Definitely he made the right call...I'm just a dork for not recognizing that he had an open-ended draw before I posted this.
I won't play J8s every time, certainly...but with a limper in front and the BB yet to act, there's a real good chance I get to see this flop for $75 against three other players. In that situation, I will play this hand about 90% of the time.
My river call was horrible...it was disturbing for me to watch my hand (which was the nuts on the turn) go to almost worthless after the river, and I made an emotional play instead of a smart one. So no, it's not a bad beat, but if TP wants to create an "I'm an idiot" forum, I'll happily re-post this thread there.
