COLUMN: Number 13 has been unlucky to Quakers

Commentary: Mies Cohen If you chose good old 13 than you are a winner. It seems perpetually equated with bad luck. The superstition for many begins at a young age, when children are warned about the unluckiest day of year, Friday the 13th. By high school and college, it has become ingrained in our thought process that anything relating to the number 13 must be doomed. With all of the negativity surrounding this infamous number, it seems only fitting that the Penn football team, which has been scarred with bad luck in '96, can relate to the curse of the number 13. The Quakers have lost to Dartmouth by two, Columbia by one, Lehigh by four and Brown by six. You do the math, and the total is none other than that familiar number 13. Penn coach Al Bagnoli referred to "Lady Luck" this past weekend when he commented on the team's losing record. Bagnoli wondered where she had been in a number of the Quakers' heartbreaking loses. The coach acknowledged that the string of last-second losses had taken a toll on the team mentally and physically. However, what disturbed Bagnoli and his players the most was that, despite the injuries and the inconsistencies on both offense and defense, Penn was a mere 13 points away from being undefeated. Bagnoli will be the first to admit that in past years the Quakers managed to get the big break, and he and his staff have surely been spoiled by that luxury. During the squad's 24-game win streak from 1992 to 1995, the Quakers won eight games by less than a touchdown. Of those, five were taken by less than a field goal. But the well has run dry this fall. The most common phrase out of Bagnoli's mouth during Penn's three-game losing streak was: "I don't know what to tell you. I am out of answers." Each Penn loss this season has further highlighted the team's ineptitudes, whether on offense or defense. It is always the little things, the fundamentals of football, that cost the Quakers the game. From careless penalties (three in one series at Brown) to sloppy blocking (an overtime blocked extra point against Columbia) to blown coverages by the secondary (Lehigh's go-ahead 54-yard touchdown), the Quakers have managed to find new ways to lose each week. Of course, it would be atypical of Penn if there wasn't some irony in the Quakers attachment with the number 13. Do some more math, and what do you get when you add the numbers one and three? How about four, which represents the total number of loses for Penn at this late juncture in the season. On the flip side is Columbia. Before their loss to Princeton, the Lions were ranked No. 24 in the nation and had to have been the luckiest team in recent Ivy history. On four occasions, Columbia escaped with wins of three point or less, including two overtime victories. For all you faithful Quakers, it might seem hard to believe that the Cinderella '96 Columbia squad might be a more lucky team this fall. Then again, how else could anyone explain the Lions 6-1 record?