Here’s Looking At You

San Jose State University is looking for Josephine Canicatti, 83, to help their football team beat their rival, the University of California at Berkeley Bears. Canicatti is reputed to have the malocchio, or “evil eye”, so she can put curses on others — which she supposedly has done for other teams. She reputedly put her stare on Casey Stengel before the Yankees lost the World Series in 1955. Marketing consultant Peter Ciccarelli came up with the idea, even though he lost track of her in 1986. Is this some sort of publicity stunt? “Absolutely,” Ciccarelli says, adding he doesn’t really think the curse will work. “But when you’re involved in a losing program and you want to turn the corner, you’ll take anything.” The Bears’ coach isn’t too worried. “This is Berkeley,” Steve Mariucci says. “We get things like that all the time around here.” SJSU’s football coach John Ralston wasn’t consulted on the plan, but liked it. “Let’s try it. We need all the help we can get.” (San Francisco Chronicle) ...Why not: it’s less risky than the previous plan of taking the Bears’ quarterback “for a ride” and dropping him off the Dumbarton into the Bay.