Maybe it wasn’t technically a prediction. But Curt Cignetti’s seven-word proclamation on the day Indiana introduced him as its head coach was audacious.
“It’s pretty simple,” he said, when asked how he’d sell himself to future players. “I win. Google me.”
It raised eyebrows at a place that, until this season, was the losingest program in FBS football. That night, with the microphone in his hand at center court in a packed Assembly Hall during a first-half timeout of a Hoosiers’ men’s basketball win over Maryland, he added to the proclamation.
“I’ve never taken a backseat to anybody and don’t plan on starting now,” he said, whipping the crowd into a frenzy. “Purdue sucks! So does Michigan and Ohio State!”
It made headlines but also drew laughs across the sport. Who is this guy? How long until the Big Ten schedule has him singing a different tune?
Two years later, Cignetti’s line has reached iconic status. “I win. Google me” is the thesis statement of the Cignetti era, emblazoned on T-shirts.
No. 1 Indiana is favored against No. 10 Miami in the national title game Monday, in the Hurricanes’ home stadium.
It is 4-1 against the cast of Purdue, Michigan and Ohio State, winning the Big Ten championship over the Buckeyes last month.
Cignetti turned a near-perennial doormat into a juggernaut literally overnight. If all goes to plan Monday and IU wins its first national title, his stunningly prescient comments will join the annals of sports figures whose bold statements have come true.
Calling your shot has long been a sports tradition. We looked back at some of the best examples.
Babe Ruth, 1932
In Game 3 of the 1932 World Series between the New York Yankees and Chicago Cubs, Babe Ruth stepped in to bat in the fifth inning and pointed his bat to center field. He’d been heckled relentlessly in the series and already hit a home run earlier in the game. Ruth smashed a curveball from pitcher Charlie Root to break a 4-4 tie. Decades later, film of the gesture surfaced and though there is some debate over the precise intent of Ruth’s point, it stands as one of the sport’s signature moments.
Lou Gehrig hit a home run off Root on the next pitch to end Root’s day and the Yankees eventually swept the Cubs.
Joe Namath, 1969
Quarterback Joe Namath and the New York Jets were preparing to face the Baltimore Colts as a 19-point underdog in Super Bowl III. Three days before the game, he showed up to the Miami Touchdown Club to receive an award and made his proclamation in response to a heckler.
“We’re gonna win the game,” he said. “I guarantee it.”
Namath did exactly that Sunday, completing 17 of 28 passes for 206 yards to win MVP and beat the Colts, 16-7.
Muhammad Ali, 1962 and 1964
Take your pick of Muhammad Ali’s bold predictions. We’ll point to two. First, in 1962 (then Cassius Clay), he offered this ahead of a fight with Archie Moore: “Don’t block the aisle and don’t block the door. You will all go home after round four.”
After knocking down Moore three times, his fourth knockdown resulted in a TKO victory in, yes, the fourth round.
Continuing his quips, before fighting Sonny Liston for the heavyweight title in 1964, he proclaimed: “I’m predicting eight to prove I’m great.” He also added he would “float like a butterfly and sting like a bee,” which grew to be his most iconic quote.
He only needed seven rounds to defeat Liston and claim the heavyweight title for the first time.
Mark Messier, 1994
Facing elimination after falling behind 3-2 to the New Jersey Devils in the 1994 Eastern Conference Finals, New York Rangers forward Mark Messier wasn’t subtle.
“We know we are going to go in there and win Game 6 and bring it back to the Garden,” he said.
Except the top-seeded Rangers quickly fell behind, 2-0. Messier assisted on a goal in the second period before unleashing a hat trick in the third period to win, 4-2. The Rangers won Game 7 in double overtime and won the Stanley Cup Finals 4-3 over Vancouver for the franchise’s first title since 1940.
Rasheed Wallace, 2004
After the Detroit Pistons lost Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals to the Indiana Pacers, it was time. “Guaransheed” happened.
“We will win Game 2. You can put it on the front page, back page, middle page, whatever,” he said.
The local media obliged.
He was right. The Pistons won, 72-67, and eventually won the series 4-2. The Pistons — as the No. 3 seed in the East — then beat Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal and the Los Angeles Lakers 4-1 in the NBA Finals to win the franchise’s first title since 1990.
Tim Tebow, 2008
After losing as 22-point favorites to Ole Miss in Week 4, Florida’s attempt to repeat as national champion looked like it might be derailed. The team’s goal of the program’s first undefeated season was gone.
After the game, quarterback Tim Tebow answered reporters’ questions but closed by making a promise while fighting tears. First, he apologized.
“I promise you one thing, a lot of good will come out of this.
“You will never see any player in the entire country play as hard as I will play the rest of the season, and you will never see someone push the rest of the team as hard as I will push everybody the rest of the season, and you will never see a team play harder that we will the rest of the season. God bless.”
Like Cignetti, it wasn’t technically a guarantee. But Tebow made good on his promise.
Florida didn’t lose again, repeating as national champions. And Tebow’s speech, which became known as “The Promise,” earned its own plaque outside the stadium a few months after Tebow’s career at Florida ended.
Non-athlete division
Sports Illustrated, 2014
The June 30, 2014 edition of Sports Illustrated showed Houston Astros outfielder George Springer on the cover.
“Your 2017 World Champs,” it read. It was a provocative tease to a cover story on the Astros’ farm-system development.
Three years later, the Astros did win the World Series after a 101-61 season. Springer won World Series MVP. The magazine reprised the cover with Springer back on the cover.
It was an all-timer. And, about the postscript to that title? Well, that’s another story.
‘Back to the Future II,’ 1989
In the sequel to Michael J. Fox’s megahit, Marty McFly travels to 2015 and sees a virtual billboard congratulating the Chicago Cubs for winning the World Series.
It was a joke plugged into the film by its screenwriter, who was a fan of the rival St. Louis Cardinals, a poke at a franchise that hadn’t won a title since 1908.
The Cubs didn’t win in 2015 — but they did snap a 108-year drought in 2016. Close enough.
And the film gets some extra points for predicting the Cubs would beat a team from Miami in the series. While they didn’t do that, MLB didn’t have a Miami team when the movie came out. It added the Marlins four years later.
Dishonorable mention: Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert, 2010
Hours after hometown hero LeBron James announced plans to take his talents to Miami, Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert posted an angry letter in comic sans. It called James’ move a “cowardly betrayal” and a “shocking act of disloyalty.” James had just led the franchise to back-to-back 60-win seasons and consecutive MVPs.
“I PERSONALLY GUARANTEE THAT THE CLEVELAND CAVALIERS WILL WIN AN NBA CHAMPIONSHIP BEFORE THE SELF-TITLED FORMER ‘KING’ WINS ONE,” Gilbert wrote.
In all-caps, of course. And bolded. And in a larger font than the rest of the open letter.
James won his first title two years later in 2012.
The Cavaliers posted four consecutive losing seasons until 2014 — when James returned to Cleveland and led the team to a 53-29 record and a run to the NBA Finals. It won a title a year later, with James leading the Cavs as they erased a 3-1 deficit against the 73-win Warriors.
