Sports Illustrated cover jinx explained

The Sports Illustrated cover jinx is an urban legend that states that individuals or teams who appear on the cover of the Sports Illustrated magazine will subsequently be jinxed.

Explanations

A common explanation for the perceived effect is that athletes are generally featured on the cover after an exceptionally good performance, which might be an outlier compared to their usual level of performance. Therefore, their future performance is likely to display regression toward the mean and be less impressive by comparison.[1] This decline in performance would then be misperceived as being related to, or even possibly caused by, the appearance on the magazine cover.

Most athletes that seemed to suffer the jinx most typically suffered because of an injury to their body, or some other bad luck following their appearance. One prime candidate for this explanation is Eddie Mathews who suffered a broken hand while the team's nine game winning streak came to a close following the cover. In this case, the odds are that a player will suffer an injury while playing any given sport. Injuries are a given in a physical contact sport such as American football or baseball, which is what Mathews played. Even injuries in individual sports such as skiing can fall under this explanation as it is common to make a bad move in this sport and get caught up in a massive mistake of the athlete's own doing which results in injury. Finally, winning and losing streaks come to a close in all sports and this includes Milwaukee's nine-game winning streak in 1954. This makes the 1972 Miami Dolphins perfect season, 2007 New England Patriots perfect regular season, and the 2008 Detroit Lions, and 2017 Cleveland Browns winless seasons all the more remarkable.

SI addressed its own opinions on the alleged cover jinx in a 2002 issue that featured a black cat on its cover.[2]

Notable contradictions to curse

While the list of examples of the so-called jinx may be extensive, some records contradict the existence of a curse.[3]

