tresdoscuatro

I don't think it comes at a great surprise to people who know me that I love sports. I love to play them and love to watch them. It's probably also not a great surprise that when it comes to being a spectator, I root for all teams Boston. This has proven to be a fun reality over the last decade as our teams have dominated. And none have dominated more than the Patriots. That being said, they are also the team that has gone the longest without winning. As such, I've been excited to see them working toward building another legitimate contender for this season. And no move has been bigger this off-season than the addition of Chad Ochocinco.

For those who don't know, Chad Ochocinco legally changed his name from Chad Johnson so he could have his self-given nickname (Ochocinco) on the back of his jersey. Ochocinco is Spanish for 8-5. His jersey number is 85 (notice that it's not Spanish for 85).

I also enjoy playing fantasy sports, including fantasy football. I decided to honor the addition of Ochocinco in naming my team. I was trying to pick a significant number. I thought about my favorite number (if you followed my old "such is life." blog, you may know that 43 is my favorite number). Although it's my favorite number, though, it is so arbitrarily, so it just didn't jump out to me as significant enough. I thought about my college soccer number (7) but as a single-digit number it wouldn't have a good ring to it. I finally decided on "tresdoscuatro." Clearly, I meant this to represent 3-2-4 (or 324). Why 324? Let me explain.

Anyone who runs races knows that you are issued a bib number. The numbers are typically generated randomly based on when you sign up (unless your an elite runner who automatically gets either their name or low number). Needless to say the number rarely holds much significance since you don't get to choose it (or I would probably choose 43). "324" was the bib number in my last race (2011 Sharon Timlin Memorial 5k).

So if numbers are generated randomly, what qualifies the bib number from my last race to be significant? The answer: it was also coincidentally the bib number from the 2010 Hartford Marathon - my last race before the 2011 Sharon Timlin Memorial 5k. What are the odds of having the same bib number twice? I'm sure that based on their randomness, the odds can't be high. Especially considering I was issued bib 324 in two straight races. I may never get that bib number again (the odds are probably even less likely for that now) but the number will now always hold significance to me.

I'm not at all superstitious (I'm God-focused) and don't believe in luck, but that doesn't mean that I didn't/don't appreciate this crazy coincidence. Is that weird? Have you ever had the same bib number twice? Have you ever held a number dear to you for a random reason?