Blue Jersey Jinx? - Dallas Cowboys Forum

lurkercowboy · 04-29-2005

Dallas Cowboys Blue Jersey Jinx?

These stats are from 1981 through 2003. 1981 was when the Cowboys introduced the ‘new blue’ that was supposed to dispel the curse of the blue jerseys. This is for regular season and playoffs combined.

The end result is that there is no jinx. The Cowboys have actually won a slightly higher percentage of games on the road in the blue than they have on the road in the white.

Total Games 385
Total White Games 314
Total Blue Games 71
Total Home Games 194
Total Road Games 191

Overall 208-177 .540
Home 124-70 .639
Away 84-107 .440
White 177-137 .563
Blue 31-40 .436
Home White 123-68 .644
Home Blue 1-2 .333
Road White 54-69 .439
Road Blue 30-38 .441

2003
Overall 10-7 White 9-3 Blue 1-4
Road White 3-2 Road Blue 1-3

@ Tampa Bay L
@ New England L
Miami L
@Washington W
@ Carolina L

2002
Overall 5-11 White 4-8 Blue 1-3
Road White 1-4 Road Blue 0-3

@ Houston L
@ Arizona L
Washington W
@ Washington L

2001
Overall 5-11 White 5-9 Blue 0-2
Road White 1-5 Road Blue 0-1

@ Philadelphia L
Denver L

2000
Overall 5-11 White 3-9 Blue 2-2
Road White 0-4 Road Blue 2-2

@ Arizona L
@ Washington W
@ Carolina W
@ Philadelphia L

1999
Overall 8-9 White 7-8 Blue 1-1
Road White 0-6 Road Blue 1-1

@ Washington W
@ Philadelphia L

1998
Overall 10-7 White 9-7 Blue 1-0
Road White 3-4 Road Blue 1-0

@ Washington W

1997
Overall 6-10 White 6-7 Blue 0-3
Road White 1-4 Road Blue 0-3

@ Arizona L
@ Washington L
@ Philadelphia L

1996
Overall 11-7 White 9-5 Blue 2-2
Road White 1-4 Road Blue 2-2

@ Philadelphia W
@ Miami W
@ Washington L
@ Carolina L

1995
Overall 15-4 White 15-2 Blue 0-2
Road White 7-0 Road Blue 0-2

@ Washington L
@ Philadelphia L

1994
Overall 13-5 White 10-4 Blue 3-1
Road White 3-2 Road Blue 3-1

@ Washington W
@ Arizona W
@ Philadelphia W
@ NY Giants L

1993
Overall 15-4 White 12-3 Blue 3-1
Road White 4-1 Road Blue 3-1

@ Washington L
@ Phoenix W
@ Philadelphia W
@ NY Giants W

1992
Overall 16-3 White 15-1 Blue 1-2
Road White 7-0 Road Blue 1-2

@ Philadelphia L
@ Phoenix W
@ Washington L

1991
Overall 12-6 White 10-6 Blue 2-0
Road White 4-4 Road Blue 2-0

@ Phoenix W
@ Washington W

1990
Overall 7-9 White 6-7 Blue 1-2
Road White 1-4 Road Blue 1-2

@ Washington L
@ Phoenix L
@ Tampa Bay W

1989
Overall 1-15 White 0-13 Blue 1-2
Road White 0-5 Road Blue 1-2

@ Atlanta L
@ Washington W
@ Philadelphia L

1988
Overall 3-13 White 2-11 Blue 1-2
Road White 1-4 Road Blue 1-2

@ Philadelphia L
@ Cleveland L
@ Washington W

1987
Overall 7-8 White 6-6 Blue 1-2
Road White 3-2 Road Blue 1-2

@ NY Giants W
@ Philadelphia L
@ Washington L

1986
Overall 7-9 White 5-7 Blue 2-2
Road White 2-2 Road Blue 2-2

@ Philadelphia W
@ NY Giants L
@ San Diego W
@ Washington L

1985
Overall 10-7 White 8-6 Blue 2-1
Road White 1-5 Road Blue 2-1

@ NY Giants W
@ Philadelphia L
@ Washington W

1984
Overall 9-7 White 9-5 Blue 0-2
Road White 4-2 Road Blue 0-2

@ Washington L
@ Buffalo L

1983
Overall 12-5 White 11-4 Blue 1-1
Road White 5-1 Road Blue 1-1

@ Washington W
@ San Diego L

1982
Overall 8-4 White 5-3 Blue 3-1
Road White 0-1 Road Blue 3-1

@ St. Louis W
@ Washington W
@ Houston W
@ Washington L

1981
Overall 13-5 White 11-3 Blue 2-2
Road White 2-3 Road Blue 2-2

@ Washington W
@ St. Louis L
@ Baltimore W
@ NY Giants L

Total Games 384
Total White Games 313
Total Blue Games 71
Total Home Games 194
Total Road Games 190

Overall 208-176 .542
Home 124-70 .639
Away 84-106 .442
White 176-137 .562
Blue 32-39 .450
Home White 123-68 .644
Home Blue 1-2 .333
Road White 53-69 .434
Road Blue 31-37 .456

Irving Cowboy · 04-29-2005

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think I am, the Boys didn't start wearing the new style blue uniforms in 1982.

phildominator · 04-29-2005

I appreciate the exhaustive research results you put into this. I took quite a few moments looking over the past. I'm interested - did you decide to undertake this study just for conversation, or did you purposely seek to try to debunk the blue jersey jinx?

