Bear's Den: "Super Bowl Sunday -'Drawing A Blank' With 'Cold Feet?' "

Newspaper column submission for the week of February 1, 2009

Boy, it´s Super Bowl Sunday. I don't follow sports much but I sure seem to be where the chilliness is. Yep, it´s also February, and man, it´s cold. I never liked the cold much, but a backer is a backer, eh. Outside is where I feel the closest to the Creator, and I´m on His team. Being a traditional American Indian – what other lineup could I support, hmm? And, even though I don´t favor the cold, I´ll not even try to get out of this game because I´m not much of a risk-taker. Uh-uh, and it´s the nature of a gambler – be it for chanced currency or quivering contentment – to hazard on chance. And me, well, even though I don´t gamble much, I still sometimes selfishly wish, even while saying my prayers outside… a-shaking, a-shivering, and teeth a-chattering in the cold… that I could just ´draw a blank´, go ´back´ inside and say, "hey… ´I have cold feet´."

Now February got its name from the Roman "Month of Purification". It comes from februarius, the Latin word for purification. Every February 15th, the Romans held the ´Festival of Februa´ where folks had to repent and make sacrifices to the gods to atone for their wrongdoings. Yessir, and if I were to try to do my prayers inside, when the outside is available to me, then I´d have to be atoning and making sacrifices, too. And, since I don´t have any sheep, then that would just leave the poor dog or cat for blood offerings. I´m fairly sure that neither would cotton much to the idea, and besides, I have enough trouble without getting the Human Society all het-up with me, too, eh. The three sayings, ´drawing a blank´, ´a backer´ and ´getting cold feet´, well they all have to do with gambling, in one form or fashion. And, while a guy may have to atone to his domestic boss for any lost coin squandered on this game because of his betting, the up-side, for the critters, anyway, is that the only blood that´s shed… is just gonna be his.

But gamblers are gamblers, aren´t they? Um-hmm, and one of the meanings of "drawing a blank" comes from the 1800´s in this country. Yeah, even back then, the lottery was a going thing. A ´blank´ referred to a lottery ticket that didn´t win a prize. So, the unlucky player was referred to as drawing a blank, or having nothing. Yeah, and the word ´backer´ is most probably German in origin, meaning support as in: foundation or… a horse´s or human´s back, eh. Yep, and the phrase about having "cold feet" well it actually comes from rural Europe. It referred to a gambler who uttered the phrase when he wanted out of a game because he was broke. Since it was viewed as ungentlemanly to be a looser, he´d just say that his feet were cold and that he had to leave the game to warm up. The other gamblers would snicker and think he was just chicken, and that´s how the expression stuck. But ya know, if the gambler had been a Shawnee – he could´ve just said, "No da seh", which means, "I´m short". Uh-huh, I´ve usually had to say it, very soon after entering just about every poker game, and man, it clears up any misconceptions in a hurry. Sure, because clearly the other players know that you ain´t chicken – you´re just a lousy gambler, eh.

Still, I know folks – men and women, alike – that just love this annual Super Bowl pastime. Like the Romans, they adore viewing this kind´a physical contest played out on a big field before them. Yes´um, and this particular competition started some 42 years ago when the first AFL-NFL World Championship game was played on January 15, 1967. It became known as Super Bowl One and it´s been followed, consecutively, ever since that first game at the Los Angles memorial Coliseum. Ahh … I´ll gamble… that you caught that word ´coliseum´… didn´t you? Sure, because in many ways, today´s Super Bowl traces its origins back to around 80B.C. when the Roman Coliseum games took off in old Italia. You bet´cha, and like the olden-day Romans, where citizens viewed armored gladiators combating each other, modern-day Americans love watching contemporarily armored fighters do battle, too – be it for financial gain or just manifest enjoyment. Yep, and you can bet… that there was a passel of gamblers on those hard stone seats in the huge old Roman coliseums back then, as well. And they sat out there in the blazing sun without nary a single hotdog or beer vender coming along, neither, but… they surely did it – yep, they did.

But then, as I say, I figure that this is the nature of a gambler – be it for chanced currency or quivering contentment – some folks just have to wager, and/or support their team. Heck, I´ll brave the cold for my ´team´, too. But me, well, even though I don´t gamble much, I still sometimes selfishly wish, even while saying my prayers outside… a-shaking, a-shivering, and teeth a-chattering… that I could just ´draw a blank´ and go ´back´ inside and say, "hey… ´I have cold feet´."

David Walks-As-Bear is a Kispoko Shawnee Indian. He works as a private game warden and detective and is an author and syndicated newspaper columnist living in Northwest Michigan. Contact him at The White Lake Beacon: 231-894-5356 or visit his website at: www.Walks-As-Bear.com