the husband speaks again: i am sorry to report that my marriage does not now bring unusual good luck to philly sports teams in championship situations

before i begin, i must say that my greatest skill as a blogger is my catchy and concise titles for my posts. i can't take credit for it, it is a gift. but enough chatter, on to the main topic. prior to this past sunday, january 18 2009, i had begun to suspect a very strange phenomenon. but first a bit of background.

the failures of philly sports teams over the past 25 years or so have been well documented. i have personally witnessed several of the most heartbreaking ones. i first became aware of sports in 1993, when my mom gave my brother and me a poster celebrating the 1993 NL champion phillies. i found out several days later that they lost the world series in tragic fashion. in 1997, my interest in sports grew when i first saw The Mighty Ducks, and then a few days later watched the Flyers beat the Buffalo Sabres to close out a playoff series. i became hooked on hockey and continued watching the Flyers' playoff games as often as possible. at Celebration '97, i watched them beat the Rangers in game 5 of the conference finals to advence to the Stanley Cup finals; a few days later i watched them lose the first of 4 straight in that series. the sadness was a theme for me. the first playoff football game i really watched was a 14-0 Eagles loss to the 49ers; i saw the Flyers blow a 3-1 series lead to the Devils in the conference finals; the heavily-favored Eagles' 14-3 loss in the 2003 NFC championship was the feature event of my 18th birthday party. in short, though i have not lived long, i have known much pain. (PS, anyone here know who that is in the picture?)

then, in october 2008, something happened. something amazing, unexpected, miraculous. i got married. but a little later in that same month, something else happened: the Phillies won the World Series. it was my second favorite thing that happened that month, at last all my years of loyalty as a fan had paid yielded me the joy of a championship.

a few short months after that most euphoric of sports moments, the Eagles began what seemed to be a miraculous run. against all odds, they made it to the playoffs; then they took care of business in their first 2 playoff games, knocking off the Giants (widely considered to be their greatest challenge in the playoffs) in the process. the stars seemed to be aligned; they would play a very beatable opponent--the Cardinals--for a chance to go to the Super Bowl. furthermore, neither of their potential opponents seemed that scary. it seemed--dare i even say it--very possible that they could win it all.

and that's when i started speculating: perhaps, somehow, in the inexplicable mysteries of God's universe, my marriage had ushered in a new era of philly sports. maybe, now that i had said my vows, i would witness championship upon championship, and that my devotion to my teams--now second only to my devotion to my Lord and my wife--would be rewarded with parade upon parade for years to come. the possibilities were glorious.

and then the Eagles played on Sunday, January 20, 2009. and they lost.

and that's when i realized, i am no curse-breaker. i'm just a happily married guy who will continue to support his teams, even thought they usually manage to poop their pants in big games.

and i'm ok with that. because like i said, the 2008 World Series Champions were only my second favorite thing about October.