So I’m sitting here in my cubicle listening to the first half of the BC-Texas Tech game when my boss comes up and asks if I’ll go to Costco with him when he gets back from lunch. Yeah, sure whatever, but then I realize, oh shit, that means I’ll miss the last five minutes of the game. It’s not like I could say no anyways. An hour later, I get into his car, BC has like a three point lead with six minutes to play, and we head out to Costco.
Once there the first thing you see are the big-ticket items. Lucky for me one of the High Definition teevees had the game on. I got to see Jarius Jackson dribbling the ball for a split second. We were up by five with a little over three to play. I was pretty confident we would win the game going in because Tech doesn’t have a big man, which is like Kryptonite to BC. When I saw we were up five, I was absolutely certain we were going to win. I also felt that my having left the game affected its outcome. I don’t know if you can consider this behavior superstitious because the truth of the matter is I have empirical evidence to back it up.
Case A: October 1986, the day after the Red Sox blew game four of the ALCS to fall behind three games to one, I was all but convinced they were done. So much so, that unlike every other Sox game of that post season, I didn’t even put a VHS cassette in the VCR. Not even that, I was so bummed out about the previous night, I decided to go to my friends house that day and not even watch the game. I remember very clearly the events of that day. I was playing football with Duke Corbett and Steve Franklin. At one point Franklin leveled me with a really severe tackle that almost knocked me unconscious. As I was lying there, trying to see through all the stars, it occurred to me that I was letting the Red Sox down. 1986 was the first year that my family had cable, and one of the channels that came with the package was channel 11 in New York, which had all of the Yankees games, which in turn meant that I got to see all of the Yankee Redsox games. This combined with the fact that the Sox were good enough that year to be on the game of the week all the time, meant that I got to see a lot of them despite my being in Philadelphia. I felt I owed it to them, win or lose, to see their final game. I jumped on my bike, and sped off for home, about a four-mile ride. Had I not gotten a flat in front of Upper Moreland high school, I would have been there in plenty of time to see Henderson’s homer, but seeing as how this was well before I carried a patch kit, or even knew how to change a tire for that matter, I missed it.
Case B: Sometime circa 1989, my dad takes my little sister and her friend to a Phillies Giants game that goes scoreless into the twelfth. In the top of the inning Will Clark and Kevin Mitchell hit back-to-back homers to give the Giants a three run lead. Every body starts towards the exits, including my dad, who’s long outlasted the patience of his two charges. In the car, on the way home, he hears the Phils load the bases for their speedy leadoff hitter, Bobby Dernier, who hits an inside the park grand slam to win the game 4-3. Interviewed afterwards, Mike Schmidt said that the fans who left early deserved to never get to see a highlight of Dernier’s home run. Or at least that’s what my dad said he said. If Schmidt didn’t really say it, I am sure he thought it.
Case C: October 1993. Game 6 of the World Series. I was at a packed bar near Kenmore Square watching the game. I wasn’t really a bar person at that point in my life. No, seriously. I was just there to watch the game because my roommate had an impromptu gathering of friends and family at the apartment. Anyhow, the Phils took the lead and only had to get the Jays out in the bottom of the inning to send the series to a game seven. I was really uncomfortable in the bar, it was packed with BU kids, big beefy football player type BU kids (this is before they lost their program), so I headed out the door figuring the only interesting thing that can happen from here on out is bad, so if I miss anything, I’ll miss being immensely disappointed. Of course, as I was walking down Brookline Ave I noticed that Boston Beerworks had a giant teevee in their window, and so I was able to stand there without being shoved around like a tackling dummy and watch the final at bats of that fateful World Series in the quiet October night air. Growing up a fan of both the Phillies and the Red Sox, it was strange to turn around from Carter romping around the basepaths and see Fenway Park looming sadly behind me, a ballpark like any other, constructed for the purpose of such delirious spectacles, sitting empty and unfulfilled. And so I made my way home convinced the Red Sox were as much to blame as Mitch Williams, when in fact it was me, who should have just kept walking past that teevee.
In all three cases, a fan missing out on the game brings the team good fortune. Which brings us to yesterday, and my realization that I am more concerned that BC wins the game than whether or not I will get to see them play. A big part of this has to do with the fact that I don’t have cable, and have experienced most of the season through Ted Sarandis’ radio calls of their games. I’m so used to not getting to see them, that the next remove, not being able to hear them, is not as harsh. I guess my ultimate joy will be when I am recovered after being stranded on an atoll in the Pacific after thirty years, and I find out that head coach Akida McLain lead BC to its first national championship in 2025.
I did, however, get to see that VCU Duke game, which I have a feeling will be the most exciting game of the tournament when all is said and done. If you missed it, shame on you. VCU had a full court press on for the entire game, they just would not let up. Duke had a 13 point lead in the first half, VCU came back. Duke had a 11 point lead with like twelve minutes to go, VCU came back. VCU’s point guard Eric Maynor hit the game winning shot with 1.8 seconds left, which was almost overkill in terms of pure entertainment. But, if that wasn’t enough, CBS’ focusing in on a miserable Christian Laettner, was priceless. There would be no full court bomb slash turnaround jump shot for Duke this time. What a game! Watching VCU play defense is more fun than watching most teams play offense. I highly recommend checking out the VCU Pitt game if you are not stuck in Costco with your boss.
Similarly I believe every concert I don’t attend (or listen to live on the radio) has to suck, but when I’m there it’s grand because I’m there!