AWSI: Bobblehead Jinx or ‘Coinci-jinx’ ??

When it comes to sports, the thoughts of curses and jinxes along with numerous superstitions always seem to linger. Perhaps, its a way to rationalize what can’t be rationalized. As Doc tells us early and often, “It is what it is,” which means sometimes as fans and players alike, you have to accept that $%^t happens. The ball or puck doesn’t fall “your way.” Or, an untimely injury occurs. Or, an athlete my simply “bonk” or have a brain cramp which accelerates the $%^t hitting the fan.

We are strong believers in focusing on how the adversity is handled. Does the athlete adapt and adjust and proceed with renewed focus?

That being said, its kind of fun to kick around “reasons” that $%^t happens in sports.

The Bobblehead Jinx – Exhibit A

Saturday May 28 is the bobblehead day for Oakland A’s right fielder, Josh Reddick. The first 15,000 fans at the Coliseum will receive a bobblehead inspired by the right fielder’s over-the-wall catches in a 2014 spring training game.

We saw the ad for it during the Yankee game last week…

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Very hilarious. Too bad that during the game, Reddick hurt his thumb.

Yikes! That hurts!

That sucks, we thought. He had been playing so well up to that point too. Now he won’t be able to play in the game honoring his defensive, wall-climbing prowess.

The Bobblehead Jinx – Exhibit B

Day 3 giveaway.

It came to our attention that the AT&T Byron Nelson PGA tournament was holding a Jordan Spieth bobblehead giveaway on the Saturday (third day) of the tournament. The first 8,000 fans in attendance would get a pocket-sized Jordan.

Aha! Deja vu all over again. In February, during the 2016 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, AT&T had also given away Spieth bobbleheads –described by Golf Digest’s Alex Myers as “one of the best-looking bobbleheads we’ve ever seen.”

So here’s where things get interesting…

Spieth was doing fairly well at the Byron Nelson tournament: 64, 65 and 67 on his bobblehead day. So it was a shock to us when we saw the scroll on the bottom of the television screen saying that he finished tied for 18th place. We found out he closed out his final round with a 74 (a 6-bogey round with just 2 birdies).

Spieth’s final round scorecard.

In the previous three rounds he had a total of 4 bogeys. Something wasn’t right. Could it be… a bobblehead jinx??

The Bobblehead Jinx – Exhibit C

So we took to the Internet to see how Spieth did in February at the Pro-Am, tournament where AT&T, the sponsor of the event, handed out Spieth bobbleheads to the first 8,000 fans at Saturday’s round on February 13.

That very day, he carded a 74 (Just 3 bogeys, though).

And on the plus side, he came back and closed the tournament with a 66 — a bogey-free round.