The Wager

I write, today, from a position of extreme confidence, bordering on pride that would push the biblical limits of decency. Allow me to elaborate: Chuck and I have made a bet.

The fundamental details of this legal arrangement are complicated, and, frankly, beyond the scope of this discussion. Suffice to say that when the Toronto Blue Jays finish this regular season with more wins than the Detroit Tigers, I will win a free large coffee from Tim Hortons.

Steady now... I sense your knowing smirk and mildly bemused chuckle. But friends, this, unfortunately, is not a battle of superior intellect and cutting wit. No, this particular war is, in fact, much less firmly in-hand. And yet, I approach this challenge, today, with the same blind optimism with which I made the original wager in the first place.

You see, it is with a profound smugness that I await the arrival of the end of this ever-elongating tunnel. In short, one day, Toronto will rise again as a relevant sports town. And when that day comes, and we're firing on all cylinders, it will truly be a paradise to behold. Of course, the Raptors will never win. The Leafs, however, are getting there. For the first time, 'rebuilding' is more than a catch-phrase.

And the Jays. Let's be honest. Let's, to turn the phrase, call a spade a spade. At some point, the level of disparity in the American League East will reach such a level that Bud Selig will be forced to invoke some form of little known, 'polar-reverse clause.' Memo: from this day forward, by order of the commissioner of Major League Baseball and all affiliates and associations there-in, The Boston Red Sox will trade rosters and coaching staff with the Toronto Blue Jays effective immediately and to be enforced in perpetuity.

But I digress. To the original point of discussion: the bet. A fiercely biased, completely untruthful, far less enjoyable account of the wager, as well as various opinions, both right, and pro-Tigers, can be found at www.dueckman.blogspot.com. Feel free to stop by and leave unfriendly, aggressively pro-canadian comments... much the same as you'd leave a flaming bag of dog crap on the front step of your arch-enemy's house before ringing the doorbell and running away.

JB