6 Insane Sports Stories That Will Make You Believe In Curses
Sports players and fans alike are a superstitious bunch. As a result, every team that's gone a few years without a title is declared to be under some kind of "curse" or other, despite the fact that, you know, only one team can win it all each year.
But then, there are the other curses, the real ones, the ones that are kind of hard to dismiss. Scoff if you want, but consider...
#6.
The San Francisco Giants and the Curse of Coogan's Bluff
The Cause:
Once upon a time, the San Francisco Giants baseball team played in New York, at the Polo Grounds ballpark in Harlem, underneath a cliff face known as Coogan's Bluff. As one of three baseball teams playing in New York at the time, the Giants decided in 1957 to abandon their crumbling stadium and move to a less stifling (but more fabulous!) city, San Francisco.
The move was very sudden and incensed long time fans in New York who took it as a sign of outright betrayal, forcing them to make an impossible choice: continue rooting for their team that was now 3,000 miles away, or become Mets fans. As any rational person would do when faced with such a dilemma, Giants fans in New York placed a hex on the team they once loved, dictating that the Giants would never win a World Series again as long as they were based somewhere other than New York City.
The Effect:
When the Giants played at Coogan's Bluff, they were in the World Series 17 times in 65 years, even making it to the big game four times in a row during the early 20s. Their win in 1954 added a fifth title to their belts, just three years before deciding to move cities.
That would also be the very last time the Giants won the championship.
To put it in perspective, the last time the Giants touched the Commissioner's Trophy was the very first time a sporting event was broadcast in color. Or, for the geeks out there, when Lord of the Rings was first published. In the 51 years since the pox was placed on the Giants, the team has only managed a pitiful three championship appearances, losing in each one, despite acquiring such historical weapons as Willie Mays and later, the lethal duo of Barry Bonds and illegal steroids.
Still Not Convinced?
Here's where it gets weird.
Two of the Giants' three appearances in the World Series since moving (1962 and 1989) were delayed by freak acts of nature's wrath. Heavy, monsoon-like rains delayed the 1962 championship and a massive earthquake during the 1989 World Series destroyed some of San Francisco, including damaging the Giants' home field. From this, we can scientifically deduce that instead of a robe, God wears an "I Heart N.Y." T-Shirt.
#5.
The Detroit Lions and the Cruse of Bobby Layne
The Cause:
Bobby Layne was a Hall of Fame NFL quarterback who played for the Detroit Lions from 1950 to 1958. He's often credited with single-handedly leading the team to three league championships in his eight-year tenure with the team, including two back to back.
Despite this, in 1958 and fresh off their third NFL championship, the Lions traded Bobby to Pittsburgh, thinking he was past his prime. Bobby took the news of this perceived betrayal incredibly hard, and as he boarded the bus bound for Pittsburgh, publicly stated that Detroit "would not win for 50 years."
Bobbly Layne, Voodoo master.
The Effect:
Quite simply, the Lions of the last 50 years possess the worst winning percentage the NFL has ever seen, boasting only 16 winning seasons (most of which can be barely considered as such) out of the last 50. Your stoner buddy currently sleeping on your sofa can claim more successes than the Lions franchise at this point.
Three out of the four championships Detroit ever won were helmed by Bobby Layne and the year they traded him away was the last year they would ever play in a championship. In fact, since 1958, the Lions have only ever won one playoff game, way back in 1991.
Still Not Convinced?
If you've done the math, you know that Bobby's curse ran out after last year. In the curse's 50th and final year, the hex hit its macabre crescendo when the Lions managed to lose every single regular season game to finish 0-16, the first team in NFL history to ever do so.
We don't care how much you claim to not believe in curses, if the Lions win the Super Bowl next year, it's probably time to get superstitious.
#4.
Canada and the Curse of Marty McSorley
The Cause:
During game two of the 1993 Stanley Cup Finals, the Los Angeles Kings held a 1-goal advantage over the Montreal Canadiens in the final minutes of the game which if left intact would give the Kings a two game lead in the series.
However, as the game was winding down, Montreal coach Jaques Demers suddenly became suspicious about the way Marty McSorley's stick looked. He had the referees get together and inspect the blade and they determined that it was more curved than what the rules would permit, allowing him to do things with the puck that no man should do.
