I haven't yet seen the movie "Two for the Money", but the trailer is all I need see to figure out the basis of this story. How do I know, you may ask? I was there in the late 1980's and witness it happen. You might say, "what happened"? Well, the premise of the movie is a famous and powerful public <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com
ffice:smarttags" /><st1:State w:st="on"><st1
lace w:st="on">New York</st1lace></st1:State> sport handicapper lures with cash a telemarketing salesman to work for him - supposedly because of his great handicapping skills!<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>
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It did sort of happen like that, but the guy he lured to the Big Apple was not a sports handicapper, or even a telemarketing salesman. He was a score phone announcer working for a major <st1:City w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">Las Vegas</st1lace></st1:City> sports handicapping service! I am not going to name names here only because it will be more fun for you to "fill in the blanks". <o></o>
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Start first by looking at the movie’s credits for cast members. You'll see that Matthew McConaughy is playing the main character “Brandon Lang” - the fellow who is paid to come to <st1:State w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">New York</st1lace></st1:State>. If you look at the full cast list, you’ll come to an actor that has almost the same name as McConaughy’s character - there are only two letters different in the last name. That’s the real-life guy and he is playing a bit cameo role in the movie "... Man Greeting <st1:City w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">Brandon</st1lace></st1:City> #1”. So, if you watch the movie carefully you will probably see the real-life “Wonder Boy” at the beginning of the movie.<o></o>
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No one alerted me to this… I just picked up on it. In the late 1980’s I had many telephone conversations with this famous <st1:State w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">New York</st1lace></st1:State> sports handicapper that Al Pacino plays. I would sell him 900 # score phone advertising and our “Wonder Boy” score phone announcer would read “Mr. <st1:State w:st="on">New York</st1:State>’s” advertising copy, or sometimes “Mr. <st1:State w:st="on">New York</st1:State>” would call into <st1:City w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">Las Vegas</st1lace></st1:City> to do a live feed. So, that’s how the two of them first got together. After liberal tipping and spiffing, “Mr. <st1:State w:st="on">New York</st1:State>” eventually convinced “Wonder Boy” to come <st1:State w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">New York</st1lace></st1:State> and work for him. For many years after that “Wonder Boy” was featured on “Mr. <st1:State w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">New York</st1lace></st1:State>’s” TV sports handicapping shows as a sports handicapping personality. <o></o>
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So that’s basis of the movie. All the rest I suspect will be just “Hollywood Hype”. “Mr. <st1:State w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">New York</st1lace></st1:State>” was one of the more “flamboyant and screaming” public sports handicappers of the time. The major <st1:City w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">Las Vegas</st1lace></st1:City> handicapping service is still going strong and you can see their sports handicapping show Saturday mornings on cable TV- and yes I am still there.<o></o>
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Now, go fill in the blanks.
The Danester<o></o>
ffice:smarttags" /><st1:State w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">New York</st1lace></st1:State> sport handicapper lures with cash a telemarketing salesman to work for him - supposedly because of his great handicapping skills!<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o><o
></o>It did sort of happen like that, but the guy he lured to the Big Apple was not a sports handicapper, or even a telemarketing salesman. He was a score phone announcer working for a major <st1:City w:st="on"><st1
lace w:st="on">Las Vegas</st1lace></st1:City> sports handicapping service! I am not going to name names here only because it will be more fun for you to "fill in the blanks". <o></o><o
></o>Start first by looking at the movie’s credits for cast members. You'll see that Matthew McConaughy is playing the main character “Brandon Lang” - the fellow who is paid to come to <st1:State w:st="on"><st1
lace w:st="on">New York</st1lace></st1:State>. If you look at the full cast list, you’ll come to an actor that has almost the same name as McConaughy’s character - there are only two letters different in the last name. That’s the real-life guy and he is playing a bit cameo role in the movie "... Man Greeting <st1:City w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">Brandon</st1lace></st1:City> #1”. So, if you watch the movie carefully you will probably see the real-life “Wonder Boy” at the beginning of the movie.<o></o><o
></o>No one alerted me to this… I just picked up on it. In the late 1980’s I had many telephone conversations with this famous <st1:State w:st="on"><st1
lace w:st="on">New York</st1lace></st1:State> sports handicapper that Al Pacino plays. I would sell him 900 # score phone advertising and our “Wonder Boy” score phone announcer would read “Mr. <st1:State w:st="on">New York</st1:State>’s” advertising copy, or sometimes “Mr. <st1:State w:st="on">New York</st1:State>” would call into <st1:City w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">Las Vegas</st1lace></st1:City> to do a live feed. So, that’s how the two of them first got together. After liberal tipping and spiffing, “Mr. <st1:State w:st="on">New York</st1:State>” eventually convinced “Wonder Boy” to come <st1:State w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">New York</st1lace></st1:State> and work for him. For many years after that “Wonder Boy” was featured on “Mr. <st1:State w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">New York</st1lace></st1:State>’s” TV sports handicapping shows as a sports handicapping personality. <o></o><o
></o>So that’s basis of the movie. All the rest I suspect will be just “Hollywood Hype”. “Mr. <st1:State w:st="on"><st1
lace w:st="on">New York</st1lace></st1:State>” was one of the more “flamboyant and screaming” public sports handicappers of the time. The major <st1:City w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">Las Vegas</st1lace></st1:City> handicapping service is still going strong and you can see their sports handicapping show Saturday mornings on cable TV- and yes I am still there.<o></o><o
></o>Now, go fill in the blanks.
The Danester<o
></o>
