Time for the way too late worst beats of last year. I will keep them short, but not sweet. Here they are, in order:
1. Jets +3.5 on 1/8: Miami kicked a field goal with 18 seconds left to go up 9-6. The Jets had been covering all game. Then, it was time for pitchy-pitchy woo-woo. A safety with no time left made it 11-6. The broadcast signed off without updating the score. It left a sliver of hope that there was not a safety given (it wasn’t clear and obvious), but ultimately the final score was 11-6.
2. Stars ML on 1/18: Dallas was up 3-0 against the Sharks. San Jose had lost 32 of their 45 games entering this contest. However, the favored Stars let San Jose come back and rally for an improbable 5-3 win. I can only imagine what odds a live money line would have been at 3-0.
3. Boise State -14 on 2/11: The Broncos were up 23 with under 2 minutes remaining, and 24 a short time earlier. Turnovers and a technical foul helped Wyoming close on an 11-0 run. They were able to backdoor a cover and close the final margin to 12. Six late free throws and two field goals down the stretch. One of them was a three. Absolutely ridiculous. This was worse than another Boise bad beat in January when they won by 10 and I didn’t buy it down from 10.5 to 9.5, which would usually be my strategy. One Boise bad beat is enough.
4. Mavericks -4 on 2/26: A 27-point Mavs lead turned into a 111-108 Lakers victory. Teams had been 0-138 when trailing by 27 that season until the Dallas collapse.
5. Angels -1.5 on 4/27: Shohei Ohtani improved to 4-0, but squandered a 5-0 lead. The Angels won 8-7, and didn’t cover the run line. He nearly became the first starting pitcher in modern major league history to hit for the cycle, but his eighth-inning fly ball was caught on the warning track. It remained just a one-run lead for the Angels, and they only won by a single run against dreadful Oakland.
6. Texas-Baylor over 48.5 on 9/23: There were 44 total points scored with 5:36 to play in the third quarter. That needed final touchdown never came. SVP featured the game in his bad beats segment.
7. Chargers-Chiefs over 48.5 on 10/22: It was 24-17 at halftime. I needed 8 more points in the second half, and didn’t get it. The final was 31-17. I could have bought a point, teased, or just taken the Chiefs like an intelligent person. Kansas City fumbled in field goal range at 24-17. The Chargers then drove down to the Kansas City 8 before Justin Herbert was picked off. No points on either drive proved costly.
8. Suns ML on 10/31: Phoenix was up 20 at home on the pathetic Spurs. Kevin Durant was stripped late to set up the winning score. Or, fouled without a call. Depends on your point of view. They actually played again in Phoenix two days later. After initially staying away, I went in again. San Antonio couldn’t possibly pull this off twice in three nights. They did. The Spurs improved to 3-2. Then, they lost 18 straight and 23 of 24.
9. Thunder ML on 11/1: I get in the car and Oklahoma City is up 49-27. Final score? 110-106 New Orleans.
10. Michigan -32.5 on 11/4: The Wolverines were dominating Purdue. It was 41-6. The Boilermakers scored on fourth down from the Michigan 24 with 18 seconds remaining for their only touchdown. This game also made SVP’s bad beats.
Time for the “better late than never” conclusion to my 22 worst beats of ’22. Here is part two:
1. 7/12: Yankees ML vs. Reds
The Yanks were ahead 3-0 as they headed to the ninth inning. Clay Holmes came in to close it out. He was 4-0, and had been the second coming of Mariano Rivera up to this point. Cincinnati was 0-48 when trailing after eight innings. Conversely, the Yankees were 49-0 when leading after eight. Holmes didn’t have it. Five batters reached, although only one ball left the infield. Cincinnati had scored twice, and Wandy Peralta entered with the bases loaded and nobody out. He was one strike away from escaping the jam after a pair of ground balls each resulted in an out at home plate. Jonathan India then singled in two runs. Cincinnati completed a miracle comeback. It was an unfathomable loss for the heavily favored Yankees. Alanis Morissette said it best in one of her more popular songs. Thank you India.
