This would be fun........thoughts?

Q: Ten of my friends and I officially started and are taking part in the "Man of the Year Competition," where each participant selects a random, shenanigan-filled contest in which we all compete. Examples of events we have planned: retaking the SATs, a chili cook-off, parallel parking contest, and a paintball pistol duel at dawn. (We took the SATs last week and all feel confident that we are smarter than we were in high school.) As awesome as this is, we have a problem. We can't decide what the 10th event should be, which is required to take place in Las Vegas. What would you suggest? Please keep in mind that the purpose of the Man of the Year Competition is to promote three ideals: shenanigans, self-improvement and debauchery (though not necessarily all of them at the same time).
-- Daniel, San Francisco

SG: All right, I put some serious thought into this and tried to abide by the three categories (shenanigans, self-improvement and debauchery). I also stuck to a $1,500 budget for the weekend (not including airfare and hotel); since it's the final event and all, that seems like a fair price even if it's a little steep. Anyway, for the 10th event, if you're going all out ...


You have to show up in Vegas on a Thursday night, get a good night's sleep, enter one of those Friday morning poker tournaments (they have them at every big casino) and award 10 points to the guy who lasted the longest, with nine points for the second longest, eight for third and so on. Then, you get some lunch and play Credit Card Roulette for the tab -- the guy who loses pays for dinner, but he gets three bonus points for sympathy purposes. Then, you go to the sports book and lay down $200 worth of sports bets apiece on that night's games -- the guy who makes the most money gets 10 points (same scoring system). Then, you go to a craps table at 2:30 in the afternoon, start out with $200 apiece and play craps until your 7:30 dinner reservation -- the guy who makes the most money in that five hours gets 10 points. Then, you have dinner and play Credit Card Roulette again -- the guy who loses pays for dinner but gets six bonus points. Then, your goal for the rest of the night is to try to tag along with a bachelorette party without paying for their entire bar tab -- the guy who pulls this off gets 10 bonus points, anyone who makes out with a member of the bachelorette party gets 10 points and if someone makes out with the bride-to-be, that's an extra 25 bonus points.

On Saturday, you have to be up by 10 a.m. for breakfast -- anyone who doesn't show up gets deducted 10 points for being weak. You play Credit Card Roulette for the breakfast tab (three bonus points for the loser), head over to the sports book for another $200 worth of sports bets (same scoring system), then head over to the Wynn's European pool for a day of outdoor blackjack. (Note: if you're not staying at the Wynn, then the guy who was smart enough to remember to bring his old Wynn room key from a previous stay so you could get past the security guards gets five bonus points.) From 11 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., you have to play blackjack outdoors with no more than $500 in chips and order and finish at least 10 drinks total. Anyone who remains coherent by 7:30 p.m. gets three bonus points. Guy with the highest money total gets 10 points, second-highest guy nine points and so on. ... And anyone who gets a camera phone photo of themselves with a topless sunbather gets three bonus points per photo. From there, another dinner and more Credit Card Roulette (seven bonus points for the loser), then go out that night without showering.

Now, I'm going to leave the next stage up for grabs --- it really depends on the group and the marital statuses of the guys involved -- but however it plays out, hand out the points accordingly. On Sunday, you have another 10 a.m. breakfast and more Credit Card Roulette (same rules as above), followed by a round of golf in the scathing-hot Vegas sun for the final event -- this is an endurance contest, a little like the final event in the Gauntlet, only if everyone was horribly hung over. Everyone gets a handicap and the best score above the handicap wins 20 bonus points (18 for second, and so on), followed by another 10 bonus points for everyone who played all 18 holes without either throwing up, quitting or passing out on the course. Then, you add up the scores, figure out the winner and that's that ... he's the Man of the Year.