I’m happy for Chris Matthew today. He’s wearing pants. His Blue Bombers won the Grey Cup, so now he can wander around his native Winnipeg wearing actual pants. Nice, leg-warming pants.
If you missed the story, eighteen years ago, Chris promised he would wear shorts until the Winnipeg Blue Bombers won the Grey Cup. They were looking pretty good that year, but they didn’t win. In fact, they didn’t win for 18 years. Chris did wear pants a couple times to funerals, but somehow managed to make it through eighteen Winnipeg winters wearing shorts.
In some ways, I admire him for sticking with this, but it does highlight the fact that we should be careful what we promise.
Then there’s Jeff Lanham of Cincinnati. Jeff has promised to live on the roof of his restaurant until his beloved Cincinnati Bengals finally win a game. They don’t have to win the Superbowl or anything major, just one game. One lousy game. He’s still waiting. It could be a really long season for him.
In some ways, bets like these seem a bit like tempting fate. In fact, if fate was a bull, it would be the equivalent of waving a big red flag in it’s face. We should all know it likely won’t turn out well.
Again, I have admiration for both these people for sticking to what they said. Although they probably could have been forgiven for not carrying through.
And honestly… I’m just glad I didn’t bet on the Leafs back in 1967.
