Call me me crazy, but I think that's, er, crazy. Certainly poor financial management and setting of priorities. Yeah, yeah, I know, it's the Super Bowl. Guess I'm just a curmudgeon.
Posted on 02/01/2005 6:24:37 AM PST by MississippiMasterpiece
PHILADELPHIA -- Some long-suffering Philadelphia Eagles fans are so desperate to get to the Super Bowl that they're borrowing against their homes to pay for the tickets.
Take Kevin P. O'Donoghue, a lifelong fan from the suburbs, who told his wife after the Eagles advanced to their first Super Bowl in 24 years, "I don't care if we have to mortgage our house, I'm going."
She replied, "Wait a minute, maybe that's a good idea."
So O'Donoghue sunk $4,000 on a Super Bowl package that includes round-trip airfare, a four-night hotel stay and one ticket to the Feb. 6 game in Jacksonville, Fla. To pay for it, he applied for a home equity line of credit, a way of borrowing money that requires you to put up your home as collateral. He's getting the money in a few days.
"Sometimes the cards are maxed out and you gotta do what you gotta do," said O'Donoghue, 36, an account executive from Glen Mills.
Mortgage bankers in Philadelphia and southern New Jersey say that Eagles fans have been inquiring about refinancing mortgages, or taking out home equity loans or home equity credit lines, to pay for what O'Donoghue calls "the chance of a lifetime."
Eric Reeber, a mortgage banker in Mount Laurel, N.J., said his office has gotten at least a dozen calls from Eagles fans looking for some quick cash. He said two couples have already been approved and are scheduled to close on their loans next week. (He said they were too embarrassed to talk publicly about their borrowing.)
"Some people don't care if it costs them $100 more a month," said Reeber, of Northern States Funding Group. "But I'll stand by it, if they want it."
(Excerpt) Read more at newsday.com ...
How many times do we have to hear this. How about some facts behind the booing -
- The "Santa" was stone drunk.
- The "Santa" was about 110 lbs. soaking wet.
- The "Santa" was making obnoxious gestures towards the fans.
I'm sure you would have just applauded this guy instead.
Carolyn
You know, my husband and I have talked about this issue (as we have a relative that can't seem to hold onto money, even when he gets a windfall from an unexpected source, he automatically spends it).
If SS is privatized, and "a fool and his money are soon parted", I've wondered if these types of folks in their older years will then be on the welfare and medicaid rolls because they will have dipped into the funds that they were supposed to be saving for retirement.
I wonder if there is any safeguard that can be built into the privatization...I imagine not, otherwise it wouldn't be privatization.
nah - Glen Mills - that's Philly suburbs, not Pittsburgh.
You can't just "dip into" qualified accounts.
Better this some more junk to clutter every square foot of living space.
PATS...A DYNASTY !!!
Gosh. And here I thought Packer fans were nuts.
And liberals will blame Bush and his "worst economy since Hoover" when this guy files for bankruptcy.
I did an informal survey of what Super Bowl tix were going for. The range I saw was about 2 to 8 thousand per ticket. No doubt there are tickets that fall outside that range but I concluded I will probably never see a Super Bowl live unless I somehow win a contest or someone just gives them to me and I seriously doubt either will happen. That said I got my big screen high defintion tv last fall and I will enjoy it in the comfort of home with some friends and munchies.
I'm a big Eagles fan and I always bet against the Birds. If they win, I'm happy anyway, and if they lose at least I won some money.
Good one! Ping!
If only they could find a way to televise these events...
:D
I am sure there will be a safeguard on private SS accounts that prohibits the withdrawl of funds prior to a certain age with very rare hardship exceptions, if any exceptions at all.
I hope they don't morgage the house to bet on the Eagles!
Pats will more than cover the spread.
Sounds like a plan. If only I'd employed that idea years ago, say, betting against the LSU Tigers, we'd be able to retire now. That would make me *very* happy.
LOLROTL!!!!
There are certain safeguards on 401K's, etc., but people still manage to get their hands on the money, even though stiff penalties are imposed.
Being a hardcore fan be fun, but man think of all that time and money wasted. Sure, its an outlet and an escape from the burdens of everyday life, but sometimes it gets stupid.
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