| Anyone
who has wagered on sports for more than
a few days knows the awful feeling associated
with losing a game which appeared to be
a winner. It's important to remember that
these 'bad beats' are inevitable and happen
to everyone.
Sometimes it may take more than a season,
but eventually things should be balanced
out by winning an equal number of games
that appeared to be losers. It’s human
nature to remember the tough breaks more
than the 'lucky' winners. Since I haven't
done so for awhile, I thought I'd share
a few of my recent bad beats from the gridiron.
Monday, November
14 - Dallas at Philadelphia
Unless I feel that there is some kind of
correlation between the two, I rarely play
both the side and total of the same game.
However, a couple of Monday's ago, I did
just that. My handicapping process had led
me to believe that both the Eagles (a three-point
favorite) and the 'Under' (40.5) offered
excellent value. For roughly 57 minutes,
the game played out pretty much as I had
anticipated. The Eagles took a 17-7 lead
into the fourth quarter and had extended
that lead to 20-3 with less than four minutes
remaining. Considering that the Cowboys
offense hadn't done much of anything all
game, I felt fairly secure. I should have
known better! Philadelphia started playing
the dreaded 'prevent' defense and allowed
Dallas to march down the field (72 yards
in 40 seconds) for a touchdown. Less than
30 seconds later, Roy Williams would score
a game-winning 46-yard touchdown off a Donovan
McNabb interception. Final score: 21-20
in favor of Dallas. Ouch!
Sunday, November
27 - San Diego at Washington
I really liked the Redskins in this game.
In addition to having made a substantial
wager on them, I used the 'Skins (plus 3
1/2) as my pick in an against-the-spread
'survival pool' that I had been participating
in. The $25,000 pool had started with more
than 600 entries and had less than 20 remaining.
Once again, the game went much as I had
expected for roughly the first 55 minutes.
Indeed, Washington had a 17-7 lead with
less than four minutes remaining. The resilient
Chargers refused to give up though and scored
10 points in the final 3 1/2 minutes to
send the game into overtime. As you know,
the majority of overtime games are decided
by a field goal. Unfortunately, that wasn't
the case here. Less than 35 seconds after
winning the coin toss, Tomlinson ran 41
yards for a San Diego touchdown. That was
painful!
St. Louis at
Houston
No sooner had I finished throwing up from
the Washington loss, than I had to endure
an even more painful ending. The Texans
(plus 3 1/2) played arguably the best game
of their season and led the Rams by 10 points
with less than 30 seconds remaining in regulation.
Surely, this one would be a winner? No such
luck!
After
scoring a touchdown with 26 seconds left
in the game, the Rams recovered the subsequent
onside kick and kicked a game-tying field
goal. Since you're reading about this game
in my 'Bad Beats' column, you can already
guess the rest.
Yep. That's right. Like San
Diego had done moments before, the Rams
would win the game with a touchdown in overtime.
Losing one underdog of greater than three
points in overtime is bad enough. However,
losing two in 10 minutes in downright cruel!
Note: After hitting four
of five over the weekend, Totals Guru Ben
Burns is 8-2 his L10 football over/under
releases! Ben ABSOLUTELY LOVES one of Sunday's
NFL Totals. In fact, if a couple other factors
check out, it may be his Top-Rated Total
of the Year!
Ben Burns is a documented member of The
Professional Handicappers League.
Read more of his articles and get his premium
plays here. |
