Jinx

Illinois' Bid for a Perfect Season Ends

All season, I've been a very casual observer of the Illini, checking in on them through box scores and the occasional sports page article but never watching a game. I still remember how much it hurt to cheer them into the Final Four in 1989 and watch them lose. But when Meet the Press ended yesterday, I had Brad flip over to CBS while I made our Sunday morning bacon and eggs. That's right--for the first time in 30 games, I wanted to watch this vaunted, undefeated team beat up on the opposition.

And beat up they did--it was 18-8 rather quickly--but in the end I found myself shouting, stunned that the Illini were 0-1 while being watched by me. I promise not to watch their first-round NCAA game.

Things did go my way later in the day, as Tiger Woods reclaimed the number one ranking in golf from my least favorite player, Vijay Singh. But even in watching him win, I felt like a jinx: I turned on the TV as he and Mickelson played the 13th hole, one after Tiger's eagle that gave him a two shot lead. Immediately after I started watching, Tiger started slipping and Phil caught up. Thank you, Tiger, for holding on; thank you, Phil, for barely missing the chip shot that would have allowed you to hang on. If things had gone differently, I might have had to give up watching sports.