Special to Sports News Highlights

(SNH) — There are plenty of sports fans who believe in jinxes.

Ever heard a baseball announcer mention a no-hitter in the sixth inning?  Fans on social media lose their minds like the TV or radio voice has that much influence. Or how about a basketball announcer mentioning a player being perfect from the free throw line before his/her next attempt? No doubt the voice is to blame if the player’s streak comes to an end.

The Chicago Cubs faithful blamed the team’s lack of a World Series championship on a 1945 incident when William Sianis was kicked out of Wrigley Field because there were complaints of his pet goat, that he brought to the game, and was stinking up the stands. The Curse of the BillyGoat was referenced just about everywhere and many believed it’s the reason the Cubs went without a World Series title for a 71-year span.

The “Curse of the Bambino” refers to Babe Ruth being traded from Boston to New York.  The Red Sox HAD won five of the first 15 World Series, bur traded Ruth to the Yankees, who promptly won the 1923 championship and Boston would wait 86 years before their next championship.

The Masters has hosted a par-3 event every year since 1960, but no winner of that contest has ever won the Masters tournament.

The Detroit Lions won a world championship in 1957, their third with quarterback Bobby Layne. But two games into the 1958 season, they traded Layne to Pittsburgh.  As he left the locker room for the final time in Detroit, Layne said, “This team won’t win for another 50-years.” The Lions have never played in a Super Bowl, let alone win one.

Well, another Detroit-based team feels jinxed, too. The NBA lottery was held Sunday and the Pistons, based on their league worst record, had the best chance to earn the No. 1 overall pick.  It’s the fourth straight year Detroit entered the lottery with the best odds, but the second year in a row they slid to number five. 

Detroit won just 14 games and lost an NBA record 28 straight games in 2024.  They’ve won just 31 games the last two years and 54 the last three years and yet they’ve been fortunate enough to land the No. 1 overall pick just once (2021).

Last year they missed out on Victor Wembanyama, who was a unanimous Rookie of the Year, and the league’s brightest young star. Two years ago, they never got the chance to select Paolo Banchero, who was named 2022 Rookie of the Year, and is the staple of the Orlando future.  

Remember, the Pistons were a stalwart franchise from the mid-1980’s through the early 2000’s, but haven’t had a winning record since 2016, or ever since they moved from the fabled Palace of Auburn Hills to the swanky Little Caesars Arena in downtown Detroit.

I don’t know if there is anything odd or unique the Pistons have experienced recently, but they might want to do something to change the karma.  Maybe it’s a ritual or perhaps it’s calling someone of faith.  Something has to be done because no lucky charm has worked, and this team is falling further and further behind in the NBA.

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