Palm Bay, FL (AP)—A local youth pastor is being asked by college and professional sports teams to resign as a fan. Matt Jackson, a resident of Palm Bay, has been dubbed a "curse" by numerous teams including Florida State, the University of Texas, and the Tennessee Titans. Those who oppose Jackson's fandom include other fans and representatives from the respective schools/teams.
Those people cannot cite when or how Jackson became a curse, but some conjecture that it was probably sometime in 2006 when he lost his feared title of "Generale." The story of that downfall is well beyond the scope of this article. At any rate, Jackson cannot seem to shake the moniker of curse. He has garnered the attention of many people of influence and those people have practically begged him to give up his support of their team.
Last week, FSU president TK Wetherell and Athletic Director Randy Spetman landed their seaplane in the lake behind Jackson's Palm Bay home. They were greeted by the Jackson family, but despite their pleading could not convince the youth pastor to resign. A few days earlier, Texas coach Mack Brown called Jackson and offered him a month long vacation to the destination of his choosing if he stopped rooting for Texas, but his efforts were to no avail.
Jackson claims that he is not curse and cites specific instances of success. "Now wait a minute", he says while sipping on a large beverage from Sonic, "I watched FSU beat Colorado and Wisconsin in person. And I watched the entire Fiesta Bowl and saw Texas win." Opponents of Jackson are quick to claim that these victories had asterisks.
"Clearly the Colorado game was a result of Iron Brent watching with Jackson, and the other two—well we all know those are just the Big 10," claims Brent Doughty, aka Iron Brent. Doughty is said to be the cure for Jackson's kryptonite and his powers have overcome Jackson's curse in more than one instance. Doughty's reference to the Big 10 addresses the obvious inferiority of the Big Ten conference in all athletics. Opponents also cite that the only games FSU won during the season were ones where Jackson did not watch and instead pursued his favorite pastime of shopping, or took in a children's romantic comedy at the cinema.
Jackson adamantly denies any wrongdoing and says he will continue to support whomever he likes. He recently put forth fervent support for Oklahoma in the national championship game, writing "Boomer Sooner" on his arms. The Sooners lost the game to the loathed Florida Gators, 24-14. That put Coach Bob Stoops in the anti Jackson corner.
Representatives from the teams Jackson supports are not the only ones visiting with him these days. Urban Meyer and Charlie Strong recently took a trip to Palm Bay to thank Jackson for his support of FSU and threatened that he should think twice about ever being a Gator fan. Unfortunately, these are not the only threats Jackson has received. He will likely continue to get pressure to resign as a fan and many fear that this pressure may turn violent. Still, Jackson seems oblivious to it all. When asked at one point he would consider ceasing team support, he simply replied "why don't you ask your mom."
