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Chalk

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Satchel Pooch, Mar 20, 2007.

  1. Satchel Pooch

    Satchel Pooch Member

    WTF?

    I heard Mike, Mike and Dick Vitale mention the bracket being chalk this year three times in the span of 10 minutes this morning.

    I heard my local sports guy mention chalk. I heard it on SportsCenter.

    I have no idea what this means. Is this a new thing this year that everyone's saying all of a sudden?
     
  2. Dude

    Dude Well-Known Member

    I've heard if for a few years now. I have no idea of the orgin, but basically it means the predictable has pretty much happened. Pretty much all the top seeds have moved on in the tournament and there weren't any notable upsets yet.
     
  3. spnited

    spnited Active Member

    Wow, do you kiddies need an education.

    Chalk is an old gambling term for the favorite.

    This was the best I could find as to it origin:

    Chalk - When a horse is the favorite -- or has the most money bet on it -- that horse is termed the "chalk." Interestingly, this term comes from the pre-computer era of the bookie. When a bookie recorded bets on a blackboard, the odds would change over and over as more and more people bet on the favorite. The horse became known as the "chalk" because the horse's name would disappear in chalk dust as the bookie constantly erased and lowered the horse's odds.
     
  4. Dude

    Dude Well-Known Member

    Thanks.

    Now, what was life like before light bulbs?

    ;D
     
  5. MileHigh

    MileHigh Moderator Staff Member

    Kids these days, sprnited. ;)
     
  6. John

    John Well-Known Member

    Forde has used it a couple of times recently and Wetzel used it in his column today (or yesterday).

    It's an somewhat obscure expression -- at least for the younger generation (or morons like me, apparently) -- but it's getting a lot of play lately.
     
  7. Oz

    Oz Well-Known Member

    The "PTI" guys have used it this week, too. Seems like the phrase of the week.
     
  8. EStreetJoe

    EStreetJoe Well-Known Member

    The prognosticator that my paper uses to supply us with the lines and predictions uses it all the time. It drives me crazy.
     
  9. spnited

    spnited Active Member

    Why would it dirve you crazy Joe? It is a long used and commonly accepted term among gamblers .. and who are you running betting lines for if not the gamblers?
     
  10. For us old guys, spirited. That's who.
    Next week on "Know Your Elders" -- spirited and F_B tell tales of Grantland Rice and the Vikings.
     
  11. spnited

    spnited Active Member

    Would that be the Fran Tarkenton Vikings or the Joe Kapp Vikings?
     
  12. playthrough

    playthrough Moderator Staff Member

    Sheesh, I didn't think it was a generational thing. I know "chalk" but I'm not ancient.

    But yes, I'll agree it's being used even more than normal during this NCAA run. People are just trying to be cute.
     
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