Did John Hunt Morgan curse these grounds?
John Hunt Morgan was a Confederate States of America general responsible for the infamous "Morgan's Raid" on Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio in 1863, which ran concurrently with the Gettysburg and Vicksburg campaigns at the height of the Civil War. The raid was largely unsuccessful, and General Morgan was captured by Union forces at Salineville, Ohio.
Where did Morgan end up imprisoned? Nowhere other than the Ohio Penitentiary, right here in Columbus. He spent just a few short months behind bars in 1863 before he and several of his officers escaped from the prison in late November of 1863, but he was by far and away the most consequential Confederate prisoner held there during the war. Morgan was killed later in 1864 in Greenville, Tennessee.
The team was named after the "Union blue" jackets worn by Federal Troops during the American Civil War. Since around 2011, the CBJ has leaned more heavily into its Civil War theming and namesake than it did in the years prior to that, but the team's branding has always been based around this identity.
Who better to place the blame on for the curse on the Union Blue that General that opposed the Federals, sowed discord and destruction here in Ohio and was imprisoned on the very same ground that the Jackets now play on today?
On the other hand, the 1930 fire in the Ohio Penitentiary was one of the worst prison disasters in the history of the United States. It ended the lives of 322 prisoners and injured hundreds of others. It's easy to put two and two together here: perhaps some of the ghosts of those unfortunate souls caught in the blaze have been haunting the grounds of Nationwide Arena in retribution for disturbing their rest.
Is it really possible this team be cursed by an inanimate object lost by a child? Well...