Franklin Avenue

Curses!
Being mildly interested in sports at best, both curses on the Boston Red Sox and the Chicago Cubs, and the superstitions that the die-hard fans are attached to, just fascinate me.

My friend Wendy tells me that in 1945 some guy wanted to bring his billygoat in to Wrigley Field to see a game and was denied access, so he put a curse that the World Series would never again play in Wrigley Field.

Tuesday night's game was not only marred by the Steve Bartman incident, but (according to Money on KROQ) when Bernie Mac lead the 7th inning stretch song, he said "root, root root for the champs" instead of "the Cubbies." At that moment, Money knew that things will go awry. Apparently, when one is a Cubs fan, one is not supposed to predict good things during a game -- just follow along until they actually win. Don't get cocky. Wendy's sister was blamed for tuesday night's loss as well: When she mentioned how good the team was playing during the game, her husband later blamed her for saying that and causing the big loss.

My friend Brian said that the Red Sox was cursed after they traded Babe Ruth to the Yankees, also known as "The Curse of the Bambino." After last night's loss, he mentioned that the curse was especially potent when the Red Sox play the New York Yankees. Thankfully, Brian is a Yankees fan, and all was right in his world.

Whenever I see a game (any game), I always root for the underdog 'cause I don't know any better, and I just feel bad for that team. These past few days, I was rooting for the Cubs and the Red Sox because of their fans. I'm in awe of their superstions, rituals and love for their teams.