04/23/24
October 28, 2005
The Million Dollar Kick:
As part of a CFL contest, one fan had a chance to make 4 field goals: 20, 30 and 40 yards for smaller prizes, and a 50 yard field goal to win $1,000,000 Cdn. ($854,920.06 US). He misses the first 3 kicks and nails the last one.
The average CFL field goal kicker can't hit the 50.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 08:12 AM on October 28, 2005
$854,920.06 US According to contest rules and regulations, the grand prize will be paid out in equal installments over a 40-year period. 854,920/40yrs = $21,373 per year, which he could probably earn working at Wendy's. Woopeee!
posted by Bill Lumbergh at 08:29 AM on October 28, 2005
Hell, I'll take the $21,373 yearly supplement! If he lives off his working income as usual and sticks the winnings into investments, he'll be a multi-millionaire long before they finish paying him.
posted by dusted at 08:50 AM on October 28, 2005
That prize split is like enslaving a Wendy's assistant manager and stealing his paycheck for the next 40 years. (Maybe that's how the company will pay for it.) The video's fun, both for the improbability of the kick and the cheesy SCTV-like promo Wendy's of Canada put together beforehand. When some Wendy's manager is wishing him luck, watch the employees forced to stand behind her holding up drinks. Those uprights are incredibly small from 50 yards out. I don't know how he made that after missing the first three kicks closer in.
posted by rcade at 09:00 AM on October 28, 2005
When I saw him "Norwood" the first 3 kicks, I thought he was going to be in for a world of embarrassment.
posted by grum@work at 09:17 AM on October 28, 2005
Do you have any idea how little a check for $21,373 will be worth in the year 2045?
posted by Bill Lumbergh at 09:42 AM on October 28, 2005
It was pretty weasely of Wendy's to advertise this as a $1,000,000 prize, and even to hand the guy a giant $1,000,000 check in front of the cameras, when the prize was really only $25 grand a year for 40 years. They should have just paid him the mil...they can afford it.
posted by rocket88 at 09:43 AM on October 28, 2005
yeah, bunch of bull, "million dollar kick." all his friends think he's a millionaire, looking for handouts, he's a twenty-thousandaire.
posted by Bill Lumbergh at 09:49 AM on October 28, 2005
So this is the first time any of you have ever realized that large cash prizes are almost always paid as an annuity? He can probably settle for 350k upfront with the help of a law firm.
posted by mick at 09:50 AM on October 28, 2005
I'm watching the video right now: 1) I want the guy's "Wendy's" jersey. That's gameworn, man. 2) What if they'd pulled the name of a 75-year-old man or woman? And would they have shown that on TV? "Here's 75-year-old Johnny Fussbucket, lining up for his first kick ... oh, and he's broken a hip!" 3) Hilarious. Jock Clime and the rest of the team is making this seem like the OT for the Grey Cup. And that dude at the 40-yard kick reminds me wayyyyy too much of Sean Salisbury. 4) 20-yarder wide right, 30-yarder wide right, 40-yarder wide right ... did this guy go to college at Florida State? 5) Someone just said exactly what my old kicking coach used to say -- "Keep your head down -- the cheerleaders will let you know if it went through." 6) Oh, snap! TSN and Wendy's iced their own promotional kicker! 7) Awesome, 40K+ crowd. Maybe New Orleans could move to Toronto? 8) That is absolutely unfriggingbelievable! And the best part was the Argos mobbing him in the middle of the field. Thanks for the link -- I missed this last night.
posted by wfrazerjr at 10:01 AM on October 28, 2005
Do you have any idea how little a check for $21,373 will be worth in the year 2045? Well, it'll be worth about $21,373 more than the check for $0 you'll be receiving from Wendy's. Damn those bastards for not giving him the entire corporation!
posted by wfrazerjr at 10:11 AM on October 28, 2005
I can't believe there are folks scoffing at over 20K a year for the next 40 years. SpoFites are obviously much more well off than I ever imagined!
posted by The_Black_Hand at 11:04 AM on October 28, 2005
isnt there an option to take an amount of cash up front, maybe about 1/2 as much? I thought that was a law but maybe not in Canada. Also, there are banks etc who will "buy" the yearly payment in exchange for (less) big money up front if he wants to go that way. Or he could probably get a loan against it.
posted by drjimmy11 at 12:24 PM on October 28, 2005
SpoFites are obviously much more well off than I ever imagined! Either that or they completely underestimate the power of compound interest.
posted by dusted at 12:27 PM on October 28, 2005
8) That is absolutely unfriggingbelievable! And the best part was the Argos mobbing him in the middle of the field. TSN ran a Top 10 list of fan promotion shots (mid-court baskets, field goals, pucks through the tiny hole), and there was one where a guy sunk a basket from the opposite free-throw line at a Bulls game. He got mobbed by the Bulls, and was high-fived by Michael Jordan. That, in and of itself, would be almost as memorable as winning the money.
