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in 1954, the very first issue of Sports Illustrated was issued.
Price = 25 cents.
On the cover, the Milwaukee Braves' Eddie Mathews.
Even tho Mathews went on to a HOF career, the jinx appears to have got its start right away, as Mathews one week after this issue was published, and he missed several weeks of the 1954 season.
The very week the issue picturing skiier Jill Kinmont was on the newsstands (Jan. 1955) she struck a tree while skiiing and was paralyzed from her neck down, and the Nov. 18, 1957 issue of SI pictured the Oklahoma Sooners football team which was in the midst of college football's longest winning streak (which still stands today) of 47 consecutive wins. They then lost their very next game.
The May 28, 1958 issue- SI's 1958 Indianapolis 500 preview issue featured Pat O'Connor, who was killed in a 15-car pileup during the first lap of the race.
and numerous more weird occurrences have solidified the Sports Illustrated jinx permanently.
One final note-- in 2002 SI made jest of their own reputation for a jinx by having a black cat on their cover that fall. They had asked quarterback Kurt Warner to pose with the cat, but he refused, so the cat was pictured alone.
The result: Warner and his Rams won all their remaining games to capture the NFC Championship.
Price = 25 cents.
On the cover, the Milwaukee Braves' Eddie Mathews.
Even tho Mathews went on to a HOF career, the jinx appears to have got its start right away, as Mathews one week after this issue was published, and he missed several weeks of the 1954 season.
The very week the issue picturing skiier Jill Kinmont was on the newsstands (Jan. 1955) she struck a tree while skiiing and was paralyzed from her neck down, and the Nov. 18, 1957 issue of SI pictured the Oklahoma Sooners football team which was in the midst of college football's longest winning streak (which still stands today) of 47 consecutive wins. They then lost their very next game.
The May 28, 1958 issue- SI's 1958 Indianapolis 500 preview issue featured Pat O'Connor, who was killed in a 15-car pileup during the first lap of the race.
and numerous more weird occurrences have solidified the Sports Illustrated jinx permanently.
One final note-- in 2002 SI made jest of their own reputation for a jinx by having a black cat on their cover that fall. They had asked quarterback Kurt Warner to pose with the cat, but he refused, so the cat was pictured alone.
The result: Warner and his Rams won all their remaining games to capture the NFC Championship.
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