Keller @ Large: Only Suckers Will Pay To Watch Mayweather-McGregor Fight
BOSTON (CBS) - "There's a sucker born every minute" is an old saying attributed to showman P.T. Barnum, although there's no evidence he ever said it.
Still, it rings true as a comment on the gullibility of mankind, and I find it hard to believe it's ever been more true than now.
Just look at the spectacular success of "fake news," not the real news that certain pols call fake when they don't like it, but the real "fake news" that proliferates on the internet.
Most of it it so absurd, you really wonder about people who swallow it.
For instance, one of the hottest lies on the web right now is the claim that NASA has confirmed there will be 15 consecutive days of total darkness on earth in November, allegedly caused by an astronomical event.
No, not true, and in fact, just a recycling of a two-year-old rumor.
But another thing to understand about sucker culture is that sometimes, it can be kind of fun.
It's estimated that up to five million people worldwide may actually shell out a hundred bucks to watch Saturday night's "fight" between undefeated boxing champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. and reigning UFC lightweight champ Conor McGregor.
UFC, for those who've been living in a cave, is a wildly popular mixed-martial-arts league where just about anything goes. But this is going to be a boxing match, and Mayweather will almost surely make short work of McGregor.
You may wind up paying a dollar a second to watch it.
But hey, there's a sucker born every minute.
And misery loves company.