The Jack of All Sports on 105.7 The FAN Baltimore

Before I write a blog for the JAS, I untie and tie my shoes and slap my chest 3 times. Why? Well, it’s a superstition.  That’s what I have to do to ensure the fewest amounts of grammatical and spelling errors. I’m only kidding- I really feel like it is a mental thing that people get all wrapped up with. If I don’t do it, will I make more mistakes? Of course not. In grad school it was common “knowledge” that you were to never touch the statue outside of the college or you would “never pass your comprehensive exams.” Where did these cockamamie ideas come from? Can anyone start one?

 The sports world is full of superstitions. These rituals have almost become a part of the game. There are far too many for this blog to cover them all, but let’s take a look at some. 

• A commonly known one is the hockey playoff beard. Word on the streets is that superstition started with the New York Islanders in the 80’s. Some players will choose to trim their beard after a playoff loss but never completely shave it. Nowadays fans copy the fad and even CFL teams do it once the playoffs start for them.
• You may have recently read how Wizards’ Caron Butler gave up his Mountain Dew superstition. Before giving it up he would drink a 2-liter of the green stuff before and during every game.
• Jason Terry of the Dallas Mavericks wears the shorts of the next opposing team the night before the game.  Terry also eats chicken before each game and wears up to 5 pairs of socks when on the court.
• Continuing with the NBA, you have probably noticed that basketball players usually have a free throw routine. There is enough to be said about this to form a separate blog. The one that pops in my head first is Rip Hamilton where he dribbles the ball down and to his side several times before shooting. Here are some other examples, and the players talking about the very issue…. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mttHlV1WjMk.  Have you ever heard of Andrew Bogut? Is this really his tradition? I don’t watch enough NBA to know…  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zc11PUnFgkQ
• Baseball players have a fair amount of them. You see when a batter gets to the plate he often runs through a variety of them from messing with his helmet to loosening and tightening his batting gloves a number of times. Larry Walker used to have everything be centered around the number “3”. He took practice swings in multiples of three, wore No. 33, and bought tickets for 33 disadvantaged kids when he played in Montreal, to be seated in Section 333 at Olympic Stadium.
• Football is another sport with plenty of mental cases. 49’ers Dre Bly personally washes his car before every home game. Wearing the number 13 is also somewhat of a no-no, but you can’t convince Kurt Warner of that.
• Golf has a ton of them. For instance, you should never switch your ball midway through a round and starting before noon gives you the best luck. Arnold Palmer used to have his wife kiss each of his clubs before going out to play. PGA’s John Cook will only mark his ball with quarters that feature states where he has played well.
• NASCAR has a strange one against peanuts in the shell. Drivers do not want peanuts that are in the shell anywhere near their garages.  Jeremy Mayfield doesn’t want anything to do with the color green, and Dale Earnhardt refused to use or touch $50 bills.

Now these are really just a few. You could go through and pretty much name over 100 for each team in each sport. I guess in the end it makes sense to me. If you are living the dream and playing your sport professionally, you realize that it could all come crumbling down at a moment’s notice. Doing whatever it takes to prepare mentally should be done, even if it means you have to have a constant supply of Mountain Dew on hand.

Do you know of any other big ones or do you have one?  I have a friend that used to run around the couch 3 times before the ball was pitched to his team during the playoffs. He has always been one of my skinniest friends, and now I think I know why.

~ Gordon Southard, JAS Hodgepodge Correspondent