Daze of Magic

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Daze of Magic
May 27, 2009
John Rolfe
SI.com

hese are surely metaphysical times in the wonderful world of sports, and the chattering of many frightened teeth concerns whether Sidney Crosby has consigned the Pittsburgh Penguins to certain defeat in the Stanley Cup Final. Crosby, you see, was brassy -- or dumb -- enough to actually touch the Prince of Wales Trophy after the Pens won the Eastern Conference title on Tuesday night.

Being the ultra-superstitious lot that they are, hockey players usually believe that handling such hardware prior to actually winning the Cup will bring nothing but ill fortune. But in a reverse-the-curse move, Crosby figured he'd grab the evil totem since avoiding it last year did nothing to help the Penguins against the Detroit Red Wings, who plucked them in six games. He was also made more brazen by the knowledge that former Penguins great Mario Lemieux handled the accursed object in 1991 and 1992 and still came home with Lord Stanley's coveted old shaving mug each time.

Meanwhile, over in the Major Leagues of baseball, where cool rationality prevails, four members of the Florida Marlins were reportedly spooked out of their rooms at Milwaukee's Pfister Hotel. It seems the Pfister has a rather haunting reputation not unlike the Overlook of Shining fame -- when he was with the Dodgers, Adrian Beltre supposedly slept with a bat (the wooden kind, not the old kind or the kind with wings) for protection from the paranormal -- as does The Vinoy in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Our national pastime is ripe and oozing with chilling lore (according to Haunted Baseball by Mickey Bradley and Dan Gordon, the ghost of a suicide victim supposedly stalks Dodger Stadium), horror tales (the prices at the new Yankee Stadium) and curses of the kind that supposedly still bedevil the Cubs. Perhaps those who feel unduly threatened by such things should do what pitcher Jim Deshaies did way back in 1988 after his Astros lost their 11th game in a row: conduct a curse-breaking ceremony that involves burning twigs and chanting. Apparently, it worked as the 'Stros won that night.

It's a wonder all pro sports teams don't have witch doctors on their staffs.