Tempting Fate

When I picked up this week's edition of Sports Illustrated, I was worried.

I was desperately worried and panic as I found the lovely Danica Patrick on the cover, for the preview of the 92nd Indianapolis 500.

Two words came up in my mind at that very instant: Cover jinx.

And the combination of the jinx with the sport that Danica is in can be fatal.

And I am not joking.

In 1958, Pat O'Connor was on SI's cover for that year's Indianapolis 500 preview. On the very first lap of that race, he was killed in a 15-car pile-up.

As many of you may have heard, there is indeed an unexplained phenomenon called the "SI Cover Jinx", where bad and VERY bad things happen to the person(s) shortly after they have appeared on SI's cover. According to a 2002 article written by SI's Alexander Wolff, there had been 913 jinxes out of a total of 2456 covers at that time, at a staggering rate of 37.2%.

Notable and fatal jinxes include (courtesy of Wikpedia):

- In 1955, during the week when she was on SI's cover, skier Jill Kinmont struck a tree in practice and was paralyzed from neck down.

- In 1961, just two days after an issue of SI featuring her hit the stands, Laurence Owen, a promising young figure skater, perished in a plane crash together with the entire United States figure skating team. That year's World Championship would be cancelled as a mark of respect.

- And in 1989, the then Major League Baseball Commissioner Bart Giamatti had just finished the investigation on the illegal gambling of Pete Rose, the all-time hit king in baseball. Just days after Giamatti's words appeared on SI, he died suddenly from a heart attack.

Of course, no one wants anything bad to happen to Danica. But why put her in such a life-threatening risk? Why do that to her, especially when she does have a good chance of winning the race this year?

I'd better keep my fingers crossed for her for the entire 200 laps.