Sports Moments Jinxed by the Media
To be clear, there is no such thing as a sports jinx. However, sometimes in sports there are moments with highly coincidental timing.
Players can’t hear television broadcasters during games, and certainly nothing said will have an effect on a game’s outcome. But sometimes the timing is such that if you did believe in jinxes, you’d have some more compelling evidence. And if you didn’t, you’d still say, “Wow, that’s a coincidence.”
In some cases, writers have made postseason predictions weeks out, and in others, broadcasters made comments immediately before an unbelievable moment in game action. Sometimes it’s not a media personality at all but a magazine itself that holds the power.
The closer the timing and the more unlikely the occurrence, the bigger the “jinx.” Here are 12 moments that might have made you, despite your better logical judgment, think, “Don’t jinx it!”
Mariners Announce Postseason Tickets
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The Seattle Mariners did not make the 2014 MLB postseason. They did, however, announce a presale for postseason tickets on August 20.
With over a month left to go in the regular season, it did seem like the M’s, locked up in a tight wild-card race, were jumping the gun a bit.
At the time, Nick Eaton of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer wrote, “Yet the Mariners are within striking distance of the A.L. West division title. Oakland has been floundering since GM Billy Beane traded away Yoenis Cespedes, allowing the L.A. Angels to overtake them in the division race.”
At least “floundering” Oakland got to play in one postseason game, which is more than the Mariners can say.
2007 New England Patriots
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The 2007 New England Patriots almost had a perfect season—and really, they did have a perfect regular season.
They fell just shy of going 19-0, however, when they lost Super Bowl XLII to the New York Giants and David Tyree’s helmet.
As the regular season wore on, more and more media attention was put on the idea of the first perfect season since the 1972 Miami Dolphins.
ESPN personality and New England native Bill Simmons wrote a column a few weeks prior to the Super Bowl and invented the acronym, “ATPEWTSB” which stood for, “Assuming the Pats Eventually Win the Super Bowl.”
Well, they didn’t.
Sports Illustrated Cover Jinx
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The Sports Illustrated cover jinx is an urban legend, but it’s also something those inclined to believe in curses are prone to believe.
The first-ever person to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated was Eddie Mathews, an infielder for the Milwaukee Braves.
He appeared on the cover in 1954, and shortly thereafter, a nine-game win streak came to an end for the Braves and Mathews broke his hand.
Other examples include Lindsey Vonn suffering an injury to her shin right after appearing on the cover in 2010 and three members of the New York Yankees' “Core Four.” Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte and Jorge Posada all sustained injuries within a week of each other following their cover.
Also, this cover recently ticked off some Kansas City Royals fans.
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Lee Corso
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Lee Corso isn’t a proven jinx or anything, but the College GameDay host has built up quite a reputation over the years.
The general consensus among college football fans is, “Please don’t let Corso pick my team to win.”
Recently, Corso donned the headgear of the South Carolina Gamecocks mascot prior to the team’s matchup with the Missouri Tigers.
What happened? Missouri staged a comeback to win, 21-20.
In 2007, Alabama fan Kenny Griffin told the Tuscaloosa News that, “If Corso picks us [to win] then we might be in trouble.”
Katy Perry
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Speaking of College GameDay, pop star Katy Perry had quite the jinx moment herself when she appeared as the celebrity guest picker.
In addition to making her picks and using a corn dog as a prop, Perry yelled, “Trevor Knight, call me!” into the camera at one point.
Knight, the Oklahoma Sooners quarterback, didn’t have the best day—he threw a fourth-quarter pick-six that put his team down for good.
Katy Perry curse? Maybe.
Charley Steiner and Hyun-Jin Ryu
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On May 25, 2014, Josh Beckett tossed a no-hitter for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Dodgers broadcaster Charley Steiner definitely mentioned the phrase “no-hitter” before the game was complete.
The very next day, Dodgers pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu was perfect through seven innings before giving up a couple of hits and a run in the eighth. Steiner definitely mentioned the phrase “perfect game” before the eighth inning.
Well, you can guess what happened. Twitter sort of blew up about whether or not Steiner jinxed Ryu.
No-Hitters in General
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Speaking of no-hitters, there is great debate over whether or not baseball broadcasters should acknowledge the possibility of a no-hitter or perfect game as the applicable game is in progress.
Of course, none of it has anything to do with the outcome, but there are opinions nonetheless.
For example, Houston Astros announcer Bill Brown once said on-air that Mike Scott had a no-hitter going into the ninth inning.
Scott promptly gave up a hit, and Brown got a talking-to from an Astros executive. From then on, he avoided saying the phrase directly and instead talked around it.
Dan Shaughnessy and an Unlikely Comeback
8 of 12In 2011, the Boston Red Sox went 6-18 after September 3 and completed an epic collapse on the regular season’s final day.
The situation was that if the Red Sox and New York Yankees both lost (they were playing the Baltimore Orioles and Tampa Bay Rays, respectively), then Boston would miss the playoffs.
The games were going on simultaneously, and at one point, the Rays were down 7-0 to the Yankees. Red Sox broadcaster Dan Shaughnessy said, “The Rays aren't going to come back from 7-0.”
Unbelievably (yet somehow believably), the Rays stormed back to win 8-7 in extra innings, and the Red Sox lost 4-3 after Jonathan Papelbon turned in a rare blown save.
The Red Sox missed the playoffs entirely, blowing a nine-game September wild-card lead.
Tim McCarver
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The Chicago White Sox swept the Houston Astros to win the 2005 World Series.
Game 2 was won on a walk-off home run by Scott Podsednik. Immediately before the home run, broadcaster Joe Buck asked his fellow broadcaster Tim McCarver a question that indicated Astros closer Brad Lidge might have the bad taste of an Albert Pujols home run in his mouth.
McCarver said, “I don't think that taste is there,” and Podsednik promptly smacked the game-winner.
Iron Bowl Runback
10 of 12“Jinx” usually implies that something bad is going to happen.
In this case, something awesome happened (for Auburn football, anyway).
Something real bad happened for Alabama.
Right before Chris Davis ran back a short field-goal attempt by Alabama to win the 2013 Iron Bowl, Auburn broadcaster Rod Bramblett said, “Well I guess if this thing comes up short, he can field it.”
Yes, Rod, yes he can.
Sideline Reporter and an Air Ball
11 of 12During a 2012 game between the Chicago Bulls and Charlotte Bobcats, sideline reporter Stephanie Ready sang the praises of Bismack Biyombo’s recent improvement in free-throw shooting.
Literally as she was talking, Biyombo proceeded to air ball a free throw.
Interesting timing. Ready even said, “Of course, I jinxed the young man,” and apologized.
Mets Balk
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A balk is not a common occurrence in baseball.
In fact, prior to a September game against the Washington Nationals, no New York Mets pitcher had balked all season. This information came courtesy of an article (and a tweet) by Anthony DiComo of MLB.com.
Literally two minutes after DiComo tweeted his article out, during the fifth inning of the game, Mets pitcher Dillon Gee balked.
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