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"Ducks guerilla blogger"
http://itlan.is-a-geek.com/ • United States • 38 Years Old • Male

What a season!

Posted 3:27 AM ET | Comments 8
Well it ended exactly as I predicted in July of last year. On July 4th I was in Las Vegas with my wife on a vacation. Due to a glitch in the reservation system on Vegas.com for the Flamingo, me and about 4 other guys got 9 rooms total for exactly $0.23.... That's 23 cents American. Yes, technology is cool. The Flamingo cancelled our reservations, but then reinstated our rooms at the original price for fear of our powerful clout.... apparently. But I digress...

While standing in the newly renovated section of the Harrah's casino on the strip, I got a text message from a fellow Ducks fan stating the Ducks had acquired Pronger (a few days earlier). The area that was being renovated included a very nice Sports Book with tons of monitors and odds listings. So, I took a peek.

The Ducks were listed at 12/1 to win the Cup. Not bad, middle of the pack really. Rangers were 20/1, Predators were 8/1. Detroit and Buffalo were the favorites at 5/1 each.

My wife is really into the whole karma-balance thing... Can't touch the Neidermayer brothers bobble-head on the table... Have to eat at the same Del Taco before every game... etc etc blah blah blah. She was opposed to me betting any amount of money on sports, let alone the Ducks. But 12/1 was easy money in my mind.

With Pronger and Skeeter, Teemu, the Kids (Perry, Getzlaf, and Penner), Jiggy, Bryz... etc. the Ducks had the strongest team I had seen them assemble in all my years of watching them (10 years, same amount of time I've been with my wife, my wife is the fanatic).

What the hell, throw $20 down, if they lose could it really have been my fault? If they win, a little spending cash next time we were on vacation... So I did it... while my wife was in the bathroom. I told her when she came out, and also said we can't lose the ticket because it'll be worth $260. She didn't freak.

When we got home from the vacation, life was back to normal. 3 or 4 weeks later, I remembered the ticket! Where was it! Frantically searched the suitcase, nothing. Searched the credit card receipts, nothing. Oh my God! Did it get thrown out!? Nah, it was in the suitcase, I just didn't look hard enough.

Well, season's over. Ducks won. I won. And it so happens that we are going to Vegas this weekend on our way to Utah for a little camping and river rafting. Perfect timing. In fact, we were a little worried because if the series went longer than 6 games, we would not even know the results because we would be about 300 miles from a television, and no cell phone service!!

So the question is... Let it ride? One source has the Ducks at 11/2 to win it again next year.... Not exactly great odds, comparatively.

It's been great chatting hockey with you guys all season... I hope it continues all summer long. And the start of next season is just 3 short months away! I will be absent from HockeyBuzz for a few weeks while I recharge the batteries somewhere in SE Utah... Desolation Canyon? Sounds relaxing!

RELAX DUCKS! (GO DUCKS! is saved until the season begins)
Filed Under:   Ducks   Pronger   Stanley Cup   Vegas   Utah   Betting   Itlan  
June 7, 2007 1:23 PM ET | Delete
Nice background, but this is impossible to read with suffering an aneurysm first.
June 7, 2007 1:39 PM ET | Delete
Sorry... I realized that, and tried to adjust the text color... I will fix it.
June 7, 2007 3:31 PM ET | Delete
Let me ride, what's $260? If you win at 11/2 that $1430. But do it smart, ask to bet in Canadian because next year the loonie will be worth more than the yankee grenback
June 7, 2007 4:59 PM ET | Delete
Good suggestion.
June 8, 2007 12:50 PM ET | Delete
I'll begrudging congratulate your team, Itlan. I still think my Wings were better and your Ducks a bit fortunate in our series (yes, I'm in denial still). And I think everyone knew the winner of our series was going to win the Cup. So enjoy it while you can. One thing though. Next season doesn't start in 3 months. More like 3 weeks. July 1 is when the free agent frenzy begins and my Wings will start retooling to topple your Ducks. We're gunning for you in a WCF rematch next season.....
June 8, 2007 3:04 PM ET | Delete
sWuave24... Thanks. Detroit was really the best competition for the Ducks by a long shot. They were the only team that was able to really counteract the Ducks game plan. Game 5... Ducks were fortunate. Game 1 Wings were fortunate. The rest of the games were won by the better teams, in my opinion. The Road to the Cup passes thru Detroit!!
June 8, 2007 4:39 PM ET | Delete
Actually the Road to the Cup now goes through Anaheim. They've earned it. Our series was pretty darn close. You guys scored a couple more key goals at key times and that was the difference. All signs point toward a rematch in the WCF next year. Celebrate like crazy this summer....
June 12, 2007 12:37 AM ET | Delete
I'M BACK ON HOMIE! Nice blog btw. Sorry that I couldn't get back to you earlier because I had finals and I will be having more this wednesday and thursday....PIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSSSSS! Have a nice weekend Itlan. Hope you join me on hockeybuzz sooon. OH yeah...we have to really meet each other one day or call each other up haha. Texting's for chics man haha jk.
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