(I have my reasons for posting this as a new thread; don't bother flaming
about it)

I wish to add that this sort of thing is a classic demonstration of how
talking about "averages" and "the average person" can be meaningless, in
terms of it actually being about any specific person - i.e., the implication
that the "average" will in fact be instantiated in a large number of actual
people.  Insert usual comments about the bell curve assumtion here.

I.e., the $1K figure, which I heard in the mid-90s, is probably high for
most people, but probably somebody (or a few somebodys) way overspent, thus
bringing up the average.

I guess what I'm really curious about is: How would one even go about
calculating this?  How did anyone come up with the $1K figure in the first
place?

Also, just in case it wasn't clear, counting only entry fees is totally
missing the point (as I'm sure everyone is quite aware).  It's the
travel/hotel/restaurant costs that count.

(and lost wages...)

-- 
One of the best lines I've heard lately:

    Obama could cure cancer tomorrow, and the Republicans would be
    complaining that he had ruined the pharmaceutical business.

(Heard on Stephanie Miller = but the sad thing is that there is an awful lot
of direct truth in it.  We've constructed an economy in which eliminating
cancer would be a horrible disaster.  There are many other such examples.)