Photograph copyright: DAVID McMAHON One of my American buddies, Brian in Oxford, recently asked me a question on his post The Bitter End.
He mentioned an NFL-related contest where everyone chooses one team to win a game each week. ``If the team you pick wins its game, you keep playing. If they lose, you're out,'' explained Brian. He then asked, ``David, is there anything comparable in Aussie Rules?''
Yes, Brian. There sure is. It's called a Tontine - and it runs parallel to the universally popular Aussie ``footy tipping'' contest. This is akin to religion in the Aussie Rules season, where tipsters try and predict as many winners in the eight-game round each weekend. Every office has a footy tipping contest and so do most homes.
But the Tontine? Ah, the Tontine is sudden death like never before. As in the NFL, we have to nominate just one team we think is certain to win each week. It's mayhem, because the competition, unlike the English Premier League soccer, is so evenly balanced that there are always form reversals. Nothing is a sure thing.
But why is it called a Tontine? I asked several erudite work colleagues yesterday, and even the resident oracles shook their heads. But I found the answer in the Macquarie Dictionary.
Basically, a Tontine is an ancient financial scheme. Subscribers to a common fund share an annuity. The longer you live, the greater your chances of becoming rich because as each subscriber dies, his or her share goes to the others, with the lump sum going to the last survivor.
Finally, the word Tontine derives from the French language and refers to the name of Lorenzo Tonti, a Neapolitan banker who started the scheme in France in the mid seventeenth century.
Wonder if he knew anything about football .....