posted by grum@work at 12:43 PM on October 28, 2005
Man, we should've had that guy in the pick 'em.
posted by DrJohnEvans at 01:04 PM on October 28, 2005
Either that or they completely underestimate the power of compound interest. Indeed.
posted by blarp at 01:53 PM on October 28, 2005
I doubt very much if Wendys put up much money for this event. There are insurance companys that will pay off these payments based on the probability of someone accually accomplishing the act. Probably cost Wendys 20k. They do the same thing at golf tournements for the hole-in-one packages. It all most never happens, but once in a while lightning strikes and they have to pay off. What are the odds of some average Joe kicking a ball 50 yards through uprights. Had to be a million to one.
posted by zinman at 02:17 PM on October 28, 2005
$21,000 will go a long way for the average Canadian. He probably still lives with his parents and is sober like 3 days out of the year.
posted by Turbo at 03:29 PM on October 28, 2005
Perhaps 1,000 to one, but let's not get carried away. If Ian Howfield, Kathy Ireland and Gus the mule can do it, how hard can it be?
posted by rcade at 03:30 PM on October 28, 2005
Turbo, which three days would that be?
posted by texoma-slim at 05:37 PM on October 28, 2005
Anybody have that guy's number? The Cowboys could use a kicker. Shit, 1 for 4? Not bad. Tuna, you out there? TUUUNNNAAA!!
posted by Desert Dog at 05:42 PM on October 28, 2005
zinman is right- these types of payouts are done by insurance companies (which is why the prize comes as an annuity), so that Wendy's only pays a fraction of the million up front; over the course of every prize kick, golf shot, jump shot from the half-court line, etc, they'll only pay this out rarely, and effectively collect more from Wendy's et al than they pay out. Everyone wins, really, and that annuity as people have pointed out can still be a good chunk of change if converted to a lump sum payment. But yeah, I hate when they refer to someone winning a million dollars as a "millionaire" when we all know that a good chunk of that disappears from taxes and annuity vs. lump sum reductions almost immediately. I thought he'd actually kicked it much further at first, since it was a kick from the 50 yard line. In American football, the goal posts are at the endline, and the end zone is 10 yards deep; this means a 50 yard-line kick in American football is actually a 60 yard kick, which would be fucking amazing- I'd shit my pants if someone really hit a 60 yard field goal for a million dollars. However, a little Wiki action and it turns out that the CFL field is different in some key ways:
- Playing area is 110 yards (100 meters, basically)
- End zone is 20 yards deep, instead of 10 for American football; however, there are differing rules that allow kicks to be returned, hence the deeper end zone
- Most of all, the goal posts are at front of the end zone, not the back, so Brian's kick from the 50-yard line was a straight 50 yard kick
posted by hincandenza at 07:10 PM on October 28, 2005
Let's face facts: Orrin would have been boning someone in a supply closet during halftime.
posted by yerfatma at 08:25 PM on October 28, 2005
When Kathy Ireland kicks does anyone even notice whether the kick is good? Just give her like 10 points and pray she it rains.
posted by texoma-slim at 10:23 PM on October 28, 2005
Did they test him for performance enhancing drugs? Any college student, such as myself, would kill for JUST 21K, let alone 40 years of it.
posted by saint_eagle24 at 12:26 AM on October 29, 2005
I wonder if his check came with any extra digits....
posted by cybermac at 12:55 AM on October 29, 2005
It looks like this kid might actually play in the CFL after all
posted by thewittyname at 07:57 PM on October 29, 2005
Either that or they completely underestimate the power of compound interest. So you're suggesting that this dude take all, or nearly all of his 21K per year and invest it wisely, while continuing to live off his regular income. That way, in the next 20-30 years, if the market obliges, he can actually be the millionaire that Wendy's has made him out to be. Congratulation sir, and welcome to middle class. Wise accounting over at Wendy's - they're paying this jackpot from the value menu.
posted by Bill Lumbergh at 08:59 AM on October 30, 2005
Don't forget that these winnings are tax free in Canada. He can't retire on 25K but it sure helps pay the mortgage. Our interest isn't tax deductable!
posted by badbri41 at 03:37 PM on October 30, 2005
However, a little Wiki action and it turns out that the CFL field is different in some key ways: Also, the rouge. Best case scenario for hitting one out of four field goals would put his team up by six points.
posted by DrJohnEvans at 11:00 PM on October 30, 2005
The average CFL field goal kicker earns less than $100,000 in a season.