For all but 5 or 6 weeks out of the last 2 NFL seasons, Krissy and I have participated in a pick em’ pool. In the 20-some weeks that we’ve done it, we have only won it once. We have come very close a bunch of other times, and it’s rare for a week to go by where at least one of us isn’t still in the running by the time Monday Night Football comes along. I’d like to think that in the case of the Redskins, my team, that I’m able to pick their games with my head rather than my heart. I know some people, like our friend Kevin, aren’t able to do that. Kevin is as die-hard of an Eagles fan as I’m a Skins fan or Krissy is a Giants fan, but he refuses to pick against the Eagles regardless of the situation. Similarly, because of his hate for the Giants, he will almost never pick them to win either. It’s the same reason Kevin doesn’t play fantasy football: according to him, it’s just bad karma. Aside from the internal turmoil it creates to bet against your team or for a hated archrival (or in the case of fantasy, for players of those teams), I just don’t look at it this way. I’d like to think that I can separate my rooting interest from following the money. That’s probably foolish of me to think, but that’s how I approach it at least. If I think the Redskins are a lock to lose and the Ravens and Cowboys are locks to win in a particular week, I have no problem making my picks accordingly. If I simply followed my heart, that might mean 3 L’s right off the bat. That’s just bad business practice in my opinion.
The Redskins are more than likely to finish well below 0.500 this year, and likewise I’ve picked them to lose more often than not. With that being said, I think I’ve only picked about half of the Redskins games correctly this year. Such is the nature of a mediocre middling team: they are just as likely to win some games they’re not supposed as they are to choke away games that they should win. After saying everything I said in the last paragraph though it’s still pains me whenever I pick them to lose. I’ve rationalized it the following 3 ways. 1st, like I already said, it’s nothing personal…it’s just business. 2nd, if it came down to winning the pot or the Redskins winning, I would sacrifice my winnings for the Skins to win. 3rd, I’ve come to find that picking against your team actually takes the sting out losing…and that goes for watching your team lose and losing the pool. It’s basically the equivalent of emotionally hedging your bets. In this situation, nothing would be worse than picking your team to win only to have them lose. Then, you have to deal with your team losing and your incorrect pick. If you pick your team to lose and they win, then at least your team won. If they lose…hey, at least you picked the game right. This probably falls under the category of stuff that gives you bad karma as well, but until this organization fields a team that you can actually believe in, I don’t see my psychology changing anytime soon. The aforementioned Kevin is actually the one that we turn our weekly picks in to. If I happen to pick Washington to lose and he notices, I will soon hear a, “You picked against them again,” accompanied with a look of disbelief, to which I usually just sigh and nod my head in shame.
Anyway, this week I picked Tampa Bay to beat my Skins. Coming off the week where Albert Haynesworth was finally sent his walking papers after a listless loss to the Giants, I could actually envision the Redskins winning this game. Sure, the Bucs still actually have playoff aspirations, but I thought maybe the last week would have given the team some kind of spark. Combine that with the fact that you had a warm weather team coming to play in what was forecasted to be a cold rainy December day in the nation’s capital, and this was scripted as one of those games that the Redskins could win despite having no business winning (similar to when they won in Tennessee a few weeks ago). This would only further serve to tease and torture Redskins fans with the possibility that maybe this team isn’t that far away from being good after all. Still, I just didn’t have the guts to pick them to win. My prediction was some kind of ugly 17-13 loss filled with turnovers, mistakes, and missed opportunities.
My prediction turned out to be not that far off. The final box score showed the Bucs winning 17-16, but that didn’t begin to tell the story. Donovan McNabb, who apparently had no business conducting a 2-minute offense earlier in the season, efficiently marched the offense down the field for a game-tying drive. After a short touchdown pass to Santana Moss on 4th down, I could only think of one thing. They’re going to miss the extra point. I think I even said it out loud. Maybe that was some kind of reverse-jinx I was trying to pull off, maybe it’s what I really thought, or maybe it was some combination of both…but I did say it. The kicker, Graham Gano, had missed 2 chip shot field goals earlier in the game and had very nearly yanked an extra point wide of the left upright as well. Shaky didn’t begin to describe his game up to that point, and if he had made those 2 earlier kicks, the Redskins might not have even been in that position to begin with. What actually happened wasn’t even within the realm of possibilities I had gone through in my mind.
I have been a Redskins fan my entire life. The 1st team I ever followed as a kid was the 1991 Redskins, a team that dominated the league on the way to 14-2 and a Super Bowl win. Really, there hasn’t been much to cheer for since then. In the past 2 years alone, the Redskins have found more embarrassing ways to lose then it would probably take for most franchises in an entire decade. From the shalackings the Skins got courtesy of the Eagles and Giants over the course of the past month to the overtime loss to the eventual Super Bowl champion Saints last year (where aside from missed field goals, a Redskins defensive back intercepted a pass only to have the ball stripped and returned for a touchdown on the same play), I thought I had seen the full spectrum of losses that was possible…until yesterday. On that extra point attempt, the ball and the field were soaked, as a cold drizzle had persisted throught the whole game. The snap was high, but catchable, yet the ball skipped through the hands of holder Hunter Smith like a wet bar of soap…ballgame. I don’t think I had any particularly pronounced reaction to the play. There was no shoe-throwing or cursing fits of rage. While I hadn’t predicted that exact sequence of events, I had predicted the outcome of the play. I don’t think I said anything else after that. I simply slumped down into my sofa like a deflated balloon. So much for hedging my bets…
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