The 50 grand is still on the table. It’s actually on the tables at five local bars, which are contributing as part of a promotion offering that princely purse for one patron at McGee’s, Durkin’s, Duffy’s, Redmond’s or The Wrightwood Tap when a player returns the second-half kickoff during “Monday Night Football.”
Nice excuse to have a beer on a Monday night, huh?
For each purchase of a Budweiser product, patrons get a raffle ticket. Should the kickoff be run back to the end zone, the tickets from the five Lincoln Park bars will be pooled, and a winner will leave with $50,000. (That is, after he or she buys a few rounds for the house.)
During the first Monday night game of the season we caught up with Greg Wallenbecker of La Grange, who by the second quarter had a number of tickets laid on out his table at McGee’s. “There will be a few more by the end of halftime,” he boasted before ordering another round by shouting to his waitress, “Two more tickets!”
The San Diego Chargers’ Michael Turner failed to reach pay dirt that night, and nobody else has scored off the second-half kickoff this season.
(Last year it happened just once, on Nov. 13, when the Green Bay Packers’ Koren Robinson eluded Giants special-teams defenders.)
Sports books in Las Vegas won’t take such bets. “When you start getting into 80-to-1 or 100-to-1, the liability starts adding up,” explained Jay Kornegay, executive director of race and sports for Las Vegas Hilton.
Of course, at these five bars you aren’t required to proffer any money other than the cost of beers. And if you still need incentive to join your rowdy friends a week from Monday, consider this: The pot is doubled to $100,000 when the Bears are playing. C’mon, Devin Hester!
For more information, visit bar1events.com.