Ted Cruz curse re-emerges following Texas Longhorns loss to Washington – Houston Chronicle

The "Ted Cruz curse" reached new heights this week with his appearance at the 2024 Sugar Bowl between Texas and Washington setting social media abuzz with claims of a jinx.
Some sports fans claimed that when Cruz attends a sporting event, the team he is supporting gets cursed and loses the game. That hypothesis has held up over the past few months.
The U.S. Senator watched Alabama beat Texas A&M in College Station in October, talking with media prior to the game about NIL legislation. He then watched all of the Astros losses in the 2023 postseason, which coincided with the in-state rival Texas Rangers winning the World Series. Cruz capped off this stretch watching the Longhorns last-ditch effort to beat Washington fall short in the College Football Playoff Semifinal.
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He also attended Texas State's upset of Baylor in September.
However, according to analysis done by The Messenger, Cruz-supported teams were 18-11 with a confirmed sighting of Cruz in attendance at the game prior to the 2023 ALCS. That includes the series-clinching Game 6 of the 2022 World Series.
Speculation about a curse first gained popularity about a half-decade ago. Cruz attended Game 7 of the 2018 Western Conference Finals, which saw the Rockets miss 27 straight 3-pointers and get eliminated by the Golden State Warriors. The next year, Cruz posted on Twitter, now known as X, a photo of him at the NCAA Men's Basketball National Championship game between Texas Tech and Virginia. He posted the photo with the Red Raiders up by one point with 35 seconds remaining. Texas Tech lost in overtime.
Cruz has responded multiple times to articles about the curse, dismissing its veracity. After Astros fans asked him not to attend Game 7 of the ALCS earlier this year, he responded on social media.
"For 7 years, Catherine & I have attended nearly EVERY Astros home playoff game," Cruz posted on X. "If they’re going to blame me for our recent home losses, pls also credit us for TWO World Series Championships & SEVEN consecutive ALCS’s — we were there cheering 'Stros on!"
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BLAME GAME: Astros fans troll Ted Cruz on social media, blame him for Houston's Game 7 loss
He tweeted again Tuesday, adding more games he has attended during his life that ended with a positive result for Houston and Texas fans. Cruz said he was at Texas' win over USC at the 2006 Rose Bowl, Texas A&M's win over Alabama in 2021 and the Rockets' Game 7 victory in the 1994 NBA Finals.
Cruz has been in the U.S. Senate since Jan. 3, 2013, which has coincided with an era of sustained sports success in the Houston area.
The Astros are 922-758 with six division titles, four American League pennants and two World Series titles since Cruz entered the U.S. Senate. They had an under .500 record all-time prior to that moment. The Rockets are also 470-411 with four division titles since taking office. The team has a .533 winning percentage during the stretch, better than the .515 winning percentage over the total course its history.
The Texans have made the playoffs four times and the Houston Cougars men's basketball team made its first Final Four since the 1980s in 2021.
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Peter Warren is a reporter for the Houston Chronicle. He can be reached at peter.warren@houstonchronicle.com.
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