When Bimbo watches football Sunday on television, she?ll do it in style. Baltimore?s most famous monkey got a present from an unknown sender that will likely make her monkey friends Oogie, Zoey and Cocoa a little jealous: a golden-yellow sofa that reclines into a bed.
Bimbo has grown quite a liking to her new piece of furniture, as she plopped on the cushions so she could pick this weekend?s NFL games in comfort. Bimbo grabbed the pennants of her selections very confidently ? and for good reason. She went 8-6 last week and would have done even better if the Steelers, Falcons and Ravens didn?t squander their games.
“She watched the Ravens? game and when the crowd started cheering, all the monkeys would get excited,” Colleen Layton-Robbins, Bimbo?s owner, said. “Then they would settle down when it got quiet.”
Bimbo didn?t defeat ESPN?s Mark Schlereth, who went 10-4 or Tony Giro (9-5), who authors Baltimore?s best sports blog, Tony?s Timeout, on examiner.com. However, she did beat ESPN?s Eric Allen and tied ESPN?s Mike Golic, who are proclaimed as part of the “brain trust of Bristol University” on the company?s Web site. Considering Bimbo has selected just three fewer winners during the course of the season as Allen and five fewer than Golic, shouldn?t Baltimore?s pigskin-picking primate get a professorship?
This week, Baltimore?s awesome ape challenges two of the city?s most well-known athletes: Olympic figure skater Kimmie Meissner and Baltimore Oriole outfielder Nick Markakis. Even Bimbo would acknowledge ? if she could talk ? she can?t do a double axel like Meissner or hit a baseball as far as Markakis. However, when you compare picks, this week?s selections among the three are very, very similar.
“I?m pretty confident with those picks,” Meissner said. “I?ve been watching football a lot more lately. I?m starting to get into it.”
