Glad you had a good outcome.
And no its not an old wives tale, it works on the same principle as moistened soil as if it were in the ground or the paper towel method. Do what ever one feels comfortable with
My point is this.
Step 1 - get a seed
Step 2 - get some rockwool/germination mix/paper towels/panty liners/water glass
Step 3 - place seed in any off the above mentioned mediums, at the SAME time with equal temp, they should all sprout at the same time.
Step 4 - Transplant any seed that wasn't in soil or rockwool to it's new home, and watch it go into shock
Step 5 - People that germed their seed in Jiffy Starters or Grodan plugs, or peat pots that NEVER stress the roots of the seedlings, watch the other guy's transplants from paper towels or glasses of water go into shock..
Point - ONCE ANY MOISTURE contacts seed, it is on it's way to germination, it does not need soaking
Experience - left some seed in my pant's pocket and they were washed and hung to dry. Came back in 3 day's, and a sprout was out of my pocket, heading to the sky. Truth (lol)