Stephen A. Smith didn’t mince phrases when he pointed the finger at Fats Joe for the New York Yankees’ collapse in opposition to the Los Angeles Dodgers within the 2024 World Sequence, accusing the Bronx rapper of jinxing the workforce with a botched Recreation 3 efficiency at Yankee Stadium.
Showing on the Joe & Jada podcast on November 25 alongside Jadakiss, Smith dropped the accusation with out hesitation: “I blame you for the Yankees dropping to the Dodgers final 12 months.” Fats Joe fired again immediately, saying, “You stuffed with s###. Steve, you stuffed with s###.”
Smith, nonetheless, stood agency.
“I used to be very mad at you for doing that s###. You realize what I mentioned? No, that’s for the Knicks. That’s not for the Yankees. You ain’t recognized with the Yankees,” Steven A. Smith mentioned, making it clear he believed Fats Joe had no enterprise moving into the Yankees’ World Sequence highlight.
The controversy stems from Recreation 5 of the World Sequence, the place Fats Joe carried out throughout a key second at Yankee Stadium. What was meant to be a morale enhance turned chaotic attributable to technical points.
“They put a delay in my sht. Okay. I practiced 3 times that day. They put a delay in my ears. So, the sht might be f*cked up,” Joe defined throughout the podcast. He added, “I rehearsed 3 times that day. It was no delay. When it got here on, it was a delay. Now I acquired to be actual with you. Ice Dice’s ‘nice day was a very good factor.”
That efficiency rapidly grew to become the centerpiece of a rising superstition now dubbed the “Fats Joe Curse.”
Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Joe Kelly added gasoline to the speculation in a post-game interview, saying, “They put Fats Joe up on the board, and I used to be like, ‘Oh, it’s a straightforward dub now.’ You realize Fats Joe is the curse. And you understand, they began kicking the ball round.”
Kelly even claimed he predicted the unraveling in actual time: “I’m fairly certain, proper earlier than the fifth. I seemed over at [Brent] Honeywell and mentioned, ‘The Fats Joe Curse, watch.’ and we began chipping away, chipping away, chipping away. And unhealthy play, unhealthy play, unhealthy play. And I find yourself getting my second one with the Dodgers.”
All the saga echoes the long-running “Drake curse”, a superstition that’s haunted athletes and groups for greater than a decade. From Serena Williams’ 2015 US Open loss to the Toronto Blue Jays’ latest World Sequence flop, the Toronto rapper’s presence has been blamed for high-profile sports activities failures.
That delusion has adopted Drake to Kentucky basketball, Alabama soccer and even the Golden State Warriors.
Now, Fats Joe finds himself lumped into that very same territory after the Yankees’ championship hopes have been derailed in 2024 and his efficiency was beneath scrutiny. For a franchise with sky-high expectations, being linked to a rapper’s technical glitch is a brand new stage of sports activities drama.
The blame recreation highlights simply how deep superstition runs in sports activities tradition. Whether or not it’s Drake’s courtside antics or Fats Joe’s stage mishap, Hip-Hop figures are more and more being solid as scapegoats when issues go south.
Smith’s feedback on the podcast present that even seasoned sports activities analysts purchase into the narrative. When somebody together with his attain begins pointing fingers, it’s not only a joke—it turns into a part of the story.
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