I Have A Gambling Problem

 The main problem is that I always seem to lose.   In fact, my blogging career was
born over a bet (well, maybe that was more properly a dare) with Al Brophy over
pints one night, when he insisted that I wasn’t gutsy enough to take
my complaints about law school management and faculty productivity
public. 

So I guess it’s only fitting that I now owe
Erik Gerding a blog post and a Duke national champions T-shirt (well,
really Jim Cox, but no matter from my perspective).   Check your
mailbox before you leave for Berlin
(and bring dollars) because I’m sending you a copy of “the
book” this
time.  From chapter one:

A great many of these flesh eaters pass through the pseudo-Gothic
arches of Duke University, “pass through” being the relevant phrase.  Duke is the university as launch pad,
propelling its mostly out-of-state students into a stratosphere of
success.  While hardly opposed to
individual achievement, North Carolina, by contrast, is the University as old
home place, equally devoted to the values of community and local service.  That, at least, is the mythology many
of us swallowed as we grew up.  So
that when one roots for one team or another in the Duke-North Carolina
rivalry, one is cheering as much for opposing concepts of American virtue as
for adolescent geniuses of basketball.

 But things have gone too far when you even owe your mother-in-law
a blog post over a losing bet. 
From The
Telegraph:

Dalai Lama fakes love of cricket to impress India, China
claims

Beijing's ire was voiced earlier this week in an editorial in
the government-run People's Daily newspaper, in which the spiritual leader was
denounced for describing himself as a "son of India" and pretending a
love of cricket to please its government.

"The religious leader was trying to prove to be a worthy
son of India by participating in the country's favourite pastime… Cricket is
one of the most popular sports in India and the Dalai Lama of course has to
have fun with his 'dad' since he wants to be a son of India," the article
said. . . .

The religious leader stayed to the "very last ball"
of the match, drinking tea with Preity Zinta, the Bollywood actress, and
fielding questions from cricketers.

Well, of course he’s faking it: it’s a game that lasts for five
days and takes tea breaks.  To my
mind, there was only
one upside (beyond preserving household harmony) that came from cricket
watching – and he retired.  Now
it’s just pure agony.

So, how about it: anyone else with a blog audience want to
bet me about something? 
Leiter?  Caron?  Hurt?  Any of you Volokh Conspiranators?  The odds are in your favor.

Image source: Tibet
Sun