I JUST blew more than a thousand bucks on what is most likely to be a painful 90 minute experience.

But I'm smiling.

It may actually stretch to two hours - a little more even. Although the irony is that the longer the Chelsea-Everton FA Cup Final lasts, the higher the chance that I will leave Wembley a happy man.

(The experts claim the only chance of Everton winning the match is if it goes to a penalty shootout).

You see, I'm an Everton fan - been one since I watched the Toffees rule England in 1985. And as Everton fans will tell you, there has not been much to cheer about in a long while - the last time the club won anything of note was the 1995 FA Cup - beating Manchester United, mind you.

So not wanting to wait another decade hoping for another long shot at silverware, I've decided to part with a decent part of what's left in my bank account on this trip to London - despite the economic downturn and the accompanying political no-talking-about-your-spending correctness.

A lot can happen in 14 years. 

I could get swine, er H1N1, flu. I could lose a billion dollars in stocks. I could run for office in an organisation, be told to shut up and sit down and never want to show my face in public again.

So I'm not tempting fate. 

I'm off to see an Everton game while I'm still alive/can afford it/sure I won't be pelted with rotten tomatoes.

Why the pessimism you may ask?

Well, sure there is a chance that Everton could upset a side that were seconds away from making it to their second consecutive Champions League final. Everton did after all draw 0-0 twice with them this year.

But I am a realist, and by trade, a journalist.

So the trained scribe in me tells me that on paper, with Everton's best defender Phil Jagielka out, and Chelsea at full strength and hell bent on winning their only trophy of the season, it will take a minor miracle for Everton to win.

With Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka leading Chelsea's search for goals, and a not fully match-fit and third-choice striker Louis Saha leading Everton's hunt, the odds are heavily stacked in Chelsea's favour.

But the fan in me says anything is possible.

Everton will defend for 90 minutes, go into extra time where Tim Cahill will take advantage of a tiring Chelsea defence to ghost in and head home a 119th-minute winner.

Plan B? Win it on penalties. 

But at least I am sure of one thing. 

With a pot pie in one hand and a beer in another, I am going to make the best of the $3,000 I am blowing on a four-day trip. 

Call me a sucker for punishment.