When betting on sports, fans, and amateur players often wonder what the acronym SU (Side Units) stands for. Do the initials stand for Spare Tyre? Perhaps they refer to Soccer Underwear? What about Special Ultra Limited? Do they mean the Specials are limited in quantity, or that they are special in some way?
While there are many theories, the truth is that most people have no idea what SU stands for. Heck, even the people who coined the acronym don’t always use it. That’s because the term is generally used in the betting community as a code that means “Stands for S—.” There’s also a hashtag #SULU on Twitter which is used by people to gripe about the abbreviation and throw around insults.
Before we get into how to score high in fantasy sports and effectively place sports bets, it’s important to understand what the acronym SU actually stands for. To answer the question, we need to take a step back in history and explore the origins of sports betting. The history of sports betting is steeped in controversy and deceit, as many books have been written about it. However, if we look at where sports betting was first derived from and who was really behind it all, we may be able to clear up some of the confusion surrounding the term. This article will examine the origins of the term and how it all started.
Betting On The Rise
In the 17th century, British soldiers in India were known to have established a number of private clubs in which they could get together to play cricket or football. One such club was the Calcutta Football Club, which was established in 1865 and took its name from the city of Calcutta where it was based. In 1867, the members of the club decided to hold an annual cricket match against another club. They wanted to create an atmosphere of competition but also wanted to give the public the opportunity to bet on the games. Thus, the first recorded instance of sports betting occurred in 1867. People would place bets on the games and the funds would be placed on a balanced book, with each team getting an equal share of the bets. For example, the members of the Calcutta Football Club would get half the bets and the other half would go to the members of the opposing team. This method of betting was known as ‘pari-mutuel’ betting and was first implemented in tennis and horse racing. It was a revolutionary innovation at the time and offered people the opportunity to engage in activities they might not have tried otherwise. It wasn’t long before people around the world were placing bets on sporting events, not just in India but also in South Africa, Australia, and Canada.
Early Years Of Betting
Although the first recorded instance of sports betting occurred in 1867, it wasn’t until the early part of the 20th century that the practice really took off. This was largely due to the rise of football throughout Europe and America in the early 1900s. It wasn’t long before people took their pleasures in watching football matches and matched them with intense competitions where the goal was to score the most points. People started betting on the Super Bowl during this time as well, which was first played in 1967.
One of the most significant events that helped legitimize and introduce gaming into sports was the founding of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1896. The main purpose of the organization was to organize the summer and winter Olympic Games and introduce a set of rules and guidelines for all sports. The commission worked with the concept of ‘fair play’, which basically means athletes should be able to compete on a level playing field. The goal of the guidelines was to prevent doping and promote good sportsmanship. One of the key ideas behind the concept of ‘fair play’ was to ensure the integrity of the games and the elimination of any type of manipulation or cheating. This idea of having an independent body regulate and control sporting events would not only impact how teams would be selected for the Olympics but would also help to legitimize the whole concept of sports betting.
The 1919 World Series
The first World Series was held in 1910 and immediately attracted a crowd of ‘sports bettors’. The games were held in Washington, D.C. between the Chicago Cubs and the New York Giants. It was a short series, only lasting for three games, due to cold weather and bad weather which threatened to end the games. However, the World Series continues to this day and was originally created as a way of deciding the best basketball team in the country. The 1919 World Series was one of the first events to really benefit from sports betting. The final score of the World Series was Chicago Cubs –> Cleveland Indians: 7-5-3. The Chicago Cubs covered the seven points spread while the Indians went over five goals. This placed the Cubs as the winners of the ‘grand’ experiment, as the series was called. The World Series continued to grow in popularity and by 1920 approximately one billion dollars were being bet on the event each year. It wasn’t only about picking the winner of the series, as a large number of people were also betting on the total number of runs scored in each game. This was mostly due to the fact that baseball was still a relatively new sport and a lot of people had never seen a game played to its fullest before. The excitement of seeing a game played to its very end, with no delays due to rain or bad weather, made an impression on a lot of people which carried over to the rise of other sporting events.
The 1927 World Series
Another significant event which helped to further the acceptance of sports betting was the 1927 World Series. This was the first World Series to be held in the fall and had the advantage of being played mostly in the warm weather. The games were actually held in several different locations, including San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego. The Dodgers swept the Series 4-0, with the exception of one game which they lost in extra innings. The final game in Los Angeles was attended by over 73,000 people, which was a world record at the time. This World Series was notable for two reasons: the first being it was the last of the ‘big three’ world series (along with the 1919 and the 1927 World Series), and the second being that Babe Ruth, who had retired from playing after the World Series 1921, made a comeback in 1927 with the New York Yankees. The great slugger returned to the field a year after being named MVP of the 1925 World Series, which had made him a national celebrity. After a couple of years away from the game, Ruth made a huge statement by agreeing to come back and play one last season. People went wild and lines formed around the block when it was announced that the Babe Ruth was going to play one more season. There were so many people that attended games that it was hard to get tickets for the rest of the season. This year was different, as the Yankees went on a spending spree and acquired many new players, including a 19-year-old kid by the name of Elwood ‘Whitey’ Gilbert.
More Celebrity Than Ever
In the 1930s, people recognized that they were no longer limited to watching professional sports. As society became more accepting of different types of entertainment and hobbies, individuals got into the act and started participating in organized sports, such as golf and tennis. The competition element returned, as people started to see sports as a way of life rather than just a hobby. This generation grew up watching sports on television and playing them themselves, so they were more accustomed to the idea of watching games in detail. It was also during this time that people started to associate celebrities with sports. One of the most well-known sports photographers of all time, Tim Richter, worked for the Chicago Sun-Times and was responsible for photographing many A-list celebrities, including John F. Kennedy, Frank Sinatra, and Barbra Streisand.