SJP can't come through in championship games.

Sarah J. Phillips: Coming up short in sports' biggest games

I’m beginning to feel like a three-round fighter that isn’t ready for the championship rounds.

Oregon Ducks championship future bet vs. Auburn Tigers. Loss.

Miami Heat championship future bet vs. Dallas Mavericks. Loss.

Team USA championship future bet vs. Team Japan. Loss.

The pain of these tickets is compounded by the fact that I’m a real Oregon Ducks fan, I’m a real LeBron James fan, and I’m one of the 10 or so real United States Women’s Soccer team fans.

I still can’t believe all of my teams let me down in the same calendar year. I’m finally beginning to understand what it must be like to be a Cleveland sports fan.
Hope Solo and Team USA owe SJP a couple bucks.
I woke up Monday morning and reflected on Team USA’s epic choke job in the World Cup Final. Japan’s equalizers were still fresh in my head. It’s funny how my memory becomes photographic during losing tickets. I’ve found that traumatizing events, like when you catch your uncle starring at your friend's ass, will do that to you.

The difference between losing a championship ticket versus an everyday straight wager is the coverage a championship game garners. And when the event is this big, there’s no getting away from it.

I usually wake up and watch ESPN’s 1st & Ten and flip back and forth between Regis & Kelly. I don’t really enjoy either of the shows, but I definitely don’t want to miss the episode when Regis Philbin or Skip Bayless finally goes bat-shit-crazy and pees on the audience or something out of this world. If you watch either of these shows, you know they’re both teetering on insanity.

I skipped on the morning TV in order to avoid references about Team USA. I really wasn’t in the mood to listen to anymore “LeHope” Solo commentary.

I decided to watch Martha Stewart in the afternoon because I figured she was too busy trying to turn used toilet paper into a  centerpiece and may have missed Sunday's game altogether.

Wrong.

One minute into the show, “Congratulations to the United States Women’s Soccer Team!”

Congratulations for what? I’ve always been told second place is the first loser. Bitch.

Thankfully, I was saved by the bell – the door bell. I turned the TV off and checked to see who was at my door. A bunch of little girls?

I opened the door.

“Hi. Would you like to buy some candy to help our soccer team go to California for a tournament?”

I just stared at them. They probably thought I was crazy. At that particular moment, I may have been.

In my head, I was going into a tirade on these little girls about suffering the same fate and blowing two leads in the final of their California tournament and coming home losers like Team USA did.

Instead, “Sure, give me the whole box” came out.

With $200 pissed away on candy, I decided to come to grips with my loss by eating chocolate and giving myself a little pseudo shock therapy while watching ESPN’s coverage on the World Cup the rest of the day.

There will be another championship fight around the corner but this time, I will come out victorious. I'm counting down the days to football season when I will get a shot at redemption.

I refuse to become “LeSarah” Phillips.

Til next time, cover the spread.

--

Follow Sarah J. Phillips on Twitter @Covers_SJP

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Posted by Vividjohn
1 year ago

sarah can't find the blog 0-2 with the parlays. will take a bit of todays la colo to win 2. which breaks it even for the two days.
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Posted by Vividjohn
1 year ago

both the heat series loss and the us women's final were bad beats. heat up by 15 with 7 minutes on their home court. usa gafing to a 1-1 tie in regulation. ali mcgrieger. and lebron. the two main culprits.
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Posted by yankees1913
1 year ago

@eylesy - Soccer is a great game and a great way to make good money.
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Posted by yankees1913
1 year ago

@SarahJPhilli - You should consult with me on your big game plays.
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Posted by eylesy
1 year ago

As Colbert said the other night "Thank you Japan for making the US less interested in soccer".
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Posted by Colts03
1 year ago

Losing a bet on a championship game does just add salt to the wound, because people talk about championships for years, and it always brings back that haunting memory! :( When the Colts lost to the Saints, it was probably top 5 worst days of my life. Hope your championship luck turns around asap sjp!
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Posted by SarahJPhilli
1 year ago

@Colts03: That's exactly right. You have to have one of your own teams lose on the big stage before you can feel the impact of what we've felt, right? :)
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Posted by soxpatsfan07
1 year ago

told u to be careful with marlins and yankees hope u listened but u didnt lololol u said i thought too much with my penis i guess my penis is pretty smart 3-0-1 today if tampa holds on sd=$$$$$$ toronto over=$$$$$$$$ st louis over push tb=$$$$$$$$$$$$$ added lucky logans Atl=$$$$$$$$$$$$$ and under 7 Ny/Tb=$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ ill but you a new heat jersey or a boob job your choice
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Posted by soxpatsfan07
1 year ago

sorry 5-0-1 have dbacks ml and over 8.5 for later
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Posted by texas-bob
1 year ago

It seems like it would be easy to understand after the game is over and you picked the wrong side, that it was a bad bet. Getting upset is a denial of that. It should be very easy to not get upset AFTER you know it was a losing bet. By getting upset after you know it was a bad bet is because you're still believing it was a good bet which is delusional and counter productive. It perpetuates bad thinking which causes more losses which are then got upset about which perpetuates bad thinking which causes more losses which are then got upset about which ...
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Posted by SarahJPhilli
1 year ago

