I just spent this past weekend in Las Vegas for a bachelor party. The group decided to go old-school and spent the entire time downtown--what had been for many years downtrodden. But Fremont Street has undergone a massive renovation (such as the Fremont Street Experience light show) and the casino hotel where we stayed, the Golden Nugget, was the best on the block. (If it's good enough to host Regis Philbin and Tony Bennett, it's good enough to host me.) The great advantage of staying at the Nugget are the cheap tables (such as $5 craps and blackjack). The lowest bet at the Sports Book is also $5 and you get a free drink coupon to boot. Of course this does attract a more colorful crowd but it's also all the more entertaining.

And speaking of the Sports Book, there was nothing worse than getting burned by the Steelers who failed miserably to cover the spread (9.5 at the time). By overtime I was rooting for the Jets (along with a lot of angry bettors). My money would have been better waged on the Georgetown-Villanova game. Despite playing on Villanova's campus in front of a packed crowd commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Wildcats's victory over the Hoyas in the NCAA final, the Hoyas managed to squeak out another win. By sheer coincidence, the final score was 66-64, the same score for the 1985 game. Even 20 years late, revenge is sweet.