Recently in It's only a game Category

United States: At the end of last month, WWE wrestler Chris Benoit killed his wife and child before hanging himself. There have been sensible suggestions regarding his death, such as known effects of anabolic steroid use (a phenomenon know as "roid rage"), and one or two conspiracy theories, but fellow wrestler Johnny Angel goes further: he believes a third party was responsible for the deaths.

In series of videos on YouTube, he accuses another wrestler, Kevin Sullivan, of being a murderer. Part of his reasoning holds water - Sullivan used to be married to Benoit's wife Nancy, and the deaths happened 10 years after the date of their divorce. At the time, Sullivan had threatened to kill Benoit in front of other wrestlers. But then Angel gets interesting—this wasn't a simple revenge attack, but because Kevin Sullivan is a high-ranking member of the Satanic Church. This is, of course, according to the video, somehow relevant.

The police need to consider the possibility that these murders were carried out in order to have his revenge, which is what Satanists live for... Amongst many possibilities, this is a possibility.

The video then goes on to detail Angel's detailed and violent fantasies about what could have happened.

No doubt the forthcoming libel case will prove most interesting.

Is Kevin Sullivan The Real Benoit Killer?—entertainmentwise, 9th July 2007;Was Chris Benoit Murdered by Kevin Sullivan? PART 1—YouTube, 4th July 2007.

England: Leeds United are having another bad season, second from bottom in what us old farts would call League Division Two and facing relegation. But not to worry, Dean "Midas" Maynard has a plan to rescue the club—one that does not trouble the players with the need to play football. Instead, he plans to attend matches and beam positive vibes at the team. But don't worry, it's not magic: I'm not into witchcraft, I don't do any spells, I don't bend spoons and I'm not friends with Michael Jackson. Maynard emphasises his previous successes, and current challenge:

Dean is currently working to save League Two side Macclesfield Town, who are now unbeaten in nine matches having started the season with no wins from 21 games.

Macclesfield were beaten 6-1 by Chelsea at the weekend.

Psychic can help beat spectre of relegation—Yorkshire Evening Post, 8th January 2007; Chelsea 6-1 Macclesfield—BBC Sport, 6th January 2007.

Scotland: Vladimir Romanov, owner of Edinburgh football club Heart of Midlothian, had an unusual festive message for his critics—the Devil is making them do it. The message appeared in the programme for the game against Falkirk, and was accompanied by a photograph of Romanov on a beach with his trousers rolled up.

In his rant, Romanov told fans: Even the most sacred of places on Earth, the places that house the remains of Christ are blighted by profiteers and money-grabbers.

“Likewise in the football world, which is sacred to those who love football,there are those who seek to ruin all that is good about the game.

“But it is the Devil that is driving them forward and they are not going to stop. All that will remain for me is to step aside and bid them farewell on their road to Hell.

Fans were reportedly bewildered by the message, one wondering if it had somehow been mistranslated from Russian. For the record, Hearts won 5-0.

VLAD GETS MAD—The Daily Record, 27th December 2005.

The Netherlands: Amsterdam football club Ajax has an image problem--for some reason, they are regarded as being a Jewish club. Not that this is a problem in itself. No, the problem is the anti-semitic abuse they get from opposing fans.

After supporters of opposing teams started calling Ajax fans Jews, the fans adopted the name themselves. Ajax fans wave the Israeli flag and have banners featuring the Star of David.

I am sure our supporters have no anti-Semitic feelings, Jaakke said. However, in a tense society such as we live in today, it can stir such feelings in others.

Former Ajax board member Uri Coronel, who is Jewish, told Het Parool newspaper that Ajax fans calling themselves Jews stirred anti-Semitic reactions from supporters of rival clubs.

Many anti-Ajax chants refer to the Holocaust. Rival fans chant Hamas, Hamas, Jews to the gas and make hissing sounds to imitate the sound of gas flowing.

Ajax seek image change to stop anti-Semitic chants - Sydney Morning Herald (via Religion News Blog), 12th January 2005; Ajax wil meer macht in ECV (last two paragraphs) - Het Parool, 10th January 2005.

England: Footballer David Beckham is having feng shui symbols sewn into his boots according to The Sun. After his shabby performance in the Euro 2004 competition, he needs all the help he can get.

The design of the boot was strongly influenced by Becks' interest in Eastern culture, especially yin and yang -- the belief that opposite influences balance life and give it harmony.

Becks begged his boot supplier, Adidas, to use the ancient Chinese beliefs to assist them in the design of his flashy new PredatorPulse footwear.

He said: I'm very proud to wear these boots because they represent the idea of yin and yang.

Of course, in the modern game, there has to be a commercial side to all this

Only 723 pairs of the boots have been made -- his squad numbers from Man Utd and Real put together.

He has been ordered to keep and wear pairs number one, seven, 23 and 723 -- with the rest being sold for increased good karma.

All the boots produced will be size nine -- Beckham's size -- and will cost nearly £500.

To help create a yin and yang harmony, the boots will come in Becks' trademark red and silver. The silver represents class, purity and value, the red power and stimulation for his heart and breathing.

Becks turns to Feng shoe-i - The Sun, 3rd August 2004.

Peru: Eight traditional magical practitioners from all over South America have performed a ritual to bless the teams taking part in the Copa America.

Dressed in a multicolored poncho, rainbow-striped pants and a felt fedora, lead shaman Juan Osco blew mouthfuls of scented cane liquor and threw flower petals at a soccer ball bearing the teams' crests.

