Texas Rangers - Are you ready to be jinxed?

[swampofboredom]

When the Mavericks were rolling toward an NBA title a few years ago I decided that I needed to buy a t-shirt to show my support. They were two games up in the finals and the City of Dallas had released the parade route for the all but guaranteed championship parade. I bought a cute, understated shirt and the Mavericks promptly lost 4 games in a row and the championship. Needless to say, I haven't worn that shirt much in the past few years. I just knew that my purchase is what jinxed the Mavs to the ignominious designation of biggest chokers of all time.

So, it was with much trepidation that I purchased a Rangers cap (a too cute chocolate brown with a pink "T") when we attended the game on Friday. However, this was the Rangers after all; they're supposed to fail. On the other hand, it's May. Even if they went on a losing streak they could always pull out of it. So, I bought the cap and prayed. It looked like my jinx was going to continue when the Angels came back in the 9th that night. But, the Rangers held on and put another in the win column. And they continued to win, putting together two series sweeps in a row! The Rangers! Winning in May! Who would have thought?

Let's keep this in perspective, though. They're in the weakest division in baseball. They are, and always will be, the Strangers. They are the best example of the statistical phenomenon regression toward the mean that I've ever seen. (For those of us that aren't statisticians, regression toward the mean is basically the law of averages or "things will even out.") Chances are, whether I buy a Rangers cap or not, they'll finish the season somewhere south of .500 and won't make the playoffs.

However, if there's anything I can do to jinx the Rangers it would be to post about them on my blog. They are providing a modicum of my entertainment lately (and it's 6:30 and I need a post to keep my weekday streak going). The game on Friday was good. We're thinking of going to Houston to watch them play the Astros. (That's not our primary motivation for going to Houston, btw. We aren't that big of fans.) I have them on right now, as a matter of fact, killing time before NCIS comes on. And, what happens? The White Sox score in the first inning. The jinx is on!