My team is the Carolina Panthers in the NFL. I have been a fan of theirs since they set up shop in North Carolina many years ago when I just happened to be living there and got caught up in the excitement associated with a state getting an NFL team for the first time in its history. It was electric and I just kind of stuck with it.
It hasn't been an easy ride being a fan though because even when they were were good a couple of times they somehow found many ways to let me (and all the other fans down).
Now I still root for them, I just don't have any faith that they are actually going to do well after years of claims that "this will be our year" and "we have made the changes the fans have been asking for!"
It's all been one letdown after another and therefore, to hedge my bets as far as my emotions are concerned, I bet against the Carolina Panthers every week as far as the Vegas lines are concerned.
I wasn't expecting this game to be terribly exciting and in many ways I felt like it was two teams who have been down on their luck for a long period of time. They are two teams with some of the worst records in recent history but if I am being honest, the Browns are much worse off than the Panthers are in this regard.
Cleveland is a city like Charlotte in that it isn't really large enough to justify the existence of a professional sports team but they hang on, man do they hang on.
Carolina was favored to win this game by 2.5 according to vegas odds. I without thought bet against that spread and it was the correct bet.
Browns fans predicted this one but that's not why I am including this graphic. I'm including it because their fans are just as jaded as Carolina fans. nearly 20 % of them predicted a horrible loss to their own team.
I just felt as though Carolina would do what Carolina normally does and that would be to make some critical errors and botch the game.
When Carolina took the lead in the 4th quarter with just 3 minutes to go I said out loud "they're gonna screw this up." Screw it up they did. The Browns scored a matching TD with their next possession and then Carolina turned the ball over on downs then threw an interception on their next two possessions.
While this might be really disappointing to the average Panthers fan, I totally expect this sort of thing and therefore not only was I not disappointed, I felt as though I have a good grip on how "my team" operates. The Panthers just seem to have a knack for screwing things up when it really matters.
I'm 2-1 on the year betting against my own team
Next up on the loss-parade that I predict will be the theme of the Carolina season is the Detroit Lions and Vegas has Detroit favored by 3.5 right now with a few days left before the game happens. This mean that Detroit needs to win by more than 3 to cover the bet. I will take that bet. Honestly, it could be 10 points and I would still take that bet.
I'm only betting quite small money on these games. Just $10 a pop. So either way there is no real loss...other than Carolina that is.
