J Allard Doesn't Welsh on Bets

You can say lots of things about Microsoft's outspoken J Allard, but one thing you can't say is that he doesn't make good on his wagers. It all started over a well-lubricated dinner in 2005 when Allard and Newsweek's N'Gai Croal made a little wager about the sales future of the PSP:

So fueled by the liquid courage of Morton's finest Cabernet, we gentlemen decided on a friendly wager. The bet: whether the PSP would reach worldwide shipments of 10 million units within the same 12 month span of time it had taken the PS2, give or take 3 months. We took the pro; Allard, the con. If we were correct and the PSP hit its mark,
Allard would wear a dreadlock wig for the entire month of May, including the week of E3 2006. But if Allard were right and the PSP
missed our agreed-upon milestone, he would get to shave our dreads.
Onstage. During the Xbox E3 2006 press conference. In front of 1,500
attendees. (Did we mention that wine was involved?)

Well, time went by, people lined up to buy the PSP, and N'Gai won the bet. Problem was, in 2006 Allard shifted his focus to the Zune and didn't give his usual presentation at E3, so he never really had the chance to make good on his promise. This prompted the well-humored N'Gai to wonder, 360 days after E3 2006, just want kind of person might not follow through on a bet.

Not a person like our J, that's for sure, and thus we have the single greatest picture ever taken.

Double Life: James "J" Allard's Big Bet, Revisited [Newsweek]