Sparky and Mumbles Earn Bragging Rights, Coffee

Don't ask me how we got on the topic, but yesterday's carpool ride carried with it a rousing discussion about the "master thespian," Sylvester Stallone. And here is how a seemingly innocuous topic like Sylvester Stallone ends up making Sparky and Mumbles one coffee richer, and Fidget (me) two coffees poorer (and a jackass to boot):

(1) Fidget mentions a "tid bit" that he once learned about Stallone, specifically, that Stallone wrote, directed, and starred in the movie Rocky.
(2) Sparky and Mumbles say that Fidget is full of crap; although they agree that Stallone starred in the movie, they challenge the notion that he wrote and directed it.
(3) Indignant, Fidget challenges both of them to a bet (one coffee each).
(4) Sparky accuses Fidget's "ego of writing checks that [his] body can't cash."
(5) Fidget debates whether that quote from Top Gun is even correct as a practical matter. (I mean, really, does a person's "body" ever cash a proverbial check that his or her "ego" has written? Or does someone else, like a payee or a bank, cash the check? Hmm.)
(6) Sparky and Mumbles accept Fidget's bet. (It is an "all or nothing bet" -- Fidget loses if he is wrong about any of the three allegations.)
(7) Fidget gets home, checks www.imdb.com, and . . .
(8). . . Fidget learns that, alas, although Stallone indeed wrote and starred in Rocky, he did not direct it. That honor went to John Avildsen. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075148/).
(9) Feeling like a jackass, Fidget says, "Crap."
(10) Fidget remembers why he should be barred from betting. But he is happy that Madd Dogg was not in the carpool, lest he owe three coffees.

[Photo by surplusparts]