Kicking Irony

Call it serendipity or synchronicity but sometimes my thoughts literally match up with the world unfolding. I believe these ironies are small magical trophies to behold. Dozens of times a day, irony appears to the forefront of my life. The conversation I just had with someone, strangers talk about in my next location. The fine-tuned idea that I just produced in my head repeats on the airing television. The thought that enters my brain from the stratosphere is the title of the next song that the radio plays. From the many corners where I turn comes happenstance, karma, and kismet. It never ceases to amaze or stupefy me. I do not always share my coincidences for I do not want to be called a warlock but these wondrous sledgehammers of irony keep me not only interested in life but privately engaged in the reason for our being.

As I reflected on the irony heap thrown my way on this one particular day, my remote control channel surfs for a sports station. I reasoned that sports stations would be covering the upcoming championship football games. It is the time of year for playoff football so that type of program coverage would be no revelation. My mind settles on the unbeatable New England Patriots. I said to myself that I would not be surprised if they were talking about the New England Patriots right now. Given the Patriots undefeated season, this too would have been no Nostradamus prophecy. I continued to channel up on the remote control. I almost stop to watch a high definition special on dinosaurs before I remembered my yearning for a sports agenda.

I turned on the first sports station that crossed my dial. A sports anchor interviewed Garo Yepremian, a member of the undefeated 1972 Miami Dolphins team. At a 1998 sports memorabilia show in Philadelphia, I occupied the same press box as the pint-sized player with a cannon for a leg. In discussing his professional football playing days and the 25 year anniversary of that perfect season, Garo told me every time a current team gets midway in a season without a loss, he starts getting phone calls from the press asking for opinionated statements on whether the current team could likewise go undefeated.

I paraphrased my commentary to Garo. “If a team goes undefeated for an entire regular season, you will be doing TV interviews during the playoffs.”

My head tilted to stare at kicker Garo Yepremian on my TV set…even though irony not him was kicking me again.