I first posted the theory data on my Facebook wall yesterday and today, I predicted the outcome of tonight’s college championship game. I was merely testing a theory I heard during the "Mike and Mike in the Morning Show" on Monday morning at 5 AM. I awoke laughing my head off as usual at the comedic banter for which Greeny and Golic are known.
They spoke about sport’s superstitions which often accompanies all players and fans. Apparently Greeny's dad did not want to change his vacation & flight plans to attend the next NY Jets game because in changing plans, he may jinx the team's ability to win another game versus the Cincy Bengals (this time a playoff game). Greeny had first brought up the idea for his dad to change his plans in order to help his dad save some time because his dad was going to have to make two separate trips on separate days almost half-way across the country to see the playoff game in person. Greeny then had second thoughts after his dad explained the jinx theory and changed his mind as well and agreed with his dad to leave vacation and flight plans “as is”.
The dos Mikes went on about other superstitions and it reminded me how I also have some pretty quirky ones of my own. For me though - in order to "meet my fears" and to spite my own idiosyncrasies which are my superstitions, I tend to do the complete opposite of what my superstition devils feed into my ears and into my thoughts. Most often I despite them and I end up on the short end of the stick, per se.
Here is some data about what I mean:
1) When I tell someone which team I am supporting, 2 out of 3 times they win...thus; I am 70-30 with voicing my beliefs even though I have promised myself I would not make any vocal predictions. Going forward I need to keep my opinions to myself and not tell anyone what I think. Except concerning Texas Tech…I am always on their side.
2) When I write down which team I am supporting, 1 out of 3 times they win...thus, I am 30-70 when I write down my predictions. I seriously need to stop writing down my predictions for the Karma Gods are out to spite me.
This time around I decided to try something new with a team whose results really do not concern me at all. I told everyone that the University of Texas Longhorns were going to beat the Alabama Crimson Tide and win the 2010 BCS National Championship. I wrote it down as well as a “fearless prediction”. I am actually more in favor of the Tide to win for obvious reasons surrounding the last time Texas played and almost lost to the Cornhuskers of Nebraska had it not been for that “one second incident”.
I am not buying into the idea that Texas is totally going to fall apart and not give ‘Bama a run for their money, but neither am I convinced that Texas can win this game - if they do it will be close. No matter which team wins, it will be close and low scoring. Colt McCoy, who had my support for Heisman, is not your ordinary player. He is clutch when the opportunity calls for it and when the situation demands it. His favorite target at WR is Jordan Shipley (6th year senior-ala red-shirt due to previous IR status); Jordan is not one to give up either. The UT kicker is definitely clutch to boot, pardon the pun. These UT guys will combine to give the Tide a good fight. However, there might be way too many weapons on the ‘Bama side, offense and defense, so I fear that the ‘Horns will be unable to keep their 17 game win steak alive after tonight’s game and will fall a bit short of winning the national championship.
After the game is over, I will post my real “fearless prediction” for this game as I did 4 weeks ago via ESPN when I entered their 2010 College Bowl Mania contest. I had the ability to change my prediction for this game up thru today, but I never once waivered. I kept the score as I chose it 4 weeks ago especially when I was not too impressed with UT’s Big 12 Championship last-second victory over the ‘Huskers. However, I also chose to keep the score close for a couple of reasons. I saw something in Coach Nick Saban as he downplayed having beaten Florida during their SEC Championship game. Nick seemed confused or maybe surprised at their win no matter how many points they won by, he seemed shocked. Nick himself appeared to not want to predict anything about the national championship game, and I don’t believe that he refrained from commenting too much about the game or their opponents even after they knew it would be Texas because he is a classy guy. Nick seemed plagued by the very superstitions which hinder all fans and he wanted to say as little as he could. There was something else I saw in Saban’s eyes a couple of days later after their SEC title game…a bit of fear…maybe the fear which reminded him of the fact that 32 days would lie in wait until the national championship would take place and it would be sufficient time for UT to fix their issues - enough time for UT to give ‘Bama a tough time and maybe even beat them. UT won’t go out so easily and lose as badly as sport’s pundits and 74% of the nation believes they will. UT may lose, but it won’t be by a landslide. At the end of the game, Alabama might win and if they do, they will -should- appreciate their victory even more.
