I Admit It...I'm The Jinx....

I owe an apology to Members of The Empire and Devils Haters everywhere.

I am the cause of your/our current misfortune.

I'm the reason the Hurricanes couldn't finish off the Devils on Saturday. And I'm the reason the Yanks and Randy Johnson couldn't sweep the A's today.

Blame me.

A friend from work asked me Thursday afternoon if I could score playoff tickets to see his hometown Canes sweep the Devils on their home ice. As if on cue, another friend sends me an email asking if I know anyone who wants to buy his two tickets for Devils/Canes Saturday. For face value.

I was on the hook. I then remembered the last two times I reared my imperial dome into the swamp for a Devils playoff game, they won handily. Including a win against these same Hurricanes in 2002. Fluke, I say to myself.

After a 5-1 Devils win that was over in the first 10 minutes of the game, I'm still trying convince myself of just that thing.

I missed the last two Yankee wins due to a birthday dinner for a friend and the Devils game(Another reason to hate the Devils, they had no scores of any other sports games posted during their game. I had to call my office and text a friend to find out the Yankees won 4-3). So I made it a point to watch Sunday's game to see if Unit could keep line moving. They were winning with solid pitching, defense and timely hitting...the three keys that I mentioned earlier in the week. I was anxious to see if Johnson was off the estrogen pills and decided pitch like the Unit of old.

Maybe he didn't get memo until the second inning because the three-spot the anemic A's put up in the first inning (without Chavez or Thomas)isn't exactly gonna put shiver into American League lineups.

Seriously, after the first inning, he didn't look bad. He was starting to get some of his edge back (I loved the confrontation he got into with the ump after he dared grant the batter time. Jorge had to separate the two). I'm thinking that might be a good thing. I kind of liken Johnson's slow start to Clemens' when he came to the Bronx. It took Clemens about a season and a half to comfortable and become the mean, surly ace on the mound that we traded Wells for. It wasn't until he hit Piazza in the head that you saw the real Clemens. I think Unit is in the same sort of rutt.

Wow...the Baseball Gods have a peculiar sense of humor. Johnson's next start is on Friday at Shea...against Pedro!!! Wow....talk about kismet.

Today's loss had more to do with Dan Haren and his nasty splitter than Johnson. You're gonna run into a buzzsaw sometimes. His stuff was filthy today. I still feel good about the team's performance this weekend. Taking two out of three from the A's was a good way to rebound from the loss in the Sox series. Now Texas comes in for a four game set. With the way Wright pitched Saturday, if we can get Johnson right on Friday, there's a good chance for the Yanks to string a nice winning streak together.

That's of course, if I can stay away from the stadium until I get my powers checked. I've got an appointment with my therapist Darth Melfi to get me straight.

Yeah, right....