McSorley was penalized for playing with illegal equipment and sent to the box for two minutes. Montreal capitalized on the one-man advantage, and Eric Desjarins scored a goal against the Kings to tie the game and force an overtime period. During this period, Desjardins scored again and won the game for the Canadiens. They then went on to win the next three games and the Stanley Cup, all because of Marty getting greedy on the stick-bend.
The Effect:
Since the Canadiens won that Stanely Cup, no other Canadian team in the NHL has won the championship. Four Canadian teams have reached the Stanley Cup Finals, only to lose every time against their American opponent.
Why would the sports curse gods punish all Canadian teams, just because the offending team was called "the Canadiens"? And why would the curse affect the guys who didn't cheat? Well, who said curses had to be fair? Or, you know, not retarded?
Not this guy, that's for sure.
As for the Canadiens, they have only managed to win four playoff games since 1993 despite winning 16 postseason games in the 10 seasons before the fateful curved stick incident. In fact, their current 15-year championship drought is the longest they've had in their 90-year history.
Still Not Convinced?
In 1995, a Canadian team, the Quebec Nordiques, pulled up roots and moved to the mountains of Denver to become the Colorado Avalanche. As soon as they left Canada and became an American team, the Avalanche won the Stanley Cup in 1996, and then again in 2001, not only proving the existence of a pox on all Canadian hockey teams, but also proving that even curses have loopholes.
Yeah, I'm Australian and we call that pansy game where a guy gets accidentally breathed on and goes down holdin his leg like it's broken soccer. We call Australian rules football footy. That's a game where a tackle is a real tackle (not just falling over in front of the other guy), and you're allowed to jump on an opponents shoulders to catch the ball. YouTube it if you haven't seen it. Though I do play in an amateur league of American football here in Australia too, fun game!
ReplyIt's called Soccer in Australia as well. I had the word. The correct name of the game is football.
ReplyThe Giants have since won a World Series.
ReplyWhy do you keep calling it a "pox?" a pox is a disease, namely one that results in pockmarks on the skin like smallpox. Perhaps you mean hex?
ReplyIts a Shakespearean reference. Read a book.
Fact: The "Curse of the Billy Goat" was invented by Chicago sportswriter Dave Condon in 1969, presumably on a slow news day. He wrote in the column about an obscure Greek tavern owner who supposedly "hexed" the Cubs, and that was why there were one of the worst teams in baseball in the 1950's and 60's. It was all tongue-in-cheek fun, and Condon revived it in 1973. Those are the only two mentions of a supposed "curse" in the Tribune until 1981. That is, of course, when then Tribune Co. purchased the Cubs and decided to make the "curse" a selling point of "Cubbie lore." "Sure they haven't won it since 1945, but they are cursed!" It worked, and to this day we have to put up with goat bullshit from the likes of Bob Costas. He'll sneer at you if you're a blogger, saying you live in your mother's basement. He'll tell you fantasy footballers to "get a life." Then he'll turn right around and gush all the goat assholery. So much for Costas always being the smartest guy in the room.
Replythis is idiotic. bad luck, coincidence, and having a s****y team isn't a curse.
ReplyThe Canadien hockey team curse is okay with me, but the stats are wrong.
Reply"As for the Canadiens, they have only managed to win four playoff games since 1993 despite winning 16 postseason games in the 10 seasons before the fateful curved stick incident. In fact, their current 15-year championship drought is the longest they've had in their 90-year history."
After the 2004-2005 NHL lockout, from 2006 to 2008, the Montreal Canadiens won 7 play-off games. From 1993 up until that lockout, the Canadiens won 20 play-off games.
Too bad the Maple Leafs curse wasn't included. Player scores last goal of his career to win the leafs the cup, disappears on a fishing trip, and they dont win the cup for 11 years. Then when they found his body, they won the cup again. Definitely curse. Bill Barilko was his name
Replythe maple leafs aren't cursed. they just suck.
greetings from toronto
Actually, the word "soccer", which is an old English slang word for "associated football", is still used in Canada, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Japan (pronounced "sacka"), and of course the USA.
