It all began when I sat back to watch my alma mater, The University of New Mexico Lobos, play Colorado State for the Mountain West football championship. After a horrible second quarter which left my team down 19-7 at half-time, the Lobos played tough but ultimately lost 22-14. It was a modest downer, but it seemed to start a snowballing chain of events that will be remembered as Loser Week.

A mild sore throat I got on Friday festered into a cold. Stuffed up head, clogged sinuses, scratchy throat. It was never bad enough to be debilitating, but never good enough to keep that optimism in my brain. Sickness breeds negative thoughts. It's as simple as that. I fought the good fight with orange juice, vitamins, and sleep, sleep, sleep. No matter what I put into my system, time is the only true cure for my symptoms. As Dr. Jungle told me, endure one loser week and don't call me in the morning.

On Sunday, I thought my pro football team could lend a hand in restoring faith. The Kansas City Chiefs have one of the most potent offenses and the worst defense in the NFL. They were up in Seattle playing the Seahawks, their old (but no longer) division rivals. After jumping out to a 17-7 lead, the Chiefs allowed a whopping 21-point second quarter (much like the Lobos) and ultimately lost 39-32. This loss has practically eliminated them from playoff contention. I have rooted for the Chiefs since I've understood the concept of football, and they have yet to win a Super Bowl in my lifetime. I guess losers root for losers.

Okay, forget football. Albuquerque is a basketball town, and we bleed red for our Lobo basketball. On Monday, during the second game of the season, our senior point guard, Senque Carey, crashed to the floor and is currently paralyzed from the hips down. Out for the season, maybe he'll walk again. He played basketball all his life, and now he is in a wheelchair, taking it day by day. The guy is far from a loser, but right now, he is not winning. My loser week pales in comparison.

Forget sports for minute, what about work and the weather? I got up for work on Tuesday (still mildly sick) and drove through teens temperature and wind to get on shift at 5 am. Cabbing on Thanksgiving Week is not a lucrative endeavor. Everyone is saving their riding money for turkey and beer. Less trips to hospitals and hotels. Everyone stays home during the cold. I made a little over sixty bucks on Tuesday and Wednesday, and decided against picking up more shifts. 12-hour shifts, and I averaged about 5 bucks an hour after paying off the company. There have been great weeks for cabbing, but it seemed like the cab-riding public knew I was losing during this one.

On Wednesday night, they had elections for officers at my volunteer theatre. I offered to run for president a month ago and wrote out in detail what I thought we needed to focus on in the coming year. I was eloquent, detailed and complete. I had the time, energy and interest in taking the theatre to the next level, and only the outgoing president had a longer tenure at the theatre. My opponent, a good man by most accounts, simply said he wanted to be president and he would make the shows better. That was enough to defeat me, and the new breed of board members have officially taken over the black box. I never thought I would have much in common with Al Gore, but us losers have to stick together.

Thanksgiving came with a brief reprieve. Never underestimate the power of turkey, stuffing, mash potatoes, splitting three bottle of wine, football, movies, and hiding under blankets. I still wasn't winning, but that day, I didn't feel like a loser.

On Friday, the Youth in Transition building (two city blocks from my house) was burned down in a serious case of arson. The kids are pissed about something. I think more than a few people were having a loser week this week.

Yesterday, my car wouldn't start after hauling several buckets of dirt as a favor (don't ask). I sat calmly as my tiny Ford Escort refused to turn over. I called my brother to pick me up, and he arrived shortly. I wanted to show him what was happening, and sure enough, it struggled, but turned over and started. I just looked at him in amazement. He had taken the entire Thanksgiving week off to recoup from the toils of his marketing job. He had been reading part of a novel, working on a collage art project, watching movies, and basically taking it easy. He came up to the car, and it started. His mojo was enough to conquer the latest of loser week difficulties, and I drove my car home, thinking I might have just turned the corner on this lousy series of events.

The thing to remember is that these weeks happen. You don't plan for them, you can't prepare for them, and you can't avoid them. They simply occur. The goal is to minimize them and not get too down about all of the disgruntling outcomes. Stay away from people and places that do you no good, and hang on to the ones that do. Ultimately, this was one week out of 52, and I hope I can keep from having less than ten weeks like this each year. And who knows? I might even win a few times next week.

Chris Jungle has been eliminated from playoff contention.