You mess with the bull, you get the horns

This weekend ends the 2005 NASCAR Nextel Cup season and WOW, it went by pretty fast. It's been an entertaining season for sure but what's great about it is all the drivers I've cursed have had issues. Some of them pretty major.
Yes, I cursed them. I fully admit it. It's a weird gift I have. Something in my Italian heritage I think. At first, I thought it was just coincidence but the more it happens the more it becomes pretty scary!
It started back in 1992. I was doing some work with a minor league baseball team down in Columbia South Carolina and there was a player who I liked who had become the back-up catcher, his name was Greg Beals. (Picture a blonder, younger Kevin Costner) The starting catcher was a younger guy out of South America somewhere who was pretty good but had a HUGE ego. While I was there I had accepted an opportunity to be the teams mascot which involved wearing this big huge baseball head with mouse ears on it and run around all night in a Mets uniform. Wasn't a bad job if you don't mind sweating and being beat up by little kids.
One night while I was out on the field during player intros doing my usual dancing and finger pointing, said starting catcher swung a bat and hit me in the big-eared head. PURPOSELY. That was it for me. I told Greg the following day before batting practice that I was going to curse the dude. Not 2 minutes later while ego-man was throwing the ball around with another player to warm up, a ball came wizzing by and missed his head by inches. (and it wasn't thrown by me OR Greg) 2 months later him and his ego were shipped to Florida for extended spring training.
Michelle Kwan can thank me for the lack of gold around her neck. She was cute when she was young but she grew into this self-absorbed skater who thought she deserved the title any time she stepped onto the ice. She even had an Olympic encore performance in which she wore a gold skater suit and even the SONG had something to do with gold. Putting the cart before the horse a little bit there, aren't we Ms. Kwan??!
Fast forward to 2001. Myself and a friend of mine are in the NASCAR garage at Watkins Glen. Dale Earnhardt Jr has just emerged from his hauler and is headed to his race car. All the stupid fans in the area become a swarm of bees on him. Rusty Wallace decides that this is the perfect opportunity to make a clean break for his motorcoach. In the process he body checks my friend, even though we're standing WELL out of the way and didn't even stop to apologize. Curse time. Crusty the Clown has had one win since and is retiring at the end of this season.
Jimmy Spencer has the GALL to say that Dale Earnhardt Jr's win at Daytona the first race after his fathers death was rigged. Gotta curse that bullshit. Jimmy hasn't been able to keep a ride since. He even failed to qualify at the Glen race I attended that year.
Kurt Busch decided to treat my favorite driver Scott Riggs like a road cone during the race at Indy this year. Can't tolerate that. This past weekend Kurt was suspended for the remaning two races for a run-in with the cops in Phoenix.
Travis Kvapil jumped into the #77 Kodak car this year after one of the most personable drivers on the circuit, Brendan Gaughan, wasn't even given a chance to succeed after one season with team Penske. Just announced that Penske is disolving said team and Kodak is not returning as a sponsor.
Shane Hmiel is probably pumping gas at a local station somewhere outside Cornelius, NC. I couldn't take any more of him running his mouth and blaming everyone but himself for his stupid wrecks. Suddenly he was suspended by NASCAR for an alleged drug incident. (hint: snifffffffffffffffffffffff) Good riddance punk ass!
Elliott Sadler was a clean cut, attractive and nice guy when he first came onto the Cup circuit. He e-mailed his fans personally once a week, giving out gifts to the fan who sent in the "question of the week". He was home grown, down home and totally charming in person as he was online. A few years later he got a ride with Robert Yates and started driving the M&M's Ford Taurus. He got two more wins and even finished in the top 10 in points that year. BUT...he makes one, or may I say MANY errors in the process. The down-home in him turns into MAJOR ego. He's cranky during fan interactions sometimes refusing to give autographs, he even becomes rude to people who have been following him since Day 1 or he just plain ignores their existance. (and I'm not talking about myself, this comes from many other trusted sources) Not to mention his overconfident pit crew start a rude chant right near me on pit road during the race at Watkins Glen that year. To sum it up they said they hate the town, they hate the people and they hate the track. Nice. I love his brother Hermie but that was the final straw for me. In 2005 he has had no wins and did not make the top 10 for the Race for the Chase. My plan is not to let him finish 11th in the point standings which would give him a 1 million dollar bonus and the opportunity to go to New York City for the drivers banquet, he's presently in 13th place. Nice number Eskwatch! BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

The moral of the story; Don't screw with me folks! You'll only hurt yourselves.