THE RUNDOWN: REMEMBERING "THE ED REED GAME"

by Davey, Blown Coverage

The Rundown is my weekly "gambling" column that runs every Wednesday afternoon. It's based on and inspired by the time I spent working at sports books.

If you wager on sports, you must be familiar with losing and you're probably also familiar with those heart shattering/mind raping losses. You know, the ones where you either lose a big chunk of cash or when your team chokes in an unbelievable fashion. And yes, the really fun losses combine those two aspects and you find yourself getting really cozy with a razor blade.

I've lost some memorable wagers and prop bests when for example Daunte Culpepper fumbled at the goal line and when Brian Westbrook couldn't muster up 1 extra rushing yard. But today I'm going to share a wager with you that still makes me flaccid to this day. I call it "The Ed Reed Game". Ironically, today is the 3 year anniversary of the Ed Reed Game.

The year was 2004. The Red Sox just completed their memorable World Series win and even though I have no interest in the Sox whatsoever, I enjoyed seeing the looks on the faces of the Yankees fans in the office.

I pointed, I laughed, I grabbed my crotch, I mocked and I basically enjoyed every minute of it. I was this close to getting my skull kicked in, but still, I had as much fun with it as I could.

Meanwhile, Ricky Williams had abandoned my Dolphins and set in motion a pathetic season in which they were horrible and finished 4-12. So, with baseball season over and football season going like sh*it on a stick, I kept busy with office pools, fantasy teams and I started to wager pretty regularly on games.

Things were going pretty good and during week 9, the Cleveland Browns were going to play at the Baltimore Ravens. After a surprising 9-7 season in 2002, the Browns went 5-11 in 2003 and going into week 9 in '04, they were 3-4 and had a Sunday Night game in Baltimore.

These were the Jeff Garcia led Browns so their offense wasn't really reminding anyone of the '98 Vikings. As for the Ravens, they were 4-3 going into that game and as usually is the case with Baltimore, the strength was defense, not offense. I'm actually being pretty kind here because that Kyle Boller led offense was downright lethargic at times.

Either way, I had a feeling that the Ravens would win and this one had the makings of a low scoring affair. I was thinking 24-7 Baltimore and but for some reason I felt like wagering on the over/under.

I ignored the spread and fixated on the over/under that at the time was 35. After giving it some thought, I was convinced that these two offenses would not combine for more than 35 points. I could have bought some points and raised it a little, but in the end I just had a decent amount of cash on the game total staying under 35.

That night, I sat back comfortably in my office chair, blissfully ignorant and not knowing what was about to happen. I kept muttering phrases like "I'm strong like a bull" and I started to make a list with options of how I was going to spend my winnings.

Then, the game got underway. Baltimore kicked-off and Cleveland returner Richard Alston returned it 93 yards for a touchdown. That was just life trying to remind me that today I was definitely not strong like a bull and that he was going to screw me over any way possible. I mean, when you're hoping for teams to not score, kick return touchdowns end up hurting just so much extra.

Both teams added field goals after that and at the start of the second quarter, it was a 10-3 lead for Cleveland. The second quarter saw 3 Matt Stover field goals and going into halftime the Ravens were leading 12-10. Not bad, but it could have been better.

I started to sweat some Eric Mangini sized bullets because I needed these two teams to combine for just 12 points in the second half. 13 points would have been accepted as well because I wouldn't lost any money with a push but that was obviously the limit.

The third quarter passed and since neither team had scored, I started to sport a massive erection. This was the beauty of watching Cleveland and Baltimore play offense and it was exactly what I had in mind when I placed the wager. As you can imagine, I was never happier to see Kyle Boller and Jeff Garcia line up under center.

The 4th quarter started and even though Cleveland made it deep into Ravens territory, the drive stalled and they settled for a short field goal. 13-12 lead for Cleveland and I was still in business. I was still sporting that erection and once again I was letting everyone know that I was as strong as a bull.

But things would get pretty sh*tty with about 7 minutes to go. Jamal Lewis punched it in from 2 yards out and Baltimore would somehow get the 2-point conversion. 20-13 lead for the Ravens and this was basically it. There could be no more scoring after this. A safety would mean a push, anything else would mean anal bleeding.

The Browns got the ball back and after a drive that seemingly took forever, they found themselves on Baltimore's 5 yard line with about 1 minute left on the clock. Cleveland needed the touchdown to tie and go to overtime. I needed the defensive stop.

To say that my stomach was upset was an understatement. And what happened next has haunted me for the past couple of years and something I still can't believe happened.

Jeff Garcia dropped back, threw into the endzone and the ball got tipped and was alertly intercepted by Ed Reed. When Reed caught the ball, I let out a primitive scream because this meant game over and with that score at 20-13, the cold hard cash was mine.

What I didn't expect was for Reed to get cheeky and return that interception 106 yards the other way for a touchdown. All while hopping and doing some sort of Raven type wing flap with his arms.

If you watch the video below, it starts at the 2:31 mark. The ball gets tipped, Reed makes a great catch and instead of taking a kneel, he takes off 106 yards the other way, hopping and prancing into the endzone while I was stood motionless and tried not to puke from my eyes.

Baltimore 27. Cleveland 13. Davey flacid and comatose.

The Ed Reed game stands out for me for several reasons. It's not everyday that you lose a wager on a 106 yard interception return and especially not on the last play of the game. And the fact that Reed has always been one of my favorite players just made it so much more awkward than it already was.

Take a player you admire on some random team. Watch him as he does something amazing late in a game to seal victory for his team but instead of enjoying the moment, you wish for sweet death because he screwed you out of your dear currency. Add some heavy ridicule from your supervisor and other co-workers and you have something that resembles "the Ed Reed game".