As the wife of a former sports page designer/editor, I am fully-versed in the superstitions surrounding sports.

My husband has “his” teams, and he loyally cheers for them — in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. It’s a tiny bit like our marriage vows.

Early on in our marriage, I could often be found sprawled on the couch for Sunday afternoon games. As life evolved and changed, I found myself watching less and less sports. Perhaps I was annoyed at the fast start baseball season always had, with the emotional low that inevitably hit by mid-June. Or it could have been the time I was suckered into competing in a fantasy golf league so hubby had a legitimate excuse to watch every major golf tournament one year.

I’m getting off track, though. We’re in football season, and rituals and routines of the pigskin must be honored.

While I made some serious missteps early in our marriage in terms of sports rituals, I find myself making them less and less these days.

Well, except for the time I had the audacity to take the Chiefs sweatshirt off of our bedroom floor and wash it. Seriously, how was I supposed to know it hadn’t been washed all season? And that the team’s winning streak coincided with the lack of laundering.

Lesson learned.

A few years ago, when the season was heating up toward the end, I watched a game with Erik, and “his” Chiefs lost.

There were severe admonishments, and because I didn’t watch the team early in the season, he determined it was inappropriate for me to watch them during the playoffs.

Fine. I didn’t watch a single playoff game during the 2019 Super Bowl run. Our son and I weren’t invited to the annual party, and I was given a strict talking-to about how I shouldn’t watch the game, lest the fellas lose. I confess, I did watch the last few minutes of the 2019 victory, but to this day, have not watched the full game.

With this wealth of knowledge, I was prepared as the current post-season neared. I would stop in for a quarter or two during the last few games. The Chiefs kept winning. My plan was working.

During the AFC championship game, we hunkered down in the basement like the early days of our marriage. My status as persona non grata was forgotten.

Thankfully, the guys pulled out the “W” and we’re all going a little Chiefs crazy as we anticipate and prepare for the big game on Sunday.

Like the rest of Chiefs Nation, I certainly hope the fellas pull off another win. If they don’t, I suspect I will be banned from penning further commentaries about anything sports-related.

Bonar is the editor/publisher of the I-R and can be reached via email: kbonar@indyrepnews.com.