Bets around 301 Flowers

Filed at 11:35 p.m.

Two bets have emerged in 301 Flowers, the long-time home of The Chronicle, in the aftermath of Sen. Barack Obama's historic presidential victory.

First, how will other news outlets play race in the leads of their stories? Most of the newsroom thought the fact that Obama is the first black president would have to be in the first sentence, and we were right. The New York Times lede: "Barack Hussein Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States on Tuesday, sweeping away the last racial barrier in American politics with ease as the country chose him as its first black chief executive."

Second, what will the first line of Obama's acceptance speech be? Beyond the minutes and minutes worth of thank yous, we've come up with three frontrunners:

• Yes, we did.
• Tonight, the American people chose change... (or some iteration of this idea)
• You know, they said this day would never come (a direct allusion to his acceptance speech after winning the Iowa caucus back in January).

Feel free to drop your ideas below.