Broken Promises

Another college football season has come and gone and all that remains is the two "wonderful" weeks that make up the bowl season. Truth be told, I hate this time of year. I end up getting sucked into the bowl pick 'em tournaments and then can't enjoy a game (unless the team I picked to win is winning...). After every bowl season, I make a promise that I'm not going to participate the next year. That way I can just sit back, relax and enjoy the games.

And yet, this year I'm in TWO tournaments.

Yesterday kicked off the bowl season and I am proud to say that I made it through in a great mood. Said mood may have had something to do with the fact that I correctly picked all four games.

However, tonight was a completely different story. I will say that I picked the correct team. But that team managed to find a way to lose the game. How you may ask? Well, I'll tell you. My team (Troy) built a 10 point lead late in the 4th quarter. On 3rd down and 6, they passed to a receiver (named "Stupid" for purposes of this post) who had the first down. No problem, right? Wrong. Stupid saw three defenders coming, got scared and ran BACKWARDS which negated the first down yardage and brought up 4th down. My team's 10 point lead subsequently evaporated because of Stupid's spectacularly idiotic move.

You may be saying that this one play could not have been the reason that my team LOST in overtime. You would be wrong. Not getting the first down gave the ball back to a very good offensive team that was not afraid to take risks (and couldn't be given that they were down by 10). Not only that, but not getting the first down put a defense that had previously blown 31-7 in the FOURTH quarter (see the 40-31 loss to LSU) back on the field. Thanks to Stupid, I lost the game.

Note to self: Do not pick a team that has shown that they know how to choke late in the game.

Now, I know it's not the end of the world. I only lost 8 points. But the fact of the matter is that I was perfect going into tonight. I should be 5 for 5. I should be perfect. Not only that, but one of my opponents should have lost 26 points. I am still in good shape (for now), but I am bitter. My bowl season has officially been ruined on day 2 and I will not be able to enjoy any games from here on out. And it's all thanks to that guy in the number 81 jersey (who should have "Stupid" written on the back of it).

I swear, next year, I'm not participating in these dang tournaments. For real this time.