Friday night the Bulls retired Scottie "1.8" Pippen's #33 and then promptly lost to a Lakers team they were favored against.
For my birthday in 1995, my dad got me great seats (second row, a few feet off the red line) to an Islanders game. The Isles retired Bob Nystrom's number before the game and then lost to the Sabres 5-1.
In between I have noticed that more often than not (MUCH more often than not it seems) the team that retires the number winds up losing, often losing big.
Another memorable example from one of my teams: Phil Simms. His number was retired during the Monday Night game against Dallas in Week 1 of 1995. Emmitt Smith ran for a 60 yard (or so) touchdown on the first or second play from scrimmage and the Giants lost 35-0.
Reggie White posthumously victimized TWO teams this year: Green Bay (Week 2 against Cleveland) & Philadelphia (0-42 last Monday).
The next two examples of retired numbers I could find by quickly searching Google were both from the NHL -- and again both wound up losing!:
Buffalo, Danny Gare, 11/22/2005, Lost to Rangers
Montreal, Dickie Moore and Yvan Cournoyer, 11/12/2005, Lost to Leafs
Besides these specifics, I swear that more often than not over the years when I watch SportsCenter or read recaps, retiring a number means your team's gonna lose.
Am I crazy? Is it all in my head? Am I just remembering the losers? Do you guys have any memorable examples of your own? If there is something to this, is there any rational explanation for why retiring a number would make a team play poorly? Just thought I'd throw it out there.
For my birthday in 1995, my dad got me great seats (second row, a few feet off the red line) to an Islanders game. The Isles retired Bob Nystrom's number before the game and then lost to the Sabres 5-1.
In between I have noticed that more often than not (MUCH more often than not it seems) the team that retires the number winds up losing, often losing big.
Another memorable example from one of my teams: Phil Simms. His number was retired during the Monday Night game against Dallas in Week 1 of 1995. Emmitt Smith ran for a 60 yard (or so) touchdown on the first or second play from scrimmage and the Giants lost 35-0.
Reggie White posthumously victimized TWO teams this year: Green Bay (Week 2 against Cleveland) & Philadelphia (0-42 last Monday).
The next two examples of retired numbers I could find by quickly searching Google were both from the NHL -- and again both wound up losing!:
Buffalo, Danny Gare, 11/22/2005, Lost to Rangers
Montreal, Dickie Moore and Yvan Cournoyer, 11/12/2005, Lost to Leafs
Besides these specifics, I swear that more often than not over the years when I watch SportsCenter or read recaps, retiring a number means your team's gonna lose.
Am I crazy? Is it all in my head? Am I just remembering the losers? Do you guys have any memorable examples of your own? If there is something to this, is there any rational explanation for why retiring a number would make a team play poorly? Just thought I'd throw it out there.
