In stark contrast to fellow SIMPer Schlesinger, I have had a pretty damn good sports weekend.  Let’s see – my Chicago Bears are dominating everybody they play and stand at 5-0 with both the most points scored and fewest allowed per game in the NFL.  My New York Mets swept their way through the first round of the playoffs and are playing like they were 6 weeks ago.  And, although I didn’t go to school there, my favorite college football team, the Florida Gators beat top-10 LSU and moved up to #2 in the latest rankings.  I must have something REALLY bad coming my way to be having this much good fortune all at the same time!

 

Could it be in the form of a collapse by the Bears?  Super Bowls are not won in October and there is a long way to go in the season.  Last year the Colts looked pretty dominant on both sides of the ball and look at how their season ended.  Perhaps the season will be doomed by the annual injury to Rex Grossman.

Could it be in the form of a playoff loss by the Mets?  With the Yankees being eliminated (which of course I smile at), the chase for the championship seems to be wide open, with the Mets having an excellent chance.  But their starting pitching is still dependant on a pitcher on the wrong side of 40 (who, by the way, owns the record for most LCS losses) and two rookies.  As if that weren’t enough, starting left fielder Cliff Floyd is probably going to be nothing more than a pinch hitter in the NLCS, if he is even able to do that.  And the Cardinals are certainly better than the Dodgers in just about every facet of the game.

Could it be in the form of the inevitable heartbreak from the Gators?  They are in the middle of a horrendously tough stretch of SEC games against Alabama, LSU, Auburn and Georgia.  Winning the first 2 of those games, has hopefully given them the confidence to beat the latter 2.  Even if they get through this stretch unscathed, there is still the return of Steve Spurrier to the Swamp and then a trip to Tallahassee to play always tough Florida State.  Maybe college football is where I take my hit because my actual alma mater, the Arizona Wildcats, suck ass in football this year, which of course is no different from the last 4 or 5 years of Arizona football.

Or perhaps my punishment will be that I don’t get to see any of this success.  As some of you know, I live in Europe, which means that with the time change, most of the baseball playoff games START at 2 am.  I stayed awake during the Mets’ games 1 and 3 wins long enough to see Billy Wagner come out to pitch the 9th innings, but that is all I remember.  I guess at 5 am, 8 and a half innings of baseball is all that I can stay awake for.  In an ironic twist of fate, six years ago, the last time the Mets were in the NLCS, they played against the Cardinals.  I watched games 1 and 2 at home before being sent on a trip to the Middle East and I missed the rest of the NLCS.  This year, the Mets are again playing in the NLCS against the Cardinals.  I will watch games 1 and 2 at home before again being sent to the Middle East on Saturday, having to miss the rest of the series, as well as Saturday’s Florida-Auburn game and Monday’s Bears-Cardinals game, if not much more. 

If not being able to watch the game is the price I have to pay, then so be it.  But I don’t think that will be enough for the sports Gods.  So, I am just waiting for the other shoe to drop….