For almost as far back as I can remember I've been expecting to win the big prize. Way back then it was the Publisher's Clearinghouse Giveaway. That prize used to be a million dollars but I was only ten years old so that was almost enough. As the years rolled by, my expectations have increased. I don't think ten million is enough. I don't think seven thousand dollars a week is enough. But it seemed like five hundred million might be as close to enough as I would ever get.
There was the little matter of building a winning bracket. In the Quicken Loans contest it isn't enough to have the best percentage. You have to have a perfect bracket. You have to predict the winner of each of the 31 games. The mathematical odds of winning are listed as 9,223,372,036,854,775,808. Translating that into words the odds of winning this prize are 9 quintillion, 223 quadrillion, 372 trillion, 26 billion, 854 million, 775 thousand, 8 hundred and 8 to 1.
But I don't have a perfect bracket. I don't win the $500,000,000. So I guess there's no reason to continue my daydreaming about what I'd do with that money. More's the pity. I had such great plans for it.
Why did I even try? I can answer that one. I like to dream about how to use large amounts of cash. And I've heard the joke about the blonde who prayed and prayed to the Lord. "Lord, please let me win the lottery." And then she prayed some more but still she didn't win. When she made it through the Pearly Gates that was her first question. "Why didn't you let me win the lottery?" The answer came back: "Give me a little help here. You have to buy a ticket."
I was just doing my part.