Replyfinally, somebody else who realizes this. i love how british people have told me that no true fan of the game would use the word "soccer" and that americans are stupid for inventing it and not calling it football. ignorant twats
American and British are more alike than we care to admit, honestly.
As of the date of this entry, the Giants won the Series last year, the Lions have a winning record currently, and my Bruins beat Vancouver to win the Cup. Being a Boston fan, all four sports franchises have had their own curses:
ReplyPatriots never won a Super Bowl in 60 yrs until star QB Bledsoe was injured, making way for Tom Terrific and 3 Bowl wins in 4 years;
Red Sox, of course, 86 years and no World Series until magically coming back from 3-0 deficit against hated Yankees with heroic effort by Big Papi and Schill's bloody 'red sox'
Celtics not winnin a Finals since Bird had retired and the untimely death of Lenny Bias, great victory for Pierce, diehard Celts member for 10 years
..and the Bruins, after choking to Montreal in playoffs last year, fought their way back to dominance thanks to Timmy Thomas and Co. Bobby Orr can breathe easy
In other words, It's been a good decade to be a Boston sports fan. :D
I would protest any of those except the Red Sox being called a curse ... but it's hard to argue Boston sports fans aren't doing fine and dandy.
I take note of the 50 year time limit running out last year, and point out that the Detroit Lions are currently a winning team this year....
Replyand fading ... besides, it ran out a couple years ago.
How could you possibly neglect to mention the redskins curse, where some members of a long-dead tribe marched around the stadium and cursed them to never win another playoff game (until they changed their name to something less "offensive" than the redskins)? They haven't won one since the curse.
ReplyAustralia calls soccer Soccer. Australia has it's own Football league that is nothing at all like soccer.
ReplyA lot of American hockey teams have Canadian players (in fact some teams rosters are at least half Canadian) so I don't get mad if an American team wins the Stanley Cup. A lot of people here were pulling for the Vancouver Canucks for the playoffs because they were Canadian, but I cheered for Boston. Heck, one of their players grew up fifteen minutes from my house. Not to mention a lot of the greats- Gretzky, Crosby, Roy- were Canadian. So let the American teams win, what's it matter? A lot of those players are our boys, and we should be happy for them.
ReplyHow did you miss the curse of Colenel Sanders? I mean sure, it involves a Japanese baseball team, but it's the most hilarious sports curse out there.
ReplyBest curse ever.
Do tell?
soccer is actually the most popular sport among young people in America now
ReplyPretty disappointed, the fact that they were all sports-related should definitely have been in the title; you know, fair warning and all.
Replyit was
What part of "6 Insane SPORTS Stories..." made you think it was about something other than sports?
Contrary to common myth, "soccer" is a very popular international term. Soccer is the word widely used in countries with alternative forms of football - US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa predominantly use soccer. Other English-speaking countries will use soccer and football interchangeably.
ReplyThe term itself originates in England - it was Oxford slang for "association football" and popularized in the late 19th-century. It's often used in the UK, in casual conversation and on TV.
The origin of the term "football" is not "game where you kick a ball." It's actually a medieval word meaning "game that you play on foot, with a ball" as opposed to on horseback. That's why so many different sports claim the word "football" - the word's technical definition is extremely broad and inclusive. It's similar to the word "hockey," which can be either "ice" or "field." For a long time, it was considered too general to just say "football."
In fact, even in the UK, the word "soccer" was preferred over "football" until the 1970s.
What happened was that somewhere along the line, the British got it into their heads that "soccer" was a crude, barbaric Americanism sullying the purity of the game. And now, say "soccer" in the presence of a British soccer fan and they'll burst an artery.
Which, BTW, makes no sense if you know anything about American slang. No American, in their right mind, would think up the word "soccer" from "association football." It's not remotely close to our vernacular. We generally abbreviate words to the first syllable, and when it comes to sports, we'll usually just add "-ball" to something.
So yes, if we Americans had come up with our own word for it, we probably would've called it "ass-ball."
What could've been.
mediocre article...who in their right mind is interested in stupid baseball or nfl....lame
ReplyUmmm, most of the world?
Surely not most of the world, but at least a lot of people.
Btw, MLB > NFL.
Giants broke their curse last yr so next yr the Cubs break theirs !
ReplyFalse, the Cubs will never win another world series.