When trying to call attention to the flaws of an opponent only to have your own flaws "outed" as a result of personal digging. Similar to the Streisand Effect in the legal community, the Germ Effect calls attention to yourself in an unwanted and unanticipated fashion. The phrase is derived from the great "2011 Yahoo Fantasy Football thread between 'Coach Germ' and 'Teddy Ruxpin.'"
Coach Germ tried to give me shit me for my 17th round pick, but upon taking a look at his team, his antics had "The Germ Effect" when it was discovered that he has 3 #4 wide receivers and 3 running backs who are time-shares.