Ever The Optimist

Have you ever developed a vague notion that you'd dig around and find an item you hadn't seen for a while, been unable to immediately locate it, and then suddenly finding the thing becomes the most important thing on Earth?

That's what happened to me Sunday night when I couldn't find my Manchester United home replica shirt.

Man U are, of course, playing in the Champions League final on Thursday morning (Sydney time). And once I thought about it, I knew I had to watch the match wearing that shirt.

Last time Manchester United won the Champions League was May 26, 1999 (and no, I didn't have to look that date up). At the time, my life was not going so well. In fact, it was bloody awful. Then Ole Gunnar Solskjær scored the winning goal seconds from full time, and suddenly, my life completely turned around, ushering in a golden period I look back on as one of my happiest times.

And I watched the match in my Man U shirt.


Now it's 2008, and things haven't been going too well this year either. But if you're a superstitious person, as I am, then the parallels are too hard to ignore. It's nine years on, and nine is my lucky number. Man U will win, and my life will dramatically improve...as long as I watch the game in my Man U shirt. No wonder I had to find it.

I'll let you know how it goes.