Cocky Oregon Football Fan May Have Jinxed Ducks With $11K Impulse Buy During Loss To Oregon State

Cocky Oregon Football Fan May Have Jinxed Ducks Against Oregon State

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Sports have an uncanny ability to make some of the most rational and levelheaded people on the planet chuck logic and reason out of the window in favor of the rabid tribalism and all-consuming fervor that comes with placing a sizeable emotional investment in the teams you cheer for.

That temporary suspension of common sense also applies to the many superstitions rooted in the various pastimes we live and die with. Sure, you probably know there’s no way you can actually influence the outcome of a game by sitting in a “lucky chair” or cause a pitcher inside a stadium hundreds of miles away to blow a no-hitter by simply acknowledging the possibility of the feat out loud, but it never hurts to err on the side of caution.

“It ain’t over til it’s over” might be the ultimate sports cliché, but anyone who’s been on the wrong end of an improbable comeback, shocking last-second play, or some under Surrender Cobra-inducing moments usually doesn’t need to be taught a second lesson about the dangers of a premature celebration.

In most cases, those retroactively regrettable victory laps don’t have any major repercussions aside from the crushing emotional blow that can take days to fully recover from. However, there are some situations where the consequences can be a bit more serious—as one University of Oregon football fan learned the hard way over the weekend.

The No. 10 Ducks headed into Saturday’s contest against No. 22 Oregon State as slight favorites to walk away with the win that would’ve allowed the former to punch their ticket to the PAC 12 Championship Game in Las Vegas, and it seemed like they had a very good chance of doing exactly that after pulling out to a 21-point lead with around four minutes to go in the fourth quarter.

According to John Canzano, that 31-10 margin was enough to convince one Oregon booster it was safe to pull the trigger on a luxury box at Allegiant Stadium, as they spent $11,000 to reserve a suite where they’d presumably be able to watch the boys from Eugene play for the conference title on December 2nd.

When you consider the team’s win probability was hovering over 95% at that point, it’s fairly easy to understand why they made the purchase. Unfortunately, that impulse buy preceded an absolutely brutal collapse that saw Oregon State score 21 unanswered points and walk away with the 38-34 win that resulted in the Utah Utes earning the right to face off against USC in Sin City on December 2nd.

That’s gotta hurt.