VERY SUPERSTITIOUS

e're nearing the end of October, and it's the time of the year when superstitions abound. I'm not talking about ghost, ghouls, and goblins, and the rest of the trappings associated with All Hallows' Eve. No, I'm discussing those REALLY IMPORTANT superstitions: those associated with sports, but more specifically, those that have come up while me and mine have been watching (or not watching as we'll get to in a moment) the ashington Nationals make their run through the playoffs.

The one who is suffering the most is my poor daughter; she hasn't been able to watch any of the playoff games as whenever she watches, the Nationals lose. And she is a die-hard Nats fan: a dancer of many years throughout her school years, she had as one of her senior photos, a picture of her in Bryce Harper jersey (which is now the most expensive closet decoration that I have ever bought) and red point shoes in front of Nationals Stadium. She can't even listen to Charlie Slowes and Dave Jageler call the game; she has been relegated to laying on her bed in her apartment and getting updates from ESPN on her phone. She is suffering these last couple of weeks, but whatever it takes to help the Nationals win a
orld Series. And there is no way we're attending the game. The cheapest tickets on Stubhub are going for over $1300 dollars for STANDING ROOM tickets!

I'm going to talk to Mo about buying company tickets. We could get seats behind home plate for $5000 a seat. Maybe I can talk him into the seats a little bit further back. They're only $2800 each and Stubhub rates those as being a best value..... Mo came back and said for $0.00 I can have all the food and drink I want and get a real good closeup of the game by watching it at home in my basement. If I want crowd noise, he'll call me on the phone and provide it for free. I think you folks need to buy more display cases and Display (More of) Your Story!

I think this is a genetic issue with the women in my family. My wife, a huge Washington Capitals fan, couldn't watch the Caps play during their run for Lord Stanley's Cup. Whenever she watched, they lost. She quit watching and the Caps brought the cup home. Fortunately, she can watch the Nats play. She just has to leave and do the dishes sometime during the game. She left at the beginning of the fifth inning in Game 1 and the Nats scored three runs, just enough to win the game. In Game 2, she left at the beginning of the 7^th inning just before her favorite player, Kurt Suzuki, broke out of a slump and smashed a ball out of Minute Maid Park, starting off a six-run inning for the Nats.

As for me, I can't wear my red Rendon jersey. I just wear red and HAVE to wear my Washington Nationals All-Star Game fitted cap (pictured above). And I can't be wearing sox, I have to be barefoot. I've also turn off the sound on the TV and sync the Sirius/XM broadcast of Charlie and Dave calling the game. I wind up being about five minutes behind (I can't look at my phone because I don't want to see the ESPN updates) but I get a much play-by-play with home team guys. I feel for Bob Carpenter and F.P. Santangelo as they don't get to call the post-season run by the Nationals on TV, but kudos to MASN (Mid-Atlantic Sports Network) to fly them to the away games and letting them do the on-field reporting for the post-game interviews and some commentary.

Side Note: My daughter is such a fangirl: We went to a game this summer and we went to the Fan store to get a Bob Carpenter scorebook as she had misplaced hers and had pretty much used it up anyways. (She's nineteen now and been able to score a baseball game since she was about ten.) Wouldn't you know it, it just so happens that Bob was there SIGNING SCORECARD BOOKS! She went up and got him to sign her book, but was so excited, she couldn't get a word out to talk to him. As I said not watching these games is tormenting her.

And just in case you think all this superstitious stuff we do is silly, think about this: I realized I wasn't properly supporting my team last week and went up and got one of my Va Tech hats between the fifth and sixth overtimes during the Va Tech/UNC game. THAT'S when Tech was finally able to put the game away.

You call it superstition. I call it supporting my team.