@texas-bob: So no one should ever be upset that they lost?
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Posted by waltertaylor24
1 year ago

None of your articles are even interesting.... You don't offer any insight.... just a bunch of personal stories.
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Posted by SarahJPhilli
1 year ago

@waltertaylor24: The point of my column is to provide commentary on what it's like to be a sports bettor. So, at least you've gotten that part down.
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Posted by texas-bob
1 year ago

One of the things you might want to look at Sarah, is the similarity between the Heat losing, the soccer and your reaction to each. I don't recall the Oregon game other than it was tied until the last score. The Heat's error was going mental. In game #2 they celebrated with 7:15 left in the 4th after Wade hit a 3 to go up by 15. That's mental. You don't celebrate with 7;15 to go. The Women's soccer team scored late and tried to play a game of keep-away instead soccer. They did that not once but twice. That's mental. You get upset with a bad bet as if it was a good bet. That's mental. Losing bets are bad bets. Winning bets are good bets. Getting upset with a losing bet comes from the belief that the losing bet was really a good bet. That's mental.
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Posted by SarahJPhilli
1 year ago

@texas-bob: It's easy to say this after the fact.
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Posted by down4betting
1 year ago

Sarah, I'm not going to go through every tragic human event with you to prove that this works. Obviously, I only put it out there as another factor to think about. Regardless, it helped with my decision making and the outcome was me walking to my sportsbook and cashing a ticket.
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Posted by SarahJPhilli
1 year ago

@down4betting: I didn't expect you to go through each one, but finding a correlation in tragedy and sporting success isn't capping.
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Posted by _keyser_soze_
1 year ago

It's hilarous you would bash someone else for "not capping". Here's a quote from SJP during the basketball playoffs.. Atl+2 v Chicago I'll take the better team (Atlanta) getting points. (you based your entire series bets on the fact that you couldn't cap the Bulls to save your life - which proves you can't cap either...) And your LBJ love in the finals blinded you to the fact that the Mavs were the better TEAM. So yeah, you're a GREAT capper (rolls eyes) And now that you're essentially out of the betting game - hopefully we won't read your moronic and factually inaccurate "columns". A Covers columnist who doesn't bet is about as useful and insightful at tits on a bull.
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Posted by Kushdoubt
1 year ago

2-0 so far, so happy ATL made the comeback plus Jays covered the RL. What a Great way to start my day. I'm a Canadian kid call me Jason Bay.
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Posted by down4betting
1 year ago

All I gotta say is as much as I loved having our US team in there, I knew Japan would pull it off. You don't have many instances where a team comes from a certain place where a recent natural disaster hit. Japan went through so much with the earthquakes and tsunami that I felt those girls had to do it to lift their country up. Just like when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, I bet on Japan as I did the Saints.
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Posted by SarahJPhilli
1 year ago

@down4betting: Hmmm . . . There have been teams from areas where a tragic event has occurred and they did not win anything.
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Posted by GoogsVL3
1 year ago

Sarah....This article is your most entertaining to date! Side note..After the NCAA investigates Auburn and finds out that they paid Cam Newton, strips them of the National Championship and makes them forfeit all of their 2010 wins..Do I get my money back that I bet on your Ducks?
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Posted by SarahJPhilli
1 year ago

@GoogsVL3: I wish! But no, no you won't. Same as USC/OU BCS Final.
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Posted by ACVERA
1 year ago

Pleasa Sarah tell me that u aren't a Cowboys fan
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Posted by SarahJPhilli
1 year ago

@ACVERA: Nope. Seahawks & 49ers (West Coast).
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Top Response

Posted by BOLIonthestreet
1 year ago

"@SJP: Its because your such a badass. People want to be just like you."

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Sports Betting Headlines »

Featured Free Play
MLB: Colorado vs. Toronto
Pick:
Toronto
Start:
June 19, 2013 - 7:07 PM
Capper:
Bryan Power
Offered at:
betonline @ -150 Toronto
Analysis:

1* Toronto (7:07 ET): The Toronto Blue Jays came into the 2013 season w/ plenty of hype.  They quickly fell on their face, and in fact still remain in last place of a very competitive American League East.  But recently, things are trending upward in the form of a season-high seven-game win streak for the Jays.  Wednesday sees them going for a three-game sweep of the Rockies. I think they'll get it.....

Toronto allowed three runs yesterday. It was the most runs they'd allowed in the last six games.  In the previous five, they allowed a total of four.  One of those was a start from Mark Buehrle, who gets the nod here.  Last time out, the southpaw went seven scoreless innings, allowing just four hits, as Toronto won 8-0. In Buehrle's last two starts, he's allowed just 1 ER over 14 IP.  Buehrle has an all-time 32-13 team start record in Interleague Play.

Meanwhile, Colorado has dropped 22 of 27 games vs. the American League dating back to last year. That includes a 3-9 record this year, averaging just 3.0 runs per game.  They have never won in Toronto, batting just .176 in eight games here. Starter Juan Nicasio is winless in his last five starts and has yet to make it past the sixth inning all season. Toronto and Buehrle are just too hot right now. 1* Toronto.

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