Guess who was at the Astros game today? #Cruzcurse 😡
— Barbi (@Barbi__7) 10:00 PM – 02 October 2024
The Ted Cruz curse strikes (no pun intended) again. Allegedly.
The Texas senator’s attendance at sporting events across the state is famously dreaded, for reasons beyond politics. His appearance at ballparks, football fields and basketball courts has been frequently associated with various Texas teams’ ensuing losses.
And the phenomenon seemingly continued this week, after Cruz was spotted at Minute Maid Park Tuesday and Wednesday for both games of the Houston Astros’ back-to-back losses, which put a quick end to the baseball team’s postseason.
The “Cruz curse” was also the basis for a social media ad last month by Rep. Colin Allred, D-Texas, who is running to unseat Cruz this November
“Sports fans from across Texas are suffering from the same affliction,” the commercial’s narrator says, going on to blame Cruz for major losses including the University of Texas football team’s defeat in January’s Sugar Bowl and the Houston Rockets’ dashed playoff dreams back in 2018.
“Want to win? Lose Cruz,” the 30-second video concludes.
I first noticed the Cruz Curse after that Longhorn loss in the Sugar Bowl. He was at Kyle Field this September when the Aggies lost to Notre Dame. I’m not sure what’s funnier, that this is a thing at all or that it transcends sports and teams. Sports fans are deeply superstitious and they carry grudges, so you’d think he might be a bit more circumspect about this sort of thing by now. But then, if he were blessed with self-awareness, he wouldn’t be Ted Cruz.