Notable incidents

Pre-2000

2000 and later

See also

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. Goldacre, Ben. Bad Science. Page 39. London: Fourth Estate, 2008.
  2. News: The Cover That No One Would Pose for: Is the SI Jinx for Real?. CNN and Sports Illustrated. January 21, 2002. August 10, 2017.
  3. Web site: Sports Illustrated. CNN.
  4. News: Is Their (sic) a "Sports Illustrated" Cover Jinx?. CNN. Paula Zahn. January 25, 2002. August 28, 2007.
  5. Emmitt Smith . 2007 . America's Game: The Story of the 1993 Cowboys . 30:26-31:10 . NFL Productions LLC .
  6. https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/jill-kinmont-boothe-ski-champion-paralyzed-in-accident-dies-at-75/2012/02/11/gIQAdul66Q_story.html
  7. https://web.archive.org/web/20200418105038/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/vo/gennady-voronin-1.html Sports-Reference.com
  8. https://www.si.com/vault/1960/03/28/583828/the-art-of-fishing-with-the-wet-fly The Art of Fishing With The Wet Fly
  9. http://www.krakov.net/si/images/1960/0328_large.jpg Cover scan
  10. Whitelaw, Ian. The History of Fly-Fishing in Fifty Flies, Stewart, Tabori and Chang (April 7, 2015), retrieved May 11, 2015.
  11. http://www.codex99.com/illustration/9.html codex99.com
  12. "Fly Casting Champ Dies", The St. Maurice Valley Chronicle (Three Rivers, Quebec, Canada), page 6, published March 8, 1962 (retrieved May 11, 2015).
  13. Lawrence (1998) p. 87Book: Lawrence , Mike . Grand Prix Cars 1945–1965 . Motor Racing Publications . 1998 . 1-899870-39-3.
  14. Web site: Jack Brabham 1961 Formula One Results !website=Racing-Reference.info. July 5, 2016.
  15. Web site: Car number 41 in 1961 AAA / USAC Champ Car Series. Racing-Reference.info. July 5, 2016.
  16. https://www.si.com/vault/cover/1963/03/18 Cover image from 18 March 1963
  17. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1987-11-01/sports/8703230680_1_loyola-ramblers-george-ireland-college-basketball Chicago Tribune
  18. https://www.si.com/vault/1963/07/08/595046/the-worlds-master-caster The World's Master Caster
  19. https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/52056423/ San Mateo (CA) Times via newspapers.com
  20. https://www.si.com/vault/cover/1964/11/23 Sports Illustrated online cover archive
  21. http://www.arlski.at/index_e.html Web site for Bernard Falch ski school
  22. http://www.arlski.at/buchtipp_e.html Overview of Helmut Falch autobiography
  23. https://www.si.com/vault/cover/1964/03/23 Sports Illustrated cover archive
  24. https://www.si.com/vault/cover/1965/03/15 Sports Illustrated cover archive
  25. https://www.si.com/vault/cover/1965/03/22 Sports Illustrated cover archive
  26. https://www.si.com/vault/cover/1965/03/29 Sports Illustrated cover archive
  27. Web site: Phil Hill and the Chaparral 2F - History - Motor Sport Magazine . January 6, 2013 . March 9, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120309060236/http://www.motorsportmagazine.com/race/racing-history/phil-hill-and-the-chaparral-2f/ . dead .
  28. https://www.si.com/vault/cover/1967/06/19 SI.com vault
  29. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1989-02-26/sports/8903230019_1_pennsylvania-state-athletic-commission-street-fight-gypsy-joe-harris "Gypsy Joe Came Close To A Title, But Then..."
  30. http://articles.philly.com/1990-03-07/sports/25903674_1_street-fight-emile-griffith-eye "Gypsy Joe Harris, Boxer, Dead At 44"
  31. https://www.si.com/vault/cover/1967/07/31 SI.com vault
  32. Weiskopf, Herman. The Infamous Spitter, Sports Illustrated, July 31, 1967 (accessed June 16, 2015).
  33. https://www.si.com/vault/cover/1970/06/22 SI.com vault
  34. http://www.cantstopthebleeding.com/45-years-ago-the-pitched-that-changed-tony-cs-life 45 Years Ago : The Pitch That Changed Tony C’s Life
  35. Web site: 1968 Indianapolis 500 . Racing-Reference.info. July 5, 2016.
  36. Web site: Car number 1 in 1971 AAA / USAC Champ Car Series . Racing-Reference.info. July 5, 2016.
  37. Web site: 1978 Molson Diamond Indy. Racing-Reference.info. July 5, 2016.
  38. Web site: 1978 Rex Mays Classic . Racing-Reference.info. July 5, 2016.
  39. Web site: 1978 Schaefer 500. Racing-Reference.info. July 5, 2016.
  40. Web site: 1981 Indianapolis 500 . Racing-Reference.info. July 5, 2016.
  41. Web site: Race Results. Racing-Reference. November 13, 2021.
  42. Web site: 1985 Meadowlands United States Grand Prix . Racing-Reference.info. July 5, 2016.
  43. Web site: 1985 Michigan 500 . Racing-Reference.info. July 5, 2016.
  44. Web site: Jim Kelly, Football, New Jersey Generals – 07.21.86 – SI Vault . August 9, 2009 . July 5, 2016 . unfit . https://web.archive.org/web/20090809145034/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/cover/featured/9019/index.htm . August 9, 2009 .
  45. Web site: SI prediction gave Cleveland false hope in '87 . Major League Baseball. February 11, 2017 . March 4, 2023.
  46. News: Most Popular . CNN . May 25, 2010.
  47. News: Tony Mandarich. CNN .
