Shload

The word for today is "shload". It means "a whole lot of something" and is a contraction of the phrase "shit load". I used the word "shload" several times yesterday.

I used "shload" to describe the Super Bowl as in "there is a shload of Pittsburgh fans at the game." Every time ESPN did something live from Detroit - the ratio of Steeler fans to Seahawk fans was like 10 to 1. There are also a shload of Steeler fans betting on the game and this has driven up the line to Steelers -4.5 (at last check).

The betting line does not reflect who the bookies think will win the game. It reflects a number that the bookies think will equal off the action. They want as much money to come in on one side as comes in on the other so they can make money on the "vig". The line for this game is artificially high, driven up by Steeler fans who are going to bet their team come hell or high water - which makes taking Seattle a good bargain. Yeah Pittsburgh is a team with a superior defense and a young quarterback who is a winner and very cool under fire. But remember that description also fit the Carolina Panthers and Jake Delhomme. I can't ever recall a 13-3 team getting as little respect as the Seahawks are getting.

I'm feeling pretty good about taking Seattle - especially now that the Sports Guy Bill Simmons has picked Pittsburgh. Simmons was the guy who lost a NFL game picking contest to a dog and is known for making stupid picks using fuzzy logic only to come back the following week to write a "who could have seen that coming" column.

Another subject on which I uttered "shload" a few time was Vietnam. You may be asking, "Vietnam? Chris why are you thinking about Vietnam two days before the Super Bowl?" Well yesterday was an important anniversary in US / Vietnamese relations. On February 3rd in 1994 - Bill Clinton lifted the trade embargo with Vietnam. Since the lifting of the embargo - the US has quickly become the biggest importer of Vietnamese goods (about 20.2% of Vietnamese exports with Japan second at 13.6% according to the CIA World Handbook). That's a shload of business with the US. I imagine most of it goes to homesick Vietnamese who came here after the war. I was also impressed by how many people are in Vietnam. Over 83 million people in a country just a bit bigger than New Mexico. That's a shload of people. The final bit if information I learned about Vietnam yesterday is that they are the most optimistic people in the world. About 75% of Vietnamese are confident that 2006 will be better than 2005. This is three years running that the Vietnamese have been the most optimistic people in the world.

The final subject on which I uttered the word "shload" was in regard to the boycott of Denmark by Islamic nations. It takes a shload of balls to make a big deal out of boycotting something you never use in the first place. The major exports of Denmark include dairy products, furniture, meat (hmmm bacon). I doubt Saudi Arabia had much use for Danish cheese or pork sausages to begin with. Its like me saying I'm going to boycott jeri-curl products because Pedro Martinez signed with the Mets instead of staying with the Red Sox.