For Future Reference

I'll bet you I know the score of this year's Super Bowl before it starts. Don't shout out the answer if you already know. That's because the season is here and the time is right to make prognostications in the street. And not just for major sporting events. It's also time to start handicapping for the big Academy Awards pool that I never manage to coerce enough people at my school site to participate in. There's also the 2016 Presidential Race to consider. So much remains unknown, and yet we feel compelled to try and justify our certainty. Some of it with wagering.
I wouldn't bet on much of what is about to happen, since very little of it involves my active participation. I would bet that I will consume chips of some sort over the next few weekends, and that I will rush about over the next few weeks to try and take in as many of the nominated films and performances that the Academy has deemed noteworthy. I would bet that many of my expectations will fall flat on their metaphorical faces as reality intrudes. I would bet that no matter how bad I want something to happen, things will have a way of turning out the way they will. That's how this future thing works.
I won't make a lot of predictions. That will only lead to heartache. I can say that over time, I am pretty satisfied with the culminating force of good over bad, happy over sad. Disappointment is a transient thing that is generally doubled by losing money. I bet on the Denver Broncos once, a long time ago, to win a playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. I lost five dollars. I also have to acknowledged this loss just about every single time I encounter this friend who made this bet with me eight years ago. I don't get to bring up the fact that Tim Tebow beat some of those same Steelers two years ago. We didn't bet on that. Nor do I get to point out that I average over seventy-five percent on my Oscar picks. It doesn't matter because it wasn't a bet.
I'll bet I've learned my lesson.