I read several articles today that were about a rare feat that occurred yesterday. For the first time in 13 years, these four New York sports teams won on the same day. The Yankees, Mets, Giants, and the Jets won their games and it hasn't happened in a very long time. It's a great story since several of the teams have not had winning teams, so it's fun for New Yorkers and New York sports fans to experience this.
There's only one problem, it's not as rare as it sounds. Missing of course from the stories I read are these facts: the baseball season ends for the Yankees and Mets at the end of September, unless they make the playoffs. September is the same month that the football season starts for the Giants and Jets. Also, the Giants and Jets typically only play on Sunday, so over the last 13 years, the teams may have played on the same day only 50 some times. It's true that 1 out of 50 is pretty rare, but saying it's 1 out of 13 years makes it a much bigger deal. I've discussed many times with my children and my riders who are into numbers, anytime someone uses numbers, you have ask yourself, "Does the numbers really mean what they say it does." In this case, the numbers are accurate, but it's not as big of a story as they are saying.
In this example, the number 13 turned out to be lucky, but there are a lot of people in this country who think "13" is bad luck, maybe as many as 10%. I got engaged on a Friday the 13th, so I am not superstitious with 13, but why is it considered unlucky? Why is it that this superstition with this number is only in this country? (In Asia, the number 4 is supposedly bad luck)
Apparently, it has to do with two ancient events. At the Last Supper the 13th guest was Judas Iscarlot, who betrayed Jesus. In Norse lore, evil was first introduced in the world by the appearance of the treacherous god Loki at a dinner part in Valhalla and he was the 13th guest which affected the 12 gods who were there.
Today in this country, many tall buildings and hotels do not have a 13th floor, due to this superstition and many places avoid using the number 13 on rooms. However, there is no scientific evidence that there is anything bad or evil about the number 13. Although, I do remember that in the old television show, "The Munsters", they lived at 1313 Mockingbird Lane. I don't think I would live there and I don't like the numbers either. (The Munsters and their house are pictured below)
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