Jinxes and curses abound in the superstitious world of sports.

The Boston Red Sox couldn’t win a World Series because they’d sold Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees. The Chicago Cubs can’t win a World Series because they banned a goat from Wrigley Field and the goat’s owner put a curse on the team. And there is the Sports Illustrated cover jinx, where a photo of the athlete seems too often to result in an eventual injury or calamitous failure.

Now there is the Bieber Curse, named for pop fop Justin Bieber. The Bieb loves sports, but sports apparently don’t love him. The Bieb visited the Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday night and attended their chapel service. Players posted selfies with You Know Who on various social media.

The next day, the Steelers were upset 20-13 by the New York Jets, who had lost eight straight games.

A one-shot? By no means. The Biebs seems to wreak havoc (and not just when he’s driving).

The Biebs partied in Las Vegas with football sensation Johnny Manziel last summer when the free-spirited young quarterback seemed likely to win the Cleveland Browns’ starting job. Manziel lost that opportunity to Brian Hoyer.

The Biebs was present at the Cleveland Cavaliers’ game that marked LeBron James’ homecoming. The Cavs lost. And The Biebs was in the house for the New York Knicks’ opener – they got crushed by the Chicago Bulls.

Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger dismissed The Bieber Curse on his radio show, saying the singer is “one of the more popular guys in the country for good or bad, so (my teammates) had a chance to say hello and they did.” And what’s this “for good or bad?”

Sports fans, remember this paraphrase of an old line from 1950s TV: I’m worried about The Bieber.

Today’s Question

Do superstitions really have a place in sports?

Answers in the comment box, please.
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman .