Question: How do you stop a chicken from hatching?
Answer: Call Rob Crowne
You know the saying: "Don't count your chickens before they hatch." Well, when it comes to hatching chickens, I'm a champ at stopping them.
Last night my Crowne Jewel was on Minnesota. I predicted Minnesota would win by 14. My point predictions are sufficiently accurate that I will often back them with my money. Last night, in the "Margin of Victory" proposition, I put my money on "Minnesota by 13-18 points," at odds of +600.
With about 4 minutes to go in the game, and the Vikings leading by 16, and Green Bay not having scored a single point in the second half, I made the fatal mistake of putting a little "W" in a circle next to the "Margin of Victory" bet.
Not satisfied with that mistake, I compounded the curse by happily multiplying my bet by 6, and writing the result down with a "+" in front of it. As soon as I did it, I knew I shouldn't have. I could hear the leaves rustle and a cold wind whistle past my window. But it was too late. Luckily for all of you who bet the Vikings, I caught myself before putting a "W" next to the Win Bet.
Just 20 seconds after I put my Margin of Victory "W" on the paper, Minnesota's defense inexplicably fell apart, and Green Bay scored a TD.
Did I say inexplicably? I can explain it. It was all my fault. I take full blame. I cursed the play by writing down the result before the game was over. It was a lapse. I know better.
For some reason, the curse never works the other way. Before the game is over, I can make a Christmas tree of little red "L's" in a circle next to every one of my teams that is failing to cover, and it NEVER reverses a single result and causes me to win. In the other direction, however, if I take the win before the game is over, I can be ahead by four touchdowns at the 2-minute warning and I will lose.
It actually happened to me once. I have intentionally managed to forget the teams involved. My team was covering by 27 points. There were 3 minutes to go and the opponent was about to punt to my team. With just 3 minutes to go, a 27-point lead, and the ball, I wrote down the "W."
I hardly completed the last upleg of the "W" when my team fumbled the punt. The opponent recovered the fumble and ran it in for a TD. The opposition kicked off. Incredibly, the same thing happened again. My team fumbled, the opponent recovered and ran it in. Now, behind by only two scores, the opponent decided to go with an onside kick. It was successful, and three plays later they were in the end zone again. Now I actually didn't want my team to receive the ball. I wanted them to waive the kickoff and just give possession to the other side at the 20. They'd given up three TD's in 90 seconds by receiving the ball. My wishing didn't help.
Despite my fear, this time my team held onto the ball for a first down after the kick. But the gods were just having fun with me. Two downs later, my team was intercepted trying for a first down that would allow them to run out the clock. The other team scored just before the final seconds ticked off, covering the spread by one point.
Moral: Don't ever scramble fertilized eggs.
To celebrate the win on the Crowne Jewel and make-up for the loss on the smaller play on the total last night, tonight's CFB play is FREE. You can get it on the Free Pick Page by CLICKING HERE.