Many of you probably read the headline about Blake Griffin already this morning and said the same thing we did: "Of course." In case you didn't see the report yet, Griffin apparently suffered a stress fracture in his kneecap during the Clippers' final preseason game and will miss six weeks to start the season. We wouldn't be surprised if it was more, frankly, given where the injury is and how protective the team will likely be with its No. 1 overall pick.
The "of course" reaction (of course) has to do with the seeming black cloud that hangs over the Clippers. Whether it's injuries (Danny Manning), horrendous draft busts (Michael Olowokandi) or just general buffoonery, everything the Clips touch seems to turn to [redacted].
What we ask now is this: when a franchise seems doomed or jinxed like this (and feel free to think about any local franchises you think fit the bill here), does it become a self-fulfilling prophecy? That is to say, does the weight of so many bad things happening in the past continue to have an impact in the present? While we would hardly say that Manning's knee problems have been magically transferred to Griffin, we do think there is a psychological element involved with teams -- and people -- who continue to have bad things happen to them.
