by Ned Moraghan, special to The North Jersey Nonconformist

Exhibit A – Catching an MLB Baseball

The first game I attended was Braves at Phillies in the early 80s. We were on the first row on the first base side right next to Pete Rose. A foul ball came by us and if I was sitting in my brother’s seat, I would have caught it. For the next 20 years of my life, it would always be really close but no cigar. This includes a Cubs Mets where a Sammy Sosa foul ball ricocheted off me. Per my tour of baseball stadiums, I hit the three in Southern California along with some friends and my future wife. In the game at Dodger Stadium I caught a ball intended for a kid. The kid was crying and Dave told me I should give him the ball. I reluctantly did. The very next game, my 55th overall, we’re in the 500 level of Angels stadium and a foul ball practically falls in my lap. 

Exhibit B – Always believing in your team.

Upon going to college, I turned into a hard-core Devils fan. They were on the rise with new goalie, Martin Brodeur. The 1994 playoffs, the Devils lost a heartbreaker to the Rangers. The following year, the Devils went on a run to the Stanley Cup finals, beating the Bruins and Penguins in five games each and the hated Flyers in six. Before the series started, a friend had obtained tickets to games 3 and 4. Prices were $90 for game 3 and $110 for game 4. Please remember those are 1995 prices and I was a poor college student. My historically bad statement: I’ll take game 3, It’s not like the Devils are going to sweep. I’ll just leave it there. 

I learned my lesson. In 1998, the Giants were having a forgettable year standing at 5-8.  Their next opponent: the 13-0 Broncos. I worked for JDEdwards which was based out of Denver. I didn’t mind that they won the Super Bowl the year before but now they were getting arrogant. All week prior they were telling me the Giants were just a speed bump on the way to a perfect season. I had enough and bet one of my friends straight up that the Giants would win. I attended that game and it was a classic. The Giants came to play. They led at halftime and still had the lead late in the 4th quarter until the Broncos took a 3 point lead with 4 minutes left. The Giants were driving and then turned the ball over. However the defense held and the Giants had one last shot. Kent Graham hit a bomb to Amani Toomer with less than a minute to go for the win. 13-1!  My loyalty paid off and I got a nice Colorado sweatshirt as a souvenir.

Exhibit C – Don’t anger the sports gods

In 2017, we vacationed in Ohio. I took my girls to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. One of the exhibits is all the previous winners of Super Bowl rings. As I was showing my girls the four Giants championships, a Cowboys fan was doing the same thing for his wife for their titles. Where are the Eagles fans? At the design your own ring kiosk. The Cowboys fans, Amelia and I laughed at this. The Eagles heard our laughing and were ready to start a fight. Strike one on karma. As you probably know, the Eagles made it to the Super Bowl. After the match up was set. I emailed Bill Simmons on how all Giants fans would be rooting for the Pats. This was an epic level troll. Not only am I knocking the Eagles, the only team that the Pats hate are the Giants because of Eli Manning’s two wins over Tom Brady. The post and several other Giants fans’ emails to Bill are still up.  One of my friends who’s an Eagles fan saw this and called me out. Strike two. The roles are currently reversed between the Giants and the Eagles.