Very Superstitious, Nothin' More To Say

Athletes and sports fans are a superstitious lot. Growing up in New England, I got an extra strong dose of sports superstition. My father and I played a football pool when I was in high school. He always bet against his Patriots, because when he bet for them, they would lose. He’d root for them, and would rather lose the bet than have the Pats lose. But he would never bet for them, because guaranteed, it would jinx them. Over the top? No, not in New England. After all, the Curse of the Bambino lasted 86 years.

So you will notice I did not blog about my Pats as they made their run for history this year. I had never blogged about them before, so blogging about it before the Super Bowl, well, that would have jinxed it! I started to put my toddler in her Patriot cheerleader outfit, but since she hadn’t worn it for the previous games... Well, you get the idea.

Unfortunately for Pats fans everywhere, Perfection was not to be had this year. We got within 2 minutes of perfection, and I really thought Bruschi and the boys could hold them off. But after a spectacular on-the-helmet catch, Eli and the Giants came from behind to win the game in the last minute of the 4^th quarter.

Not to take anything away from the Giants, who played a great game, but the Patriots did not bring their A game to the Super Bowl this year. Was it all the hype leading up the game? Was it the constant talk of perfection and history being made? Was it the pure exhaustion of playing at such a high level for an entire season?

Or was it because I got up in the 4^th quarter to shut the kids' bedroom doors? Maybe I shouldn't have changed seats when I came back.