Do you remember this?  Probably not, unless you’ve been around here for quite some time.  It was my very first blog post.  It was written two years and a couple of weeks ago, when the Phillies were on their way to winning the 2008 World Series.

Here’s the deal.  I despise sports.  And yet, I somehow seem to be in the midst of a vibrantly monochromatic, screaming crowd no matter what city I live in.  Why can’t I live in a city, ever, that just sucks at sports???

Then it hit me.

It’s me.

Professional sports successes following me around the country since I was born, as sports teams feed off my luck and charm?  Ludicrous, but strangely intriguing.  I kept my peace over this until last night, when Andy mentioned that this is the first time in 15 years that the Cincinnati Reds have made it to the baseball playoffs, even though they were just swept by the Phillies.

“Wait a second,” I said.  ”In 2007, when we moved to Philadelphia, wasn’t that the first time in 15 years that the Phillies had made it to the playoffs?”  ”Um, yeah, why?”

And there.  Confirmation.  It IS me.  In 2007, the Phillies made it to the playoffs for the first time in a decade and a half and proceeded to be swept, exactly like the Reds were last night.  ”Mark my words,” I said to Andy, waggling a finger at him.  ”Next year, the Reds will win the World Series.”  ”Why?”  ”Because the Phillies did in 2008, a year after I moved there.  It just takes that long for my luck to build up.”

In curiosity, I decided to take a peek at the winners of major pro sports events since I was born.  This is not a fool proof method since obviously the Reds are beginning to experience my luck even though they won’t go down on sports win charts.  The Flyers lost the Stanley cup last year, but they made it to the competition.  I’ll bet that lots of sports experienced some of my charm even if they didn’t go all the way.  But let’s see what the actual wins say, yes?

In 1986, I moved to NYC.  That year, the New York Mets won the World Series.  In ’87 and in ’91, the NY Giants won the Superbowl.  The summer after the ’91 Superbowl we moved to Dallas.  In ’93 and ’94 the Dallas Cowboys won the Superbowl.  The Steelers were successful the whole time I lived in Pittsburgh, culminating in a Superbowl win in 2006.  The Phillies won the World Series in 2008 and both the Eagles and the Flyers were favorites for the Superbowl and the Stanley Cup while I lived in Philly, although they did not win.

Obviously my luck is also residual.  Witness the Phillies’ current success even though I am no longer there.  In 1988, two years after I moved from DC, the Redskins won the Superbowl.  The St. Louis Rams experienced a good measure of success while I lived in St. Louis although they didn’t win the Superbowl until 2000, a few years after I left.

Mark my words.  We will see good things from the Bengals and the Reds in the next few years.  They should be PAYING me to live here.