a Cleveland Browns helmet and some black electrical tape (for the stripes) - so from that alone, I was an expert! One thing led to another and the next thing you knew - a whole dollar was riding on this game...you guessed it, I had taken the Bengals and Andy had taken the 49ers...this was a lock! - how stupid could he be?

Well, unfortunately when I got home from church and found out that the Bengals had lost to the 49ers 26-21, I had to go to my Dad and explain how I had just lost a dollar to Andy in a bet...oh and btw, I need to borrow a dollar too...

...I believe I cried as I told my father what I had done and I believe he shared with me that betting is not a good thing and I should not do it anymore. Man, do I wish I had taken that advice...especially when I was about 18 and started hanging around Kent Stevens...but that is for another story and another blog...

Moral of the story you ask? - Don't tell your Dad when you are six years old that you just lost a bet to a buddy!