Hey, could’ve been worse. He could’ve bet that if they lost, he’d change his name to “Rex Grossman”.
Pretty nutty, but it doesn’t strike me as quite as stupid as some other stunts out there, like the woman who had GOLDENPALACE.COM tattooed on her forehead for $10,000, since changing his name legally doesn’t mean he actually has to use Peyton Manning in every aspect of his life, plus he can change it back once he’s decided he’s had enough.
And speaking of nuts, his bet was much smarter than the one that this guy made.
That’s the first thing I thought of. Ghastly.
I read about the name-changer in the paper. He said something like, “I have to keep my promise, 'cause I’m an honest man. I’ll be Peyton Manning until I die.” Sweet Mercy Magruder! What a fate. It could be worse, I guess. The Chicagoan could have promised to change his name to (gasp) Steve Bartman.
His petition to have his name changed may be denied. It isn’t an automatic right.
In an update, a judge has refused Wiese’s name change request.
Either that, or she wants to set a precedent that, though it may not discourage future morons from making stupid bets, will at least give future judges an easy reference to point to before saying “Denied, now stop wasting my time, dumbass.”
I’m clairvoyant! 
What do I win?
If you were really clairvoyant, you wouldn’t need to ask. 
The article doesn’t give the real reason for the denial: Wiese asked Rex Grossman to deliver the paperwork to the court, but Grossman dropped it, then overthrew the bailiff by 10 yards.
Sorry to hijack but…Marley - can we get an update on your brother?
StG