Bet leads to TV target practice

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NEW ORLEANS -- A Louisiana man who bet against the New Orleans Saints has lost his 60-inch high-definition, flat-screen TV to a backyard firing squad, but he also became an Internet star.

Wayne A. Spring told his friends that if New Orleans beat the Washington Redskins on Sunday, anyone who wanted could come to his house and shoot his television.

"I was a Saints fan, but used to be they never could win and I admit I was a fair-weather fan," Spring said on Thursday. "And there was all that 'Who-Datting' going on, online, so I just decided to go against the grain."

Things were looking good until the Saints tied the game and sent it into overtime.

Spring, a nurse who owns a medical staffing company, said as soon as the undefeated Saints kicked the winning field goal, his phone started ringing.

About a dozen Saints fans, toting firearms and a case of beer, showed up at his home in Albany, some 50 miles northwest of New Orleans, and shot up his TV in the back yard.

Spring put the video on YouTube and says it has had over 145,000 hits in three days.

"I was amazed," Spring said. "I've put stuff on YouTube before."

About three years ago, he said, he posted a video of a jet engine on a bicycle, "and it took two years to get 80,000 hits on that one."

After the barrage of gunshots, Spring joked, "I ain't checked on my neighbors. I guess they're all right, but I ain't seen them lately either."

Spring said he actually lives in a fairly isolated area.

Authorities said the TV shooting apparently didn't break any laws.

"But I would say mixing booze and firearms is not a good thing," said Lt. Doug Cain of the Louisiana State Police.

Spring said he would not be betting against the Saints again.

"I'll be watching the game this weekend on a 13-inch black and white set," he said. "I've learned my lesson."

Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press

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