Today in meaningless superstitions

I watched the first 6 innings of the Cubs game last night and was feeling pretty good. Silva looked shockingly good (and efficient), and the Cubs got some runs off of Bailey, who was quite wild last night. I was a little worried that they didn't take advantage as much as they could have. I was actually pretty surprised to find that he only walked two batters (though he did hit two). Anyway, after the 6th inning I gave in to my wife's suggestion that I get a new Cubs hat. She's been suggesting it for a few years now but I stood firm - the cap is nice and broken-in, comfortable, and actually fitted to go over my enormous head (I can't wear most of the usual flex-fit hats that they sell at/near the stadium). I've owned it for about 8-9 years and have been wearing it nearly every day since the middle of the 2003 season. However, it could be seized by the Center For Disease Control any day now to advance microbial science by about 50 years. Here's a pic



My wife refuses to even touch it at this point (dying laughing). Anyway, to continue the story we headed down to the mall to see if I could find a new hat at one of the innumerable sports paraphenelia stores there*. We caught the 7th on WGN in the car on the way, listening to Berg retire the Reds in order in the 7th. The Cubs were up 3-1 at this point and I figured that either 1) the Cubs would win, and I'd already seen the key moments in the game or 2) The bullpen would implode and I wouldn't want to experience it anyway. I picked a new hat (pictured below).

*It could just be me, or maybe Wisconsin being weird, but there are way too many sports-y stores at the mall. I hit the hat shop and a more general jersey shop, but I also spotted no more than 2 sports memorabilia stores there (to get important stuff like packers trash cans, banners, steins, etc). There's also a Dick's there and one of the generally awful department stores (Gordman's) actually has a great selection of Cubs gear (i.e. the t-shirt jerseys that I prefer).



Apparently I'm the only Cubs fan I know (including my wife) who likes the red-brimmed hat better than the all-blue one. The all-blue ones look too drab. I definitely need to break this in - I don't like the too-new look of, well, new hats, but I also think it's dumb to buy the pre-distressed ones you sometimes see. New hats also have a lot more shaping/structure than I seem to remember - there's gotta be an inch between my scalp and the top of the hat at some points. I don't remember if this was also the case with my circa 2001 hats or if new era has just changed things. It makes my head look really tall. Once I accidentally sit on it a few times that might fix it though.

Anyway, I bought the and we cruised through the bookstore (our favorite thing to do on friday night, huge nerds that we are), and headed back to the car. Orange Guy was on the postgame show and sounded kind of chipper, so I assumed the Cubs won...until he reported that the pen had blown the game with a HR. I got home and saw that Caridad blew the game with a GS in the 8th...probably just as I bought the hat. I've got the receipt so I know the time, but I'm too lazy to check to see the game time when it happened. On top of all that, the Reds tried to give away the game in the 9th, giving up a HR to Lee and then flubbing the final out of the game not once but twice, before Chad Tracy grounded out with the bases loaded to end the game 5-4.

My dog is now sporting her Cubs bandana to right this karmic wrong. Now that she's blind she can't watch the failpile of bullpen implosions this year.