Step aside Sports Illustrated, there's a new jinx in town.

	This "Rim Rocker" got plenty of attention.

Each year EA (Electronic Arts) Sports decides on a sports figure to grace the cover of the latest iteration in their sports videogame franchise. With the recent injuries to current EA Sports cover boys Dany Heatley and Mike Vick I thought the topic needed some further examining to determine the effect the cover position has on players. So I examined the EA Sports covers of the four major sports and found that Vick and Heatley were not isolated incidents; the jinx had befallen a Roger Clemens amount of players. The only sport that came unscathed from the jinx was Basketball. Baseball, Hockey and Football had endless lists of players done in by the jinx, yet basketball players like Jason Kidd, Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan were immune to the effects of the cover jinx and actually posted terrific seasons. This of course bodes well for this year's basketball cover boy, none other than Raptors star Vince Carter. Maybe putting Carter on the cover was a contingency measure against the effects of the jinx. I mean how much worse can Vince's luck get after the string of injuries and bad luck his team has displayed over the past few seasons. The only possible step down for Carter would be a demotion to the WNBA. If Carter did play in the WNBA do you think they would marvel at his dunks the way they made Lisa Leslie's dunk the second incarnation of the moon landing? Has there ever been a less impressive feat applauded to the magnitude Lisa Leslie's slam dunk got last year? The dunk was the first for a WNBA player. "Ohh my God, Lisa Leslie just dunked the ball!!! Can you believe it??!!!" Okay, Spud Webb dunking the ball at 5'4 was impressive. Leslie's dunk was just ridiculous.

There is some rationale behind the jinx. EA Sports typically chooses players that are just coming off breakthrough years. After a breakthrough year a player draws closer attention from opponents, thus the offensive impact is mitigated. Because they become a focal point, defenders tend to target them and thus the rate of injuries increase. Plus players who have enjoyed a breakthrough year lose the element of surprise the next season, i.e. J.S. Giguere. His early season struggles this year are in part to the loss of his ability to catch opponents off guard.

As a service to all those season-ticket holders and all those fantasy sports fans I ask EA Sports to give plenty of notice of their next selection as cover boy. A few suggestions for next year's cover choices: George Steinbrenner, Gary Bettman and Bill Parcells (just to see if they could match his dye job digitally).