Bits & Pieces

By Kim J. Harmon

Do we have to bring this up again – the jinx thing?

I’ve been a jinx in the past; be it girls’ lacrosse or field hockey or whatever (I can’t remember because that poison has long since left my system) I have had a negative effect on Newtown High School sports teams.

I know it’s not my good looks (since I look a little like someone’s creepy uncle, or so I’ve been told) but something – my presence, my aura – has caused bad things to happen.

And it’s happening again. Now, in the past it may have been the fact that I frequented the games where Newtown faced its toughest opponents and a bunch of losses may have colored my perception about this jinx thing.

Not this time.

The Newtown High School baseball team is a good team. They are 10-8 and heading to the CIAC state tournament (and possibly the South-West Conference tournament) for the first time in 11 years.

It’s a good baseball team.

But somehow I’m messing things up.

I’ve been at eight of the 18 possible games and though I don’t know the match, it seems – statistically, anyway – that I have en even 50-50 chance of seeing three or four wins. But I’ve seen the Nighthawks close out just one win (4-0 over New Fairfield) and only because I ambled over to the field late in the game … too late to have any effect (although as soon as I showed up the Rebels put two runners on with no outs in the last inning).

The ‘Hawks were beating Weston at Harbor Yard back in April and they were looking good – but then, all of a sudden, no one was throwing strikes or hitting the cutoffs or making clean throws to the bases and Weston took the lead.

I had to leave; my son and daughter had a basketball game.

And so what happened after I left?

The ‘Hawks rallied for the win.

I’ve seen them blow up at Bunnell, blow up at New Milford (five minutes after I walked over to the field from the softball diamond, with the ‘Hawks ahead 3-2) and I’ve seen them blow up at Doubleday Field in Cooperstown (and probably what makes that their worst blow up is that I was there for all nine innings).

And yet they have 10 wins.

10!

It has to be me.

I don’t understand it; I’m in a good mood when I go to the games and Mrs McGrath supplies me with Tootsie Pops. What could be better than that?

I suppose someone is going to have to perform an exorcism on me or something. If this keeps up, head coach Carl Strait is going to put a restraining order on me.

1 1 1

Like my parents and their parents before them, I shake my head in wonder at some of the music kids listen to these days.

Sometimes I cringe before a game. listening to the - uh - mix tapes put together by our Newtown High School teams.

But, listen, the mix put together by the NHS boys’ lacrosse team - which I heard prior to its game with Norwalk - is the best I have heard in my 12 years in this burg.

How can a CD with “Detroit Rock City” by Kiss be bad?