8A — THE OBSERVER
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2020
SPORTS/NATION
Look inside for a copy of our special section ‘Sidelined’
n the horizon is a
glimmer of hope, a
potential sign of a return
to normalcy — the plan by the
Oregon School Activities Asso-
ciation to start its offi cial sports
calendar just after Christmas.
O
RONALD
BOND
SPORTS EDITOR
And what a Christmas present
that would be for the athletes,
coaches, fans and even journalists
for whom high school sports is a
major part of life.
If it happens, it would mark the
end of more than nine months of
sitting and wondering.
For area student-athletes
entering their senior year, that
is what they have been doing —
anxiously waiting to see if they
will get to step on the court or
fi eld again.
Many of them not only had
their junior season stripped away
early, but saw their fellow seniors,
for whom it was more excruci-
ating, experience the same fate.
Are they fearful of seeing a
similar conclusion to their fi nal
year in high school? How have
they been handling the long
layoff? Have their perspectives
on life change at all?
Here is where I get to the gist
of this column— to introduce
“Sidelined.”
The intrepid minds heading
the eastern papers of EO Media
Group (Karrine Brogoitti and
Andrew Cutler) wanted us to do
a dive into what life has been
like for Union and Baker county
seniors since the COVID-19 pan-
demic hit in March and upended
everything we know. While about
three to four weeks later, it’s close
to the time we put out our annual
“Kickoff” football preview, but
with no football until late winter,
this was an opportunity to sub-
stitute a different section to still
give our readers features to dig
into.
But since it was more than
just football that was impacted,
it would only make sense to talk
to athletes who do more than just
play on the gridiron.
Inside today’s edition of The
Observer is our “Sidelined” spe-
cial section, aptly named because
that is where sports have been
forced to — the sidelines. We
elected to choose a male and
female student from each Union
and Baker county school who was
a multi-sport athlete and ask them
what the last few months have
been like. Inside are the stories
we wrote about their time waiting
for sports to return, a “Five ques-
tions” segment to help the readers
get to know these athletes a bit
more, and photos of each athlete
we interviewed. Keep an eye on
The Observer website in coming
days, too, as I’ll be posting more
photos from the shoots I did with
the Union County athletes.
I’m grateful to all those who
were involved in getting this spe-
cial section together, and hope
you, the reader, enjoy it.
I also hope, like you and these
athletes, that we’ll get to see them
back on the playing surface soon
and off the sidelines.
That would be an excellent late
Christmas gift.
Here’s a chance to predict the malarkey of Trump-Biden debate, for cash
By Wayne Parry
Associated Press
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J.
— Will “Sleepy Joe” be
the fi rst derisive nickname
President Donald Trump
bestows upon Joe Biden?
Will either candidate
wear a mask onstage? How
many times will Biden say
“Barack Obama?”
Will Trump say “fake
news” or “China” more
often? And will there be a
“malarkey” anywhere?
Some of the country’s
largest sports betting com-
panies are offering free-
to-play contests in which
viewers predict what will
happen at the Tuesday, Sept.
29, presidential debate for
a chance to win real money
or prizes.
It’s the latest example
of how the fast-growing
sports betting industry is
making inroads into main-
stream popular culture. As
of Monday morning, nearly
a half-million people had
entered contests run by
FOX Bet, DraftKings or
FanDuel.
So if you’re up on Dem-
ocrat Biden’s favorite say-
ings, you could win some
money, God love ya. And if
you think you know what
Republican Trump is about
AP Photo/File
Former Vice President Joe Biden, left, and President Donald Trump will meet for the fi rst
presidential debate the evening of Tuesday, Sept. 29. Some of the country’s major sports
betting companies are running contests in which participants predict what will happen or
what the candidates say during the debate for the chance to win money.
to say, you can predict it
very strongly.
“Politics is a really inter-
esting thing to try to pre-
dict,” said Alex Baker, 34,
of Chicago who runs a fan-
tasy sports website. “A lot
of times the betting markets
do the best job of predicting
what the outcome of the
election will be in real life.”
No jurisdiction in
America has legalized bet-
ting on elections, an activity
that’s legal and widespread
in Europe. But because
contestants don’t risk any-
thing of their own to enter
— and this is a debate, not
an election — it’s all legal.
FanDuel and DraftKings
each offer a prize pool of
$50,000 to be split among
top fi nishers; FOX Bet’s
pool is $25,000.
After downloading
the relevant app, contes-
tants make choices in the
same way that sports bet-
tors gamble on things that
will or won’t happen during
a game; such wagers are
called propositions, or
“props” for short.
But instead of predicting
whether Seattle Seahawks
quarterback Russell Wilson
will throw for two or more
touchdowns in a game, con-
testants in the debate pools
will predict things that
might be said and done on
the stage.
One question asks
whether Trump and Biden
greet each other with a
handshake, fi st bump,
elbow bump, an “air high-
fi ve” or no physical greeting
at all.
“I don’t think they’re
going to do anything, not
fi st bump or shake hands
or anything,” said one con-
testant, Matt Marino of
Houston, 36, an executive
with alogistics company.
Among his other pre-
dictions: Biden will wear a
mask; Trump won’t. Biden’s
most frequently uttered
words will be “Barack
Obama,” while Trump will
say “China” more often
than “fake news.”
He also thinks Trump
will say the word “China”
before Biden does, but is
less sure whether the former
vice president will mention
his Corvette.
Part of the idea behind
the contests is to interest
those who don’t currently
bet on sports, get them
familiar with the concept on
free games and hopefully
win them over as paying
sports betting customers.
“As we’ve learned from
states in which we operate
legal sports betting, interest
in wagering stretches
beyond sports,” said Kip
Levin, interim CEO of
FOX Bet. “We also know
that a lot of customers love
the fun aspect of bragging
rights with their friends
and family, and that applies
here, too.”
FanDuel began offering
free prop contests during
the Democratic debates
earlier this year involving
Biden and U.S. Sen. Bernie
Sanders, said Mike Raffen-
sperger, FanDuel’s chief
marketing offi cer.
“We’re thrilled with cus-
tomers’ appetite to use cul-
ture at large as an opportu-
nity to compete with others
for a chance to win cash,”
he said, noting the company
has hosted similar contests
involving reality TV shows.
While some debate
watchers will engage in
drinking games, taking a
slug every time a partic-
ular candidate says or does
a particular thing, Marino
will be waiting for the fi rst
time Trump gives Biden a
nickname.
“He’s defi nitely going
to call him ‘Sleepy Joe,’”
Marino predicted.
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