Bosox, Bills fans, and karma

First of all, let me say that I like Boston.  I like the city.  I like its history.  I like its restaurants.  I love going to a game at Fenway Park.  I just think Boston is one of the best cities in the country.

I even like the sports fans there.  Well, except for Patriots fans.

So when I heard that the Red Sox’ epic collapse was complete…..blowing a nine-game lead in September, and blowing a ninth-inning lead in the last game of the season to lose out on a wild-card playoff spot, my first thought was to feel sorry for their fans.

I mean after all, who understands better what it’s like to have your guts ripped out by your favorite sports team than someone from Buffalo?  We know what it’s like to have a tough night.  Or month.  Or decade.  Or lifetime.

And then I thought about sports and karma, and how cosmic forces line up, and I wondered if somehow I played a role in this.  Okay, that sounds ridiculously egocentric….but if you’re a sports fan, that’s how you are.  Let’s face it, we all know that failing to wear our lucky shirt (or washing it) can cause our team to lose.  Don’t we control their fate?

If that’s the case, then maybe the story I wrote last week listing five reasons why the Bills HAD TO beat the Patriots had a ripple effect on the Red Sox.  After all, I did list times when cosmic karma clearly was on Boston’s side.  And one of those times did involve the Red Sox.  (If you missed it, I pointed out that Boston was a last-minute addition to the original teams when the American League was founded.  Bumping out a franchise from another city.  Buffalo.)

So maybe, just maybe, somehow the sports gods got wind of that.  And took another look at the Sox.  And decided it would be fun to torment their fans one more time.  Wasn’t the curse enough?  Wasn’t Bill Buckner enough?  When the Red Sox finally broke through and won the Series in 2004, snapping their 86-year drought, their fans had to think the heartache was finally behind them.

But no.  That’s how sports is.

And sometimes, it just takes a moment.  One that doesn’t just affect the outcome of that game….one that can change the direction of a team, of a city, of a generation of fans.

If Scott Norwood makes that field goal, who knows what happens in the next Super Bowl.  Or the next one.  Or the one after that.

Patriots fans might understand that.  If the officials didn’t blow the “tuck rule” call and Tom Brady’s fumble (which really was a fumble) was ruled a fumble….the Patriots don’t go on to the Super Bowl.  Which they barely won.  Do they become a dynasty?
So Red Sox fans, if somehow I played a role in your latest heartache, I'm sorry. 

Oh, one more thing.  The Sox weren’t the only team to lose out on the playoffs last night after blowing a big lead.  So did the Braves.  Who moved to Atlanta from Milwaukee in 1966.  After moving to Milwaukee from Boston in 1953.

Yep, it’s all karma.