Very Superstitious

It seems that I “out-kicked my coverage” a bit last week with my Legends and Myths edition. Just as I seemed poised to pat myself on the back, the wheels came off. Eli Manning hit Victor Cruz for a 70+ yard TD reception and MJD goes down with a foot injury on his first carry in Oakland. Such is the nature of Fantasy Sports.

I am officially backing down on my stance that Calvin Johnson is still as elite as he has been in the past, after giving him the eye-ball test on Monday, I will state for the record that something is wrong. He seemed to be favoring one of his legs, but Fantasy Fanatics would offer up a more unique explanation for the precipitous drop in Johnson’s production: “He’s cursed!”

That’s right, sports fans still believe in curses. “The Madden Curse” is a Fantasy Football unique superstition that draws a special (some might say contrived) connection between the player featured on the cover of the “Madden” video game and a sharp decline in production. The superstition dates back to 1999, when the first Madden game was released with a player on the cover rather than John Madden himself, the featured athlete was Garrison Hearst, who went on to break his ankle that same season, never again returning to form. Since ’99, the Curse has claimed at least one (in ’08 Luis Castillo appeared on the cover for the Spanish release of the game and broke his tibia that year) victim. Donovan McNabb, Brett Favre, Marshall Faulk, Ray Lewis, Peyton Hillis- none have escaped the looming shadow of the Madden Curse.

Could it be, that Madden 13 cover-boy Calvin Johnson is just another victim? I guess it could be, if you believe in that sort of thing…

Curses

Madden Curse (Calvin Johnson)– Covered above. See also: Wikipedia page for “Madden Curse”

Sophomore Slump (Cam Newton, Julio Jones)– When Rookies break big in their first year, odds are they’re going to disappoint some people in year two. Part of this is the over-reactionary nature of sport in general. The other part is superstition.

Bad Karma (Michael Vick, New Orleans Saints Defense)– Killing puppies, offering bounties? The unknown forces that control sports superstition have a conscience if nothing else.

Blessings

Too old (Anquan Boldin, Peyton Manning, Ronde Barber)– Want to find a player poised to have a good year, a sleeper candidate? Look for the guy that everybody says is washed up. Before Game 1 this year, I read people who said that Anquan ought to change his last name to “‘Oldin” since that’s all he was anymore. That nickname seems to have faded away since then.

Twelfth Man (Seattle Seahawks)– Okay, so most sports fans genuinely believe that they can change the outcome of a game by rooting with all their might. In reality, this is seldom the case, but good luck convincing a fan of this. In some cases, however, the environment becomes so raucous and hostile that it actually plays a role in the outcome of a game. In 2010, when Marshawn Lynch broke free to score on New Orleans in the wildcard round of the playoffs, the crowd reaction in Seattle was big enough to register at an earthquake monitoring station some miles away. At very least, they can cause false starts.

That’s all for now, faithful readers. I’ll try to do better next week.
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