Sports curses placed on professional teams play an important part in sports history. Isn’t it funny how one person’s wishing can make a team lose games? The following are eight classic stories of how teams have been cursed.

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1. Curse of the Bambino

An alleged sports curse began in 1920 when the Boston Red Sox sold Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees. Up to that year the Red Sox won five World Series games and the Yankees none. Between 1920 and 2003 the Yankees won 26 series while the Red Sox won none. The curse reportedly ended when the Red Sox beat the Yankees in the American League Championship Series even though they lost the first three games.

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Points: 15

2. Curse of the Colonel

In 1985 the Hanshin Tigers claimed victory in the Japan Championship Series. In celebration, Tiger fans in Osaka seized a statue of Colonel Harland Sanders from a KFC restaurant and threw it off a bridge into a canal. During the next 17 years the Tigers finished 10 of them last in their league. A rumor spread claiming the Tigers would never win another championship until the statue was found. The sports curse was a result of Colonel Sander’s anger due to the dumping of his statue. On March 10, 2009 the statue was recovered by a construction crew building a boardwalk.

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Points: 11

3. The Madden Curse

Since 1999 when Garrison Hearst was selected by Electronic Arts to appear on the PAL’s version cover, a sports curse struck the Madden NFL team resulting in one top league player for each year thereafter whose playing performance was adversely affected by an injury or other setback. Michael Vick (on the 2004 cover) suffered a leg injury that sidelined him during 2003 season. Donovan McNabb, (2006) who denied the curse suffered a hernia in 2005 but still kept playing. He later was reinjured and missed the last seven games of the season while in surgery. Shaun Alexander (2007) missed six starts in 2006 due to a foot injury. Finally, when LaDanian Tomlinson was chosen for the 2008 cover, superstitious fans formed a website called saveLTfromMadden.com to urge him to reconsider. He declined the offer claiming it was because of his payment rather than the curse.

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Points: 9

4. The Andretti Curse

Since winning the Indianapolis 500 in 1969, racing legend Mario Andretti was hit with a streak of bad luck as well as other family members who competed in auto races. His curse believed to have begun after receiving a kiss from Andy Gramatelli, a race car owner. He was unable to win a second race until he retired in 1994. His misfortune affected his sons Michael and Jeff, his nephew John, his grandson Marco, Marco’s twin brother Aldo, and former car owner, Paul Newman.

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Points: 7

5. The Curse at Coogan’s Bluff

The San Francisco Giants had two sports curses causing them failure in the World Series. The first curse occurred at Coogan’s Bluff in New York when the Giants decided to go back to California in 1957. In reaction, disappointed fans reportedly jinxed the Giants so they would never win a World Series outside of New York. The Giants have not won a World Series since 1954 despite National League Pennants in 1962, 1989, and 2002. In 1962 Game 6 was postponed three days because of heavy rain and in 1989 Game 3 of the ‘89 Series was postponed 10 days due to a massive earthquake which caused destruction to their home field, Candlestick Park.

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Points: 6

6. The Curse of Bobby Layne

Even though Quarterback, Bobby Layne led the Detroit Lions towards three NFL championships (1952, 1953, and 1957) in 1958 his team felt he was past his prime. Because of this, they traded him to the Pittsburg Steelers. Disappointed, Layne cursed the Lions stating they would not win for 50 years. By the end of 2008 his curse was found to have worked. Not only did they fail to win a championship, but they scored the worst season in NFL history: 0–16.

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Points: 5

7. The Billy Goat Curse

William Sianis, owner of the Billy Goat Bar, brought his pet goat into the Wrigley stadium to watch Game 4 of the 1945 World Series. In the 7th inning Chicago Cubs owner, Philip Wrigley personally forced him and his goat to leave the stadium. He did so because fans were complaining of the goat’s odor. Sianis got upset and yelled out, “Them Cubs, they aren’t going to win no more!” The Cubs lost the last three games of the World Series to the Detroit Tigers. After hearing this, Sianis sent Wrigley a telegram that said “Who smells now?” Since then, the Cubs have not won a single World Series.

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Points: 4

8. The William Penn Curse

A four-story high statue of William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania, was created by Alexander Calder. It was placed on the top of Philadelphia’s City Hall, being the largest statue ever to be placed on top of any building in the world. After its erection, Philadelphia had a policy prohibiting any building be built to be taller than the statue. In March of 1987, One Liberty Place became the city’s tallest building which rose above the statue by 400 feet. In reaction to this, William Penn put a curse on all Philly sports teams. Over the next 20 years, the Flyers lost the Stanley Cup twice (1987 and1997), the Phillies lost the World Series (1993), the 76ers lost the NBA Finals (2001), and the Eagles lost the Super Bowl (2004). In 2007 the Comcast building was complete and is now the tallest building in Philadelphia. Workers placed a statue of William Penn on its highest beam as an attempt to break this sports curse. In 2008 the Phillies won the World Series.

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Points: 0

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