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Beware of Cover Jinx
Maybe I'm crazy, or the fact that I'm extremely superstitious has finally gotten the best of me, but in the past few years, some crazy stuff has been happening when athletes get their faces on the cover of magazines or video games.
I really didn't notice these strange occurrences until I started to get a subscription to ESPN The Magazine, Sports Illustrated and The Sporting News. But since I've started paying close attention, something entirely too creepy outside the world of a mere coincidence has been happening.
That's right, boys and girls, I'm talking about that old urban legend (ha!): The Cover Jinx. Yes, possibly I am crazy and I should possibly be committed. But I have proof, and by the end of reading this, you might just be in the same boat I'm in.
I did a little research on who's on the cover of the EA Sports games and came away with some disturbing discoveries.
Quite possibly, the quintessential sports game all college students play these days is Madden NFL. Heck, Madden 2004 is in my collection of games. But here's the thing, anybody who decides to grace the cover for the media giant, yeah, something goes wrong. Eddie George from the Tennesse Titans appeared on the cover of Madden 2001. In that season, Mr. George had toe surgery and then faced several other injuries that partly hampered his career.
He's just now getting back to where he was a few years ago.
The man on Madden 2002? The Vikings very own Daunte "I fumbled a lot that 2002 season" Culpepper. Yup, folks, the jinx keeps on coming. Daunte had a stellar 2001 season, despite a knee injury. The next year, Daunte found himself on the cover of E02 and he couldn't quite get a grip on the ball. Those aren't believable?
Fine, I like the next two better anyway. Who appeared in 2003? The Rams' Marshall Faulk. And I ask, who tore his ACL and has barely played this season? Ah yes, Marshall's your man. Hmm, interesting. But this next one is even better, Madden 2004. Who was on the cover? The Falcons' Michael Vick. Yeah, he was supposed to be like a savior this season. But wait, what happened to Vick in a preseason game? Yup, broke his leg and has yet to play at all. The EA Sports jinx rears its ugly head, folks. You can't tell me that those things are coincidental. Please, one or two things happening, maybe.
But four? Some supernatural force is helping out a little bit there, especially when Mike Vick is like a cheetah in a human body. Want more proof?
Jerome Iginla, good hockey player, unfortunate victim to the cover jinx. He graced the cover of the 2003 NHL game.
Now, a season before E01-E02, he won almost every trophy an offensive player could earn and led the league in goal points (96 points) and was voted MVP. He even won a Gold Medal with the Canadian team at the Winter Olympics. Now, in 2002, he scored a total of 67 points and missed a few games due to injury. Those awards and league MVP? Nope, just an afterthought.
Now, onto the biggest one that scares me the most of all the cover jinxes. Young Dany Heatley from the Atlanta Thrashers. Now, this one I'm not joking about (as I wasn't with the ones before) a car accident involving Heatley killed teammate Dan Synder. The season before, Heatley was named the 2001-2002 Rookie of the Year. At 22-years-old, he beat Wayne Gretzky's record as the youngest player to score a hat trick in an All-Star game. He finished the 2002-2003 season as Atlanta's all-time leading scorer with 155 points, and was named the 2003 All-Star Game MVP.
So my point in all this, other than the fact that I'm crazy and probably need help for my superstition problem, is that I honestly believe that any athlete that decides to grace the cover of an EA Sports game should think twice about it. Sure, it's a tremendous honor and maybe I'm truly crazy, but unless you want to spend a season (or two to three) on the bench with a messed-up knee or end your career, don't do it. If there's one thing pro athletes should listen to, it's: WATCH OUT FOR THE COVER JINX!
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