Second Thoughts

Mick Jagger hasn’t brought much luck for a number of teams during the World Cup. Jagger cheered for England and Italy, both of which lost, and his presence didn’t do anything for Brazil either as it lost 7-1 to Germany in the semifinals.
Mick Jagger hasn’t brought much luck for a number of teams during the World Cup. Jagger cheered for England and Italy, both of which lost, and his presence didn’t do anything for Brazil either as it lost 7-1 to Germany in the semifinals.

Poor Mick can't get no satisfaction

Blame Mick Jagger for Brazil's loss to Germany in the World Cup semifinals.

Time reported that it dates to the 2010 World Cup, during which Jagger cheered on England, the United States and Brazil at various matches. All three countries lost those matches. Brazilians reportedly blamed him and the Brazilian shirt he wore.

His bad-luck reputation grew even more this year when he cheered on England right before it lost to Uruguay, predicted a victory for Italy over Uruguay (Italy lost) and then predicted that Portugal would win it all. It didn't.

Finally he showed up at the Brazil-Germany match, and the rest is history thanks to Germany's 7-1 rout.

All of which led Brooks Peck of Yahoo Sports to refer to Jagger as the "World Cup Angel of Doom."

"This was the first match Jagger attended during this World Cup, and it just so happened to be one of the worst losses in the history of the sport," Peck writes. "Clearly his powers of destruction are only growing stronger."

Mint condition

Prominent orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews now has his own trading card.

Andrews has operated on numerous sports stars and runs surgical centers in Alabama and Florida. His card is one of the 350 included in Topps' Allen & Ginter collection. Other non-athletes receiving cards include author Chuck Klosterman, ESPN NFL reporter Adam Schefter and celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain.

A smiling Andrews is featured wearing surgical scrubs.

Andrews has gained national prominence with a patient list that has included Michael Jordan, Tom Brady, Bo Jackson and Drew Brees.

No sad good-bye

The Red Sox designated catcher A.J. Pierzynski for assignment Wednesday, mostly because he was unproductive and they believed they had a younger, better option in prospect Christian Vazquez.

According to Rob Bradford of WEEI.com, some Red Sox players were upset with Pierzynski for being on his phone.

"A microcosm of Pierzynski's approach was mentioned by more than one of the backstop's former teammates, who revealed his propensity to spend a significant amount of time looking at his phone while at his locker during games," Bradford said. "In one instance, after a particularly rough outing in which the starting pitcher had been pulled early in the game, Pierzynski could be found staring at his phone while the pitcher gave off the appearance of being an emotional wreck just a few feet away. That incident paved the way for at least one complaint to management from a teammate."

This is the same A.J. Pierzynski who as a member of the Chicago White Sox bowled over Chicago Cubs catcher Michael Barrett on a play at the plate in a 2006 game to ignite a benches-clearing brawl. The White Sox ended up running with "Punch A.J." as their campaign slogan to get him elected to the All-Star Game through the final vote.

They said it

• NBC late-night host Jimmy Fallon wasn't impressed by the news that Target Field will have self-serve beer machines Tuesday at the All-Star baseball game. "Big deal," Fallon said. "My dad had a self-serving beer machine 30 years ago. It was called 'Jimmy.'"

• Josh Sens of Golf Digest, recalling a golf tip he received: "Mark Calcavecchia once suggested that I take two weeks off, then quit."

QUIZ

What team did A.J. Pierzynski begin his major-league career with?

ANSWER

The Minnesota Twins in 1998.

Sports on 07/12/2014

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