The Curse of Lucas

As I am still recovering from the Indianapolis Colts' demise and putting up with my Steeler friends, it struck me this morning a fresh that I really am to blame for the Colts loss. It wasn't Peyton Manning, Tony Dungy, or Mike Vanderjagt--it was me. Whenever I follow a team closely as my own, it brings a curse that is hard to shake.

These are the last times that teams I've followed won championships:

• Baseball: Atlanta Braves, 1995 (I've subsequently switched to the St. Louis Cardinals, which explains that last two years)
• Pro Football: Washington Redskins, 1991 (I switched to the Colts in 1999)
• College Basketball: Indiana Hoosiers, 1987 (my heart was broken in 1983 when Pi Slamma Jamma lost to NC State, and switched the following year when IU beat UNC in the Sweet Sixteen)
• College Football: Penn St. Nittany Lions, 1985 (although we got jobbed by Nebraska in 1995)
• Pro Basketball: never (my teams have only made the finals three times my entire life--Houston in 1981 and 1986; Indiana in 2000. I stopped following the Rockets in time for them to win two championships in the early 1990s)

So, if you follow one of these teams, I deeply apologize--it is my fault. It is the "Curse of Lucas."