Sometimes It Pays To Bet On Longshots

Well, hello there and thanks for surfing my wave!

Vices – everybody’s got at least one.  Admit it; you’ve got one, too.  Everybody.  What we hope is that we don’t pass ours along to our children.  Let them pick and choose.  Just hope and pray it isn’t smoking, drugs or alcohol.  Oh yea, that one…Gambling…

When I became a teenager, my mother, against her mother’s wishes, took me to play bingo.  That first outing I won a couple of hundred dollars and it only cost me around 25 bucks.  I even think my mother paid – even worse.  Boy what fun that was!  I kept going, and I kept winning, mostly.  I never spent more than thirty.  Pretty simple and tame.  Occasionally I’d lose – about half the time.  Lucky.

Then as I hit my 20’s, we graduated to the Big Time: Thoroughbred Racing.  This, ladies and gentlemen, is an addiction.  Sound the Bugle!  Oh yea, gambling.  If I had all the money in the world, and word on the street is there ain’t much left of that so even that dream is becoming a universal pastime, the ponies would be my heaven on earth.  Love ‘Em.  And many time$, they love me back.

Did ya’ll see the 135th Run for the Roses – The Kentucky Derby this past Saturday?  Mine That Bird at 50 to 1.  Now I’m sure a lot goes into naming a horse; look at what it takes to name your pet.  Something tells me that what you call the horse and what the paddock calls it is different.  I tried researching that; looking for names and history and stuff.  Nothing; the only thing I found on this animal, specifically, was Mine That Bird, the son of 2004 Belmont Stakes winner Birdstone.  I did find out that Mine That Bird was purchased for only $9500 less than two years ago.  Talk about return on investment – pennies if you study what “really good” horses sell for.  Names are like royalty; they go way back and appear to be somewhat orchestrated and planned.  Let’s focus on the Jockey, Calvin Borel.  Watching and listening to him as he took his Victory Lap to The Winners Circle to claim The Roses (think back to Robert The Red-Nosed Race Horse) was akin to the excitement of your kid just becoming toilet trained or having just found the Last Golden Ticket for admission into Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory.  Memorable, sensational and unpredictable.

Longshots – what dreams are made of.  My mother kept telling me that I was always looking for the longshot.  Well, if you don’t bet on them, how can you possibly maximize your bet and win a ton?  Breaking even is a bad investment; if you’re willing to spend within your budget, go for it, baby!

I also believe in the ageless question, “What’s in a name?”  Let’s take a brief canter around that Winners’ Circle of Horseracing Longshots: Exterminator (1918), Dark Star (1953), Thunder Gulch (1995), Bold Venture (1936), War Emblem (2002).  Pretty threatening and intimidating names, right?  If your mother called you Dark Star, how many friends would you have?  When it comes to names, horseracing is a whole different breed in my bookie.  I am driven to the name and by the name.  Workouts and statistics daze me.  I like the Exotics when it comes to betting; the Exacta, specifically.  I would have had Mine That Bird – but paired with another horse…which did not Place.  So, what?  It’s all in the chase; The Longshot!

Finding work in this broken down world is more than a rat race – it is indeed a horse race.  And last I checked The Morning Line, getting a job was quite larger than 99-1.  Why don’t you and I buy a horse, screw its lineage and call it “Employment”.  I’d bet it across the board and bet it heavy.  It would win, too.  Looking for work is a great deal of work.  A lot of betting.  Do you take a cut in pay for better future prospects at that Company or for an easier commute?  Are you looking to travel less?  Smaller size outfit?  Lots of things here to weigh and consider – all of it meaningless for the time being.  First, we need the interview.  How do we bet this at better odds?  Nothing these days is a sure bet.  In life, what ever is?  Histrionics are for the historians and statistics are for the statisticians; I have always led my life as a realist.  History deals in the past, which today is dead.  You can learn from its lessons, but truthfully how many are using it for that?  Statistics deal with the laws of probability.  What in life lately has been probable?  Like I’ve posted before, we must course our own waters looking at the future and what it brings.  Instincts & Guts.  The next horse we buy and name.  If the owners and all those connected with so-called longshots don’t dream and go for it, find the best people out there to nurture their dream – trainers, vets, stable, jockey – and take a risk, these people wouldn’t be in the position they are today.

So position yourself for success; know where your investments lie and what kind of payout you’re looking for.  Reach for the Stars (that name’s probably taken) and Take A Risk (as well).  Don’t go all in or throw in the towel either.  In looking for that needle in the haystack we call a job, stick to your guns and don’t settle on even money; you’ll just break even, won’t win anything and won’t have any fun watching the race.  And you never know, you might become addicted to winning.  Your way.

Why Just Look For A Job? Create One! (TM)

-TheUnemployMENTOR - email@theunemploymentor.com

Tagged as: horse racing, Longshots, the rat race