With flowers, good perfumes and good wishes we are asking the protective gods that no misfortune befall any player and that above all there are good matches, intoned Osco, Peru's self-proclaimed Shaman of the Andes....

...Osco and his comrades -- each wearing variations of a similar outfit -- chanted, rattled gourds and waved skulls, dolls and even a shrunken head from an Amazon tribe during the half-hour ceremony in front of Lima's Nacional Stadium.

Shamans put good-luck spell on Copa America - Sports Illustrated, 5th July 2004.

In-ger-land: Uri Gellar fears he might have been responsible for David Beckham's fluffed penalty kick, which led to England's departure from the Euro 2004 football tournament.

The fifty seven year old Israel born psychic said that while trying to transmit positive energy to the England players he may have caused the ball to bend over the bar.I'm not a miracle worker, but I do believe in the power of consciousness. I was trying to send positive energy, the Sun quoted him as saying.

Uri Gellar 'Bent it for Beckham'! - Webindia123.com, 29th June 2004.

Portugal: Whether this is a true case of triskaidekaphobia, racism or a more practical concern that the Bulgarians may have left a surprise behind that the cleaners haven't yet found is debatable, but the German football team for the Euro 2004 comp refuses to stay on the 13th floor.

Germany soccer team refused to stay on the 13th floor of a plush Lisbon hotel, fearing it will bring bad luck in the Euro 2004 competition.

The squad have asked the management of the five-star Corinthia Alfa hotel to allocate them different floors to the Bulgarian team, which had just checked out of the hotel.

The German team are due to come to our hotel next week and they want two floors.

We already had the Bulgarian team on the 13th and 14th floors but the Germans say it brings bad luck, said Isabel Santos, the rooms division manager.

We will change, it's not a problem. We have 24 floors so they can have any floor they want, she told Reuters.

Germany play Czech Republic in their final Group D game next Wednesday in Lisbon.

Team Won't Stay on Hotel's 13th Floor - Reuters, 17th June 2004.

Canada: The Calgary Flames have made it to the play-offs in the Stanley Cup, but have the same sort of luck as Scotland does in World Cup finals. What to do? Train hard and hone those skills that got the team this far in the first place? Candle magick? Jen Silverhorse, from the Neopgan organisation Diwan Kroaschent, has some suggestions:

One spell requires cleansing hockey sticks belonging to goalies and players with salt water, then smudging them with sage and cinnamon to charge them with positive energy for strength and accuracy.

The next step would require a replica of the Stanley Cup be decorated with a candle and incense. The candle should not stop burning until the end of the playoffs, and if it starts to burn low, it should be used to light another candle before it is blown out.

The flame needs to keep burning to keep the spirit and bring the Stanley Cup here, she says.

The Calgary Herald consulted others - witches, feng shui practitioners, Hindus and Buddhists, but in a rare moment, only the Christian pastor made sense:

We're going to win with skill and hard work, he said.

Forget the curse.

Ending Cup curse just a spell away - Calgary Herald, 19th April 2004.

The Football Association has ruled that a toss of a coin will decide which team stays in which hotel for the FA Cup final. One of the two hotels used, St David's Hotel and Spa in Cardiff, has an unlucky reputation as only one winning team has stayed there. As a result, there have been arguments about who stays where.

A Feng Shui practitioner visited the five-star hotel in August, to try to lift the hotel's apparent football curse.

He scattered incense and sea salt, rang bells, chanting a Buddhist ritual and led a horse around the grounds.

The jinx does not appear to apply to rugby teams. Let us hope Manchester United lose this particular toss. Teams toss for 'lucky' FA hotel - BBC News, 3rd April 2004.

England: Halifax Town are doing even worse than usual, and have accepted the services of a psychic who got in touch after reading about the manager speculating that the club must be cursed. Psychic bids to boot out Shay curse - Halifax Courier, 2nd April 2004.

Welsh rugby is a long way from its glory days. Encouraging talented English players with a Welsh grandparent, or extra training so the team plays like a team sound like reasonable options, but Wales on Sunday has a better idea: witchcraft!

White witch Amanda Samson knocked up the magic words - and we did the rest here at Wales on Sunday HQ.

Amanda says the spell is supposed to attract success letting you acknowledge your unlimited potential and live your dreams...

...We cast the spell using a special scroll with a talisman, rose petals and success oil.

You don't have to be a witch to cast a SpellBox spell, said Amanda. Just be clear in your intent and open to the answers from the universe!

Clearly the problems of her own national side, Australia, in the World Cup final, stemmed from them not buying a SpellBox from her web site. White witch spells success for Wales - Wales on Sunday, 14th March 2004.

United States: The Chicago Cubs winning the World Series is about as likely as Hibernian winning the Scottish Cup—it's a tradition or an old charter or something—and it's no surprise that some fans think their team is cursed. It also makes the actions of a Nicaraguan Florida Marlins fan rather pointless:

Your team lost because THE MARLINS PLAYED BETTER, OK? It's NOT because of some curse. The supernatural had nothing to do with it! Unless you count a Miami woman I know named Tina, who's from Nicaragua, and who revealed, after the Marlins beat the Cubs, that during the crucial eighth inning of Game 6 she performed a type of witchcraft called brujería. But that did not violate any National League rule.

THE WORLD SERIES: It's the Marlins against the world - Ledger-Enquirer, 19th October 2003.