Jinx (you owe me a soda)

Jinx you owe me a soda.

I’m not the most superstitious of people. I don’t care if I break a mirror, step on loads of cracks, and I sure as hell ain’t staying the basement so the Broncos will win. There is one thing that scares me into submission. One thing that keeps me up at night. One thing that I must comply with or the universe gets angry… Jinxes

 There are many definitions of a jinx. The kind I’m referring to are the ones that launch into effect when you say or reveal something that is going well, but not quite set in stone yet. Kind of like when you watch a football game and the announcer says “The kicker hasn’t missed a field goal all year” and then the kicker promptly misses the field goal.

I’m hesitant to announce things in life before they are a done deal because of this jinx fear. Far too many times I’ve been so excited about something prematurely, announced it to friends and family, only to see it vanish into nothingness.

One thing I’m particularly sensitive about is potential relationships. I usually don’t like announcing that I’m seeing anyone until I’m “sure sure” that it’s going somewhere. Usually when I mention publicly that I’m going out with someone, that’s when things suddenly dry up. That’s why with my Girlfriend, I waited and waited before publicly declaring anything (though most knew something was going on anyway).

Bowling is yet another example. In the past few years of my bowling league (actually, we were a drinking team with a bowling problem) we were forbidden to “call it” before the pins fell. The reason was every time we prematurely celebrated a strike or spare, the magic of the Jinx suddenly turned a single pin to lead, and defiantly stood tall among all the other flying pins.

I mentioned football. Nowhere else is the power of the Jinx so evident. Last year the Denver Broncos were burned badly by the Baltimore Ravens on a freak 70 yard touchdown with 30 seconds left. I feel this was a direct result of me calling the game and texting to my New England friend how they’d meet them next week. This jinx is so powerful, I actually delayed finishing this very blog because I didn’t want to jinx the Broncos again this year.

But, you’re thinking; ‘they lost the Superbowl this year, but I hadn’t published this blog yet’. True, but I resurrected a far uglier Jinx that led to their downfall; over decoration! In 1996, the 13-3 Denver Broncos prepared to host the lowly Jacksonville Jaguars in the playoffs. They were near certain to crush the 2^nd year expansion team. I pulled out all the stops and decorated my house, windows, etc with every orange a blue thing I could muster. The Broncos were subsequently upset by those Jaguars. This year, I was so caught up in the Broncos’ first SuperBowl appearance in 15 years, I disregarded the jinx. My house was dressed up head to toe. I hosted a Superbowl party and featured orange and blue candy, Orange Crush and Coors Light. I oozed confidence that my Broncos would crush the Seahawks. It wasn’t even close, and it was all my fault.

The only condolence I have is following that 1996 loss to the Jaguars, Denver won back to back Superbowls. Maybe fate (the only thing powerful enough to defeat a jinx) will step in and bring them two more victories. Only time will tell, because I sure as heck ain’t jinxing it by saying it will.