First Jerky Bowl doesn't go my way, and why would it?

Good morning sport fans, its your community newspaper publisher here. The Op/Ed page of the PCN is getting a little cramped with Pierre’s Play Ball, Parker’s outdoor column and Brandon’s Power: Elaborate thinking, so I have pushed myself to the back pages to write a weekly column on the topic I know best (or better than others) …sports!

It has been nearly 10 years since I have penned a sports column so stick with me while I shake the rust off of the keyboard and clear the cobwebs out of the old noodle.

This week in the sporting world, my Oakland Raiders – The Autumn Wind – battled Pierre’s Chicago Bears – the Monsters of the Midway – on Sunday. Prior to the game (and because the Raiders were favored to win for the first time in 27 games) I approached my sports editor about a wager. The two of us had just gotten done splitting a bag of peppered beef jerky when the idea struck. Winner of the game between our teams would receive a bag of jerky – not to be shared – from the loser.

I should have known this wouldn’t end well for me as minutes after the bet was placed and hands where shook, I walked over to Albertsons and quickly noticed the bags of jerky were no longer on sale for the screaming deal that they were offered for only hours before the bet was cemented.

The second clue that this bet would cost me money was the fact that Monday, the day after the contest was to be held, was Pierre’s birthday. The final deal breaker for his Bears to beat my Raiders was the fact that Oakland, as I have stated, was a 3-point favorite in the contest. The last time Oakland was favored in a football game was against the Philadelphia Eagles, a game that saw Eagle’s QB Nick Foles throw for 7 touchdowns in a 49-20 romp.

With luck not on my side – and the Raider defense playing softer than the inside of a puppy’s ears – Pierre and the Bears were victorious, beating my boys in Silver and Black on a last second field goal, 22-20.

Pierre is the winner of the first ever Jerky Bowl and happy-stinking-birthday to him. Today I will go fetch him a bag of peppered jerky (at full retail) and for his birthday, Pierre will get to scrub the toilets at the PCN office (enjoy, my friend.)

PCN Pick of the week is Barb Schlocker’s Denver Broncos over my Raiders, 31-13. With any luck, I have just placed the same voodoo on Barb that I placed on myself last week.

Mahalo and Aloha.