I'll be honest, I kind of give that "oh crap" response when I see our boys trotting out in blues. I guess it's because of a few reasons that go beyond statistics.

1. We've never won a SB in the blues.
2. We've changed our blues several times, while the whites have remained a familiar and comforting sight for decades.
3. We've only won one playoff game in the blues (1978 NFC Championship vs. Rams)

I'm not even sure what the starting point for the blue jersey jinx was? Was it losing SB V?

lurkercowboy · 04-29-2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by Irving Cowboy

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think I am, the Boys didn't start wearing the new style blue uniforms in 1982.

The first game in the new blue was the regular season opener against Washington in 1981. Dallas won 26-10.

The last game in the old blue was against the Eagles in the 1980 championship game. Dallas lost 20-7.

lurkercowboy · 04-29-2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by phildominator

I appreciate the exhaustive research results you put into this. I took quite a few moments looking over the past. I'm interested - did you decide to undertake this study just for conversation, or did you purposely seek to try to debunk the blue jersey jinx?

I'll be honest, I kind of give that "oh crap" response when I see our boys trotting out in blues. I guess it's because of a few reasons that go beyond statistics.

1. We've never won a SB in the blues.
2. We've changed our blues several times, while the whites have remained a familiar and comforting sight for decades.
3. We've only won one playoff game in the blues (1978 NFC Championship vs. Rams)

I'm not even sure what the starting point for the blue jersey jinx was? Was it losing SB V?

I wanted to find out if the jinx was real. I think the difference in the blue win-loss record is strictly due to the Redskins. A lot of the blue games have been against them and Dallas usually beats them so it makes a difference.

LatinG187 · 04-29-2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by phildominator

I appreciate the exhaustive research results you put into this. I took quite a few moments looking over the past. I'm interested - did you decide to undertake this study just for conversation, or did you purposely seek to try to debunk the blue jersey jinx?

I'll be honest, I kind of give that "oh crap" response when I see our boys trotting out in blues. I guess it's because of a few reasons that go beyond statistics.

1. We've never won a SB in the blues.
2. We've changed our blues several times, while the whites have remained a familiar and comforting sight for decades.
3. We've only won one playoff game in the blues (1978 NFC Championship vs. Rams)

I'm not even sure what the starting point for the blue jersey jinx was? Was it losing SB V?

That's what my father says when he sees them come out in those blue uniforms.He says that they other teams choose to wear their white unis so Dallas wears the blue ones,because they think it's some kind of bad luck or somethin.I personally would love to see Dallas wear 'em more often.

The30YardSlant · 04-29-2005

jinxes dont exist anyway

martyogelvie · 05-03-2005

The 'new blue' as you call it has for all intents and purposes cancelled out the jinx...
I haven't thought or worried about the jinx for a long time now.. there was a time though, pre '80, when the Cowboys were doomed if I saw them dawning the Blue Jerseys..
I can still remember the 1st time I saw them play in those blue jerseys. My initial reaction was WOW! Those Jersey's look awesome! Of course, that was followed by, CRAP! The Cowboys played bad today!

The Cowboys are one of the few teams that prefer White over their dominant color which is why you see them in White even on the road. Only a few other teams wear white and home forcing the Cowboys to wear blue. The story goes that Tex Schramm wanted the Cowboys to wear white at home for TV Purposes. It was a gracious attempt to appease the opposing teams fans who were likely watching at home on TV. Schramm figured the fans could easily pick out their team by their colors or darker jerseys. You have to remember that back then, the largest TV was likely 19" and the majority were probably Black and WHite.

lurkercowboy · 12-13-2005

bump bump

zagnut · 12-17-2005

Nice research. I think people associate bad things with the Blue because it's mostly only seen on the road where wins (or even good play) are much less common.

I definitely thought there was something to the Blue Jersey Jinx™ but instead of supernatural voodoo, I always put in terms of reality (blue absorbs more light/heat than white, cool colors recede and would be more difficult to pick out downfield, etc.)

I do find it kind of strange that our Super Bowl teams in 92, 93, and 95 were 18-1 on the road in whites and 4-5 in road blues. Hmmm.