they should've been less certain in their prediction
My friend and I took our 12" scope an hour's drive to a dark spot, and saw no impact. Beforehand though I said to my friend that the scientists don't really know what'll happen, that it could be much better or worse than predicted. They should have expressed more uncertainty.
It wasn't a total loss though - great moon viewing, good views of the Orion Nebula, and found a pretty good dark spot here in the SF Bay Area, which isn't an easy thing to find.