Soccer Dad

When the new york times said jesus wins

(h/t Pillage Idiot via Twitter)

What's a "stooper?"

T.D. Thornton, a journalist who wrote about stoopers in his 2007 book, "Not by a Long Shot: A Season at a Hard-Luck Horse Track," said: "Stoopers are the gleaners of the racetrack world. Stoopers have a relationship with horse tracks that goes back to the advent of parimutuel betting in the early 1930s. There is an unwritten code in racing that says stoopers are tolerated as long as they are not perceived as harassing or stalking customers."

"They are allowed to live on the fringes," he added.

Specifically, a stooper is someone who picks up discarded betting slips and checks to see if they win. In this case, the stooper profiled is Jesus Leonardo, who makes his living around an OTB parlor in New York.

Mr. Leonardo, who is married with two teenagers, is hardly living on the fringes. He said that stooping brings him $100 to $300 a day, and more than $45,000 a year. Last month, he cashed in a winning ticket from bets made on races at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif., for $8,040. His largest purse came in 2006, when he received $9,500 from a Pick 4 wager (choosing the winners of four consecutive races) at Retama Park Race Track in Selma, Tex.

It is all taxable income. "I file my winnings with the I.R.S. every year," Mr. Leonardo said in his thick Dominican accent.

What I really liked though was this quote:

"Everybody in here loves Jesus," he said. "When Jesus wins, we all eat, and we all drink. Jesus is a very generous man."

It's great even if "Jesus wins" isn't as inspirational as "Jesus saves."