2. 7/21: Giants +1.5 at Dodgers
Some bad beats actually look like they will end poorly in the early stages but give me false hope before becoming extremely painful. San Francisco rallied from 5-0 down to go in front, 6-5. The knock on San Francisco going in was their defense, and they showed why in this game. There were two official errors, but they also misplayed fairly routine balls. LA had two outs and a runner on in the eighth inning. Escaping with a lead to the ninth would greatly increase my chances of winning because the Dodgers would need to win by more than one with a walk-off.
Los Angeles tied it on an RBI triple. After a walk by Cody Bellinger (terrible because he was struggling and a far worse hitter than who was up next), Mookie Betts deposited one deep to left. The Dodgers won 9-6. LA was one of those teams that seemed to win almost every game. Especially when I went against them. Then they would lose at home against an awful Washington team as big favorites when I figured they were unbeatable.
3. 7/23: Yankees ML at Orioles
As Yogi Berra famously said, it was deja vu all over again. The heavily favored Yankees were up 3-0 with ace Gerrit Cole on the bump. Once again, they blew it. This time, Cole suffered the loss. Baltimore came back to win by a final of 6-3, but this wasn’t just on their pitching. Yankee bats were only 1-14 with runners in scoring position.
4. 9/10: Hawaii-Michigan over 66.5
This is one of my worst losses for several reasons. The final was 56-10. I could have bought a point and won. That afternoon I actually argued with people about how buying points makes a difference and turns losses into wins. Should have taken my own advice. It made SVP’s Bad Beats segment. Hawaii had their running back try a jump pass on third and goal. I even joked about possibly losing 59-7 before the game started. My point was they might only score 66 points. It was basically a replay of their game the week before in terms of coming up just short on the over by not punching one in late.
5. 9/18: Raiders +1.5 in a teaser vs. Cardinals
Las Vegas blew a 20-0 halftime lead. Kyler Murray made one ridiculous play after another. Murray threw incomplete on fourth down with 30 seconds to play. It appeared that the Raiders had held on and wrapped up a 23-15 victory. However, defensive holding was called. Kyler scored on fourth down with no time left. He then completed a pass for two points that forced overtime. Replay reviews went Arizona’s way. It took a bunch of wild plays for the Cardinals to make their comeback.
Arizona was then stopped on fourth down in the extra session. Las Vegas appeared to be driving for the win. Even a tie would have been good enough for my teaser. Byron Murphy Jr. returned Hunter Renfrow’s fumble 59 yards. This was the first of many times that Las Vegas snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, and it was not the only time I would get burned by the Raiders. Another Las Vegas teaser that involved a 17-0 blown lead almost made the list.
6. 9/24: Oregon -6.5 at Washington State
Scott Van Pelt sometimes says that the right side covered. In fact, this was one of those times. I make my own rules. The fact that it looked like there was no shot of an Oregon cover made it even more frustrating when they came back to go up 10 before allowing a late touchdown. This game had just about all of the ingredients for a classic bad beat. First of all, I had just suffered a catastrophic loss that could have easily made this list when Florida scored two late touchdowns against Tennessee.
Losing on Oregon pretty much completed the double whammy. I could have won by going ML or teasing with the over instead of giving points with the Ducks. Washington State’s final touchdown was set up by a long pass with just seconds left. The time remaining didn’t appear on screen. It had been taken down. There was confusion about whether or not another play could be run. That long pass was originally ruled a touchdown before being reversed by replay. This allowed Washington State time to get down the field, set up, and snap the ball with five seconds remaining. It was incredibly chaotic, and heartbreaking.
7. 11/2: Blazers +4.5 vs. Grizzlies
Portland trailed 111-104. They missed a late three before scoring on an offensive rebound. Memphis won 111-106. My +4.5 lost. It went to 5.5 after my bet was placed. I didn’t buy a point or wait until the spread went up. That final dunk helped some people, but not me.
