Tony Romo, Jessica Simpson, and Celebrity Superstitions

Jessica Simpson is not happy about a recent article in OK! Magazine.

The singer-actress has directed her attorney to dispatch a retraction demand to OK! over a piece that claimed Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo ended his relationship with Simpson because his team lost in the playoffs, putting the kibosh on the Cowboy’s bid to play in the Super Bowl.

In the letter, Simpson’s lawyer, John Rosenberg, characterized the OK! article as a “personal attack masquerading as journalism.” 

Simpson’s spokesperson, Cindi Berger, has let the press know that, according to her, the story was “fabricated” and “made up.”  

The article implied that Simpson is bad luck, a charge that could have real-life ramifications.

What looms large in sports locker rooms as well as in Hollywood dressing rooms is superstition.

Holy habits, favorable foods, and even charmed undergarments have been known to play a part in the rituals surrounding both stadium and studio activities.

Here’s a sampling of star-sized superstition and bad luck deflection from the sports and entertainment worlds:

- When Michael Jordan led the Chicago Bulls to six NBA championships, he wore his lucky college gym shorts underneath his Bulls uniform.

- Tiger Woods believes there’s a lucky charm in the color red.  In 1997, when the golf sensation won his first Masters tournament, guess what color he was wearing?

- Wade Boggs was known as the “Chicken Man” because he would eat poultry before every game.  The baseball great also took exactly 150 ground balls during practice, entered the batting cage at exactly 5:17 PM,  and began sprinting at precisely 7:17 PM.

- Pitcher Turk Wendell would brush his teeth between every inning.

- Hockey goalie Pelle Lindbergh would wear an old, orange, Swedish-made T-shirt under his equipment.  Each time the shirt started to fall apart he would have it mended.  Between periods he would drink only Pripps, a Swedish beverage that was delivered by a special team trainer.

- Hockey player Patrick Roy routinely talked to the goalposts during the game.

- Tennis player Goran Ivanisevic would always attempt to be the second person to get up from his chair on the change-over and would avoid stepping on any of the lines.  When he won, he would repeat all the events of the day, going to the same restaurant, ordering the same food, and talking to the same people.

- Jason Isaacs, who played Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter films, refused to attend the premiere of the fifth film, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.  Since he was unable to make previous premieres due to scheduling conflicts, the actor skipped Phoenix to avoiding jinxing the box office.

- Cameron Diaz has some treasured lucky charms and methodically knocks on wood.

- Geoffrey Rush brings a plastic Daffy Duck figure to awards shows.  In 1997, the actor was nominated for his role in Shine.  He brought Daffy to the Oscars and picked up a gold statue.

- Cate Blanchett keeps her Lord of the Rings elf ears on her mantle for luck.

- True TV host Star Jones never puts her purse on the floor.

- Legend Eartha Kitt won’t stay in a hotel room above the 8th floor.

- Robin Williams has a lucky carved ivory figurine that belonged to his father.

- Meat Loaf travels with two stuffed bears.

 
James Hirsen is a media analyst, Trinity Law School professor, and teacher of Mass Media Law at Biola University.