Jim O'Donnell: Curious irony frames Philadelphia's backdoor cover on 'MNF'
WHEN ALANIS MORISSETTE released her charmingly manic "Ironic" all those NFL decisions ago, it's a shame she couldn't have had the foresight to include a verse about the end of the Seahawks-Eagles game Monday.
The ending of the game trivialized "bad beat."
It extended into "curious beat" - exactly what a league in serious pandemic residuals needs as its pre-nup with legalized Big Gambling continues to be fine-tuned.
If Friday and Gannon had been working out of Bunco on "Dragnet," Philadelphia coach Doug Pederson would immediately have been handcuffed and taken downtown.
Short story, twist-laden, visiting Pete Carroll and the Seahawks closed at minus-6 ½.
They toyed with the hapless Pederson and his listing convocation, rolling out to a 14-0 lead that peaked at 23-9 with 1:13 left in the game.
Those final 73 seconds produced a reversal of fortune that will live in infamy for those who bet Seattle.
With the ghost of Carson Wentz at QB, the Eagles sifted through a checked-out Seahawks defense like Rocky Balboa zipping up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
The four-play nutmegger ended with Wentz dropping a 33-yard Hail Mary that was eventually caught by Richard Rodgers - with Oscar Hammerstein nowhere to ease the bittersweet harmony.
OK, 23-15, so now kick an extra point and as Vince Lombardi said before the final play of "The Ice Bowl," "And let's get the hell out of here."
Instead, for no logical reason known to God, man or Roger Goodell, Pederson elected to go for 2.
And made it.
Seattle 23, Philadelphia 17.
According to multiple national reports, a wagerer on BetMGM lost $500,000 on the aberrant conversion.
An on-site representative of Vegas Stats and Info reported: "There was bedlam in sportsbooks out here. There was heavy action on Seattle."
Fine, so bad beat, curious beat, ESPN beat - so what?
A few facts to skim into the strange magic:
• Six weeks ago, the Eagles and owner Jeff Lurie announced Unibet - a Malta-based gaming concern that claims more than 11 million customers in 100 countries - was "The Official Sportsbook Partner" of the NFL team;
• That proclamation came four weeks after Lurie and the Eagles announced that DraftKings was "The Official Sports Betting Partner" of the pro football organization.
Presumably, both Unibet and DraftKings benefitted from Pederson's odd decision.
Rest assured, as the NFL and Big Gambling become even cozier, there will be more to come.
Curious.
And isn't it ironic?
STREET-BEATIN': With the NBA reloading far too quickly, ESPN/ABC plans to feature LeBron James and the Lakers vs. Luka Doncic and Dallas in the marquee slot Christmas night. Giannis Antetokounmpo and Milwaukee will host devalued Golden State earlier in the day. ...
Since Joakim Noah and the Clippers have parted ways, hard to imagine Billy Donovan and the Bulls would not come up with some support role for the road-worn noble if he wants it. (How about director of rookie fashion?) ...
ESPN's Chris Fowler is reportedly annoying the wrong people with his ongoing campaign to glide into the cable carnivore's primary NFL booth. ...
Aaron Rodgers and the Bears-Packers mismatch "won" the Nielsen night Sunday. But the overall audience was modest by normal GB-CHI standards and gradually tuned away as the paw grinder played out. ...
Glimmer for the Ryan Pace-Matt Nagy faithful: In 14 of the past 16 NFL seasons, at least one team with a losing record after 11 games has made the playoffs. ...
Sharp-eyed reader Neal Parker noted that Jim Finks sold his 3.23% interest in the Bears back to the team in 1985. (Jerry Reinsdorf and auto dealer Gene Fanning had negotiated with Finks for the holding before Mike McCaskey enlisted the assistance of Andy McKenna to keep things in house.) ... With Snoop Dogg receiving torrents of praise for his work as analyst on the Mike Tyson-Roy Jones Jr. play-a-thon, why couldn't "The Pride of the LBC" take a shot at a season in a prime-time NFL booth? (Allowing for the fact that his core perspective might be a little bit different from Cris Collinsworth.) ...
And CBS's hazy Phil Simms - moments before Jon Gruden and the Raiders got spanked 43-6 by Atlanta - screeched: "Jon Gruden is back everybody. He's got the rust off him. What he's doing has been excellent."
• Jim O'Donnell's Sports & Media column appears Thursday and Sunday. Reach him at jimodonnelldh@yahoo.com.