An Introduction

“It’s been a long time coming. I was nervous, waiting,”
--First ballot Hall of Famer, Rickey Henderson

There’s something about the above quote that just makes me feel so... pleased with the way that people work. I have no doubt that Rickey was nervous. I have no doubt that Rickey was waiting. I also have no doubt that Rickey gave no thought to the fact that he could not have been inducted to the MLB Hall of Fame any sooner than he was because the Hall of Fame makes everyone wait five years from their retirement year before they can possibly be inducted. Rickey probably didn’t give this fact any thought because Rickey probably didn’t care to learn the Hall of Fame eligibility rules. Rickey always wanted to play baseball. Rickey still wants to play baseball. And Rickey was one of the greatest to ever play the game.

Here at Bank and Balls it is not our intention to follow the traditional rules of sports writing, nor is it our intention to acknowledge that there are traditional rules of anything. We just want to blog about what it is that we do. We are heavy drinkers. We are gamblers. We are sports fans first and everything else second. Oh sure, some us are spouses; some of us are even parents. We are responsible human beings who understand that sports coverage is overblown and taken way too seriously by fans and the media alike. We don’t care 'bout any of that here.

We want to write about sports through the perspective of those who not only enjoy sports as nothing more than entertainment, but also as those who love to wager on the outcomes of games, and as such we wish to help everyone enjoy the facts that 1) sports are taken too seriously, 2) that money and sports gambling are not taken seriously enough and 3) that we are good looking, hilariously cool individuals who will make you laugh.

Our humble cast is as follows:

My name is Nathan DeGraaf and I will be your mediator of the experience that is this blog.

Dirty Dave and Scotty the Handicapper will do the grunt work, letting you know what bets they make, why they make them and why they are better than you at making money off the efforts of over-hyped athletes.

Nikki the Bartender will provide the still relatively interesting perspective of the attractive and knowledgeable female fan.

We do this because we are heroes, we do this because we have addictions, but mainly we do it because busting on each other in the local pubs has limited our capacity to insult one another to the grassroots level of mere conversation. The internet deserves our bullshit.

We are happy to be here. It has been a long time coming, this blog. We were nervous, waiting. But we’re glad the day has come.

Welcome to Bank and Balls.