Guess who's on the cover of the new Sports Illustrated, which hits newsstands tomorrow?
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That's right, Cubs shortstop Starlin Castro, who got the attention of the national sports folks in New York (read: Eastern Sports Programming Network and SI) by hitting .440/.462/.560 in an 11-game stretch from April 11 through April 23. During that time, Castro hit three doubles, drove in eight runs and stole three bases without being caught.
↵Cubs fans were getting a bit worried about Castro on the most recent road trip; he's 4-for-20 with no walks in the five games so far in Arizona and Los Angeles. But the reason is clear now -- the SI cover jinx is so powerful that it managed to affect Castro six days before the cover even hits the newsstands.
↵Back in February, after it was clear that the SI cover jinx had cost the Bears the NFC title by featuring Jay Cutler, I asked for Sports Illustrated to stay away from featuring Chicago teams and athletes on its cover. Clearly, they completely ignored me. So I ask again:
↵SI, please don't feature Chicago athletes on your cover until after they win championships. Here's another example, from just three weeks ago, further proving my point:
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How's Derrick Rose doing since that appeared? That ankle sprain reared its ugly head again last night. And the Bulls have struggled so far in the playoffs.
↵SI, please. No more. Mercy. Leave Chicago alone.