  48. Web site: Where Are They Now? High School Kids Immortalized By Sports Illustrated. Mentalfloss.com. June 8, 2009. July 5, 2016.
  49. News: Most Popular. CNN .
  50. Silver. Michael. Recharged. Sports Illustrated. September 4, 2000. Full-size image of cover here.
  51. https://www.espn.com/college-football/team/schedule/_/id/2483/year/2003/oregon-ducks/ "Oregon Ducks 2003 Schedule"
  52. News: Phelps Disciplined Over Marijuana Pipe Incident. The New York Times. Juliet Macur. February 5, 2009. February 5, 2009.
  53. Web site: NFL Fantasy Six-Pack. Joe Everett. Bleacher Report. January 27, 2010.
  54. Web site: Box Score: Texas vs. Tampa Bay – October 6, 2010. MLB.com. October 6, 2010.
  55. News: The SI Cover Jinx Strikes Again!. Andy Staples. CNN and Sports Illustrated. September 25, 2009. September 25, 2009.
  56. Boren, Cindy. "Albert Pujols hits a home run; is his slump over?". The Washington Post. May 7, 2012.
  57. http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2011_10_22_slnmlb_texmlb_1#gid=2011_10_22_slnmlb_texmlb_1&mode=box/ Box score: St. Louis vs. Texas, October 22, 2011
  58. Sullivan, T.R. "Hamilton hospitalized with intestinal virus". MLB.com. June 15, 2012.
  59. Web site: Luis Suárez of Liverpool wins PFA player of the year award. James. Riach. April 28, 2014. Theguardian.com. July 5, 2016.
  60. Web site: Luis Suárez suspended for nine matches and banned for four months from any football-related activity. https://archive.today/20140702040011/http://en.fifa.com/worldcup/news/y=2014/m=6/news=luis-suarez-suspended-for-nine-matches-and-banned-for-four-months-from-2386354.html. dead. July 2, 2014. June 26, 2014. Wayback.archive-it.org. July 5, 2016.
  61. Web site: Ohio State QB Miller out for season. Espn.go.com. August 19, 2014. July 5, 2016.
  62. Web site: New Sports Illustrated cover celebrates Kansas City Royals' return to World Series. Joe. Ruiz. October 21, 2014. Kshb.com. July 5, 2016.
  63. News: SI cover: College Basketball Preview, Kentucky's Alex Poythress. Scooby. Axson. Sports Illustrated. July 5, 2016.
  64. News: Kentucky junior Alex Poythress is out for the season after tearing ACLwebsite=Si.com. Sports Illustrated . July 5, 2016.
  65. Web site: Heartbroken for Alex. December 12, 2014. Coachcal.com. July 5, 2016. September 23, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150923205204/http://www.coachcal.com/31980/2014/12/heartbroken-alex/. dead.
  66. Web site: Oregon Ducks will beat Ohio State Buckeyes, Sports Illustrated predicts, as Byron Marshall graces cover . Odom . Joel . January 6, 2015 . OregonLive.com . January 14, 2015.
  67. Web site: National championship winners, losers: Who flourished, faltered? . Ellis . Zac . January 13, 2015 . SI.com . January 14, 2015.
  68. News: Erica. Goode. John F. Nash Jr., Math Genius Defined by a 'Beautiful Mind,' Dies at 86. The New York Times. May 24, 2015. May 24, 2015.
  69. News: Famed 'A Beautiful Mind' mathematician John Nash, wife, killed in N.J. Turnpike crash. Sherman. Ted. Ma. Myles. amp . NJ.com.
  70. News: Serena Williams featured on SI cover. Sports Illustrated. July 5, 2016.
  71. Web site: Vinci stuns Serena in US Open semifinals. Espn.go.com. September 11, 2015. July 5, 2016.
  72. News: SI Vault – Oct. 19, 2015 – Page 1. Sports Illustrated Vault | Si.com. July 5, 2016.
  73. Web site: On this week's regional Sports Illustrated cover .... July 5, 2016.
  74. Web site: Michigan State vs. Iowa – Game Recap – December 5, 2015 – ESPN. July 5, 2016.
  75. News: 2016 Sports Illustrated Covers. Sports Illustrated . July 5, 2016.
  76. Web site: Seahawks vs. Vikings – Game Summary – January 10, 2016. Espn.go.com. July 5, 2016.
  77. http://cdn-jpg.si.com/sites/default/files/styles/si_gallery_slide/public/images/2016-0201-Cam-Newton-SI-cover-SI189_TK1_1391.jpg?itok=Fx8-gIxU
  78. Web site: Defense powers Broncos, Peyton Manning to Super Bowl 50 win. February 8, 2016. July 5, 2016.
  79. Web site: Live Conor McGregor vs Nate Diaz fight updates and result at UFC 196. Liam. Williams. Daily Mirror. March 8, 2016. July 5, 2016.
  80. Web site: Nate Diaz explains how Conor McGregor fight came together: 'I'm the show'. Marc. Raimondi. February 28, 2016. Mmafighting.com. July 5, 2016.
  81. Web site: Photographic image of magazine cover featuring Michigan State players. JPG. Pbs.twimg.com. November 14, 2021.
  82. Web site: Middle Tennessee shreds Michigan State's defense, pulls upset. March 18, 2016. July 5, 2016.
  83. Web site: Villanova vs. Oklahoma – Box Score – April 2, 2016 – ESPN. July 5, 2016.
  84. Web site: Photographic image of magazine cover featuring Kevin Durant. JPG. Pbs.twimg.com. November 14, 2021.
  85. Web site: Thunder vs. Warriors – Game Recap – May 30, 2016 – ESPN. July 5, 2016.
  86. News: NCAA stunner: No. 16 seed UMBC makes history by knocking out No. 1 Virginia . The Washington Post. March 16, 2018. July 25, 2018. Gene. Wang.
  87. News: The only MLB season preview you possibly could need. Sports Illustrated. November 13, 2021.