8. 11/20: Jets +3.5 at Patriots
Obviously, I had been covering the entire time if it was tied at 3 with under 30 seconds remaining. The Jets lost on a punt return touchdown when they seemed destined to cover and probably head into overtime. An absolute debacle. It was a horrible bad beat and an excruciating team loss. Also, their quarterback has been broken since this game. The season was a disaster after that punt return. Oh the pain.
9. 11/29: Blazers ML vs. Clippers
It was my second rough loss on a Blazers home game in less than a month. Portland was winning 91-73 with three minutes remaining in the third quarter. LA pulled within 95-82 before the fourth quarter began, and outscored the Blazers by 19 points during the final period. Norman Powell, a reserve, scored 32 points against his former team. He scored 22 of those points in that decisive final quarter.
10. 12/3: TCU -1.5in the second half vs. Kansas State
Overtime started with the game tied at 28. TCU went for two at 28-26. If they missed, it would have been a second half cover because they trailed 14-10 at halftime and it would have been 16-14 after halftime. When there was a third and goal from inches away in overtime I started to see how this would turn out. TCU didn’t score. Well, they were close once or twice and maybe did break the plane. Officials didn’t give it to them. Kansas State only needed a field goal to win after holding, and prevailed 31-28. TCU outscored them after halftime, but only 18-17. I didn’t get my over 60, either. A nightmare scenario. I figured this would happen because that was how I would lose both bets.
11. 12/11: KC -6.5 at Denver
The Chiefs were favored by 8.5, so I bought two points. Often I like to get it down under 6, but crossing past 7 is expensive. The Chiefs jumped out to a 27-0 lead, so it looked like they would cover easily. Jerry Jeudy bumped an official. He should have been ejected. Instead, he continued to play and scored three touchdowns. Kansas City won, but by six. Another case where I could have won by teasing with the over or going ML. I also could have bought that one additional point.
I don’t think there is anything more overblown than all this nonsense about sports betting becoming legal. People are so stupid. The hosts have a pretty good idea of what’s going on, but even they aren’t completely keyed in. Mike Francesa thinks he needs to explain live betting, and of course, does a poor job of doing it. People have been doing that for over ten years. Mike said it is only during breaks. That is the most popular time, but it depends on your site and the game. You can call somebody or use a phone to log in.
I hear about how people could possibly bet right from a stadium. As if I didn’t call in a second-half wager from Giants Stadium in 2005. All the changes are things that most people don’t care about. It might be more accepted. The total number of people betting could increase. Money might go to or come from a different place. You would think we are going from legal wagering to illegal betting. That would be a story. I guess most people have no clue how gambling works, and I’m sure they don’t realize how rampant it is.
Suppose there is a controversial call and somebody lost 100 bucks. More people will think the games are fixed. I just heard that one. Good point. I don’t think there has ever been a controversial call that resulted in someone losing 100 dollars. Talk about opening Pandora’s box. Right up there with speculation that now athletes or officials will bet.
Think about this. There are different ways to place a bet. Now, somebody who is a popular public figure will wager in public. Even if they had a friend or relative do it, that would probably get out with social media.
Call me crazy, but I think that would probably be done on a site. As Francesa has always said, your local guy offers credit. Any new law or ability to wager legally will not put those people out of business. I just heard another great caller. College players should get paid because there is now more opportunity for fraud. Let me get this straight. You pay someone under the table, but then bet in public? Any large wagers will likely be monitored closely.
Another thing I hear is that people will become addicted to gambling. That does not happen with lotteries, casinos, and whatever else is out there today. I didn’t even get into fantasy sports. Scraping up 50 bucks and going to a window could really do you in. Much more than betting hundreds when you have nothing in your pocket. By the way, teenagers have bookies. Plus, they take bets. Don’t be naive and think otherwise.
Here is SVP’s take on the legalization of Sports Gambling if you missed last nights show. https://t.co/ZasGMMJj41
I look forward to more ridiculous points and foolish questions. Sports betting was already here to stay (and growing) way before all of this came into public discussion. Educate yourself. Don’t add to the stupidity.
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