Bullpen Betting Pool (College Football / Staff Betting Pot)

A small, informal bullpen betting pool used by West Wing staff: a compact collection of cash/IOUs (folded bills or an envelope) tied to staff wagers, frequently referenced during banter and occasionally invoked in high‑tension beats (notably Donna's $100 call in S1E02 'Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc'). Functions as a communal, low‑value social token rather than a display prop.

2 appearances

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

2 moments

S1E2 · Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc

Levity to Lockdown: Josh Triggers Damage-Control Rollout

The college football pool functions as the inciting, comic prop: Donna's $100 claim launches the hallway exchange and, by contrast, highlights how quickly small staff matters are subsumed by larger reputational crises.

Before: An ongoing informal staff betting pot, existed offstage among aides and held as petty wagers.

After: Remains an unsettled debt until Josh pays; narratively transformed from trivial pastime to a catalyst that reveals staff priorities.

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S1E2 · Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc

Hallway Damage Control: Reassurance, Alliances, and the Spin Plan

The college football pool is verbally invoked when Donna announces Josh owes her $100—serving as a comic inciting prop that opens the hallway exchange and unintentionally exposes Josh's distracted state and the larger crisis.

Before: Sitting as an informal, off-screen staff ritual tracked mentally by participants; the implied bet exists but no physical exchange is shown.

After: Remains an unresolved IOU between Donna and Josh, a small social debt that punctuates the scene and underscores staff intimacy.

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