Superstitions......

[Guest Snatchy_McPants]

Okay, I was reading the following article this morning, chuckling to myself at how ridiculous some of these athletes seem. That chuckling abruptly stopped once I realized how ridiculous I AM for Irish games. Some call them Game Day "Routines" but let's be honest, they all boil down to plain old superstitions. What are your game day shenanigans? (I'll divulge mine in a later post, have to work up the courage first.) GO IRISH!

 

 

Putting the 'super' in superstitions

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Elliott Kalb / FOXSports.com

Posted: 8 hours ago

 

 

 

Some athletes credit hard work for their success. Some admittedly get lucky.

 

But others are superstitious, and believe in doing things a certain way. Here are some of the more quirky superstitions in sports history.

 

Joe Louis, the great heavyweight champion, believed that he would lose a fight for sure if his right glove was put on and tied before the left one.

 

Joe Louis was like any every fighter - he put his gloves on one hand at a time. (Allsport UK/ALLSPORT / Getty Images)

 

 

Hall of Fame baseball player Kiki Cuyler did not play at all in the 1927 World Series because manager Donnie Bush wanted Cuyler to play center field and bat second in the lineup. Cuyler was extremely superstitious about batting in the third spot. Bush benched him, saying Cuyler would not play in the Series unless he would agree to bat second in the order and publicly say he liked it. The Pirates lost the World Series in four straight games to the Yankees.

 

Lou Gehrig had superstitions. He and his mother used to fish for eels, and his mother would pickle them. Gehrig believed eating the eels helped his batting. This was the same Hall of Famer who, according to legend, heard a story early in the 1929 season that it was going to be a great year for left-handed pitchers — and a terrible year for left-handed batters. He believed it — or let it get into his head — and went from hitting .374 in 1928 to .300 in 1929. The next year, he batted .370.

 

There are tons of baseball stories about old-timers' superstitions. For example, Joe DiMaggio would never run from the outfield to the dugout without touching second base.

 

Satchel Paige was convinced that an axle-grease rubdown of his arm allowed him to pitch nine innings every day.

 

They called Lou Skizas, a major-league outfielder in the late '50s with New York and Kansas City, "The Nervous Greek." He used to rub an Orthodox medal in his back pocket between pitches.

 

Tito Fuentes, a second baseman in the '60s for San Francisco, paid a visit to a witch doctor to cure a shoulder ailment.

 

Mike Cuellar, the Orioles pitcher from the early '70s, insisted that the baseball be sitting on the mound when he went out to pitch. He refused to accept it from a player or umpire.

 

Former Dodger third baseman Ron Cey used to wear a Superman T-shirt under his uniform.

 

Wade Boggs was well known for his superstitions. He ate three chicken meals a day, which started when he had a good week in 1977 in the minor leagues. He always had chicken at exactly 2:00. He had to come out for batting practice at 5:17. And the "Chicken Man" ran sprints for every night game at 7:17.

 

Wade Boggs liked his chicken ... a lot. (Otto Greule Jr. / Getty Images)

 

 

Nomar Garciaparra is another player with obsessive routine. He gets dressed the same way every day, makes sure to step on each dugout step with both feet, and tugs at his batting gloves and taps his toes during each at-bat.

 

Pitcher Turk Wendell had to brush his teeth between every inning. He also had to eat four pieces of licorice every inning.

 

Patrick Roy admitted to talking to his goalposts. Another hockey player, Bruce Gardiner, dipped his hockey stick in the toilet before going out to play. The late hockey goalie Pelle Lindbergh had some unusual superstitions. Between periods, he wouldn't drink anything but a Swedish beverage called Pripps and would only take a sip if there were exactly two ice cubes in the cup. A particular team trainer, by the way, could only deliver that cup to him.

 

Golfer Paul Azinger marks his ball with a penny, always heads up, and always with Lincoln looking at the hole. Jack Nicklaus always carries three coins in one pocket. And Mark Wiebe only used coins minted in the '60s, because that's what he intended to score.

 

When Goran Ivanisevic won Wimbledon in 2001, he made the ball boys and ball girls retrieve the same ball every time he served an ace, while refusing to use balls which he had just used to serve a fault. Ivanisevic would always try to be the second person to get up from his chair on the changeover and would try to never step on any of the lines.

 

Michael Jordan had to wear his lucky blue University of North Carolina shorts under his Bulls or Wizards uniform.

 

Bill Parcells was one of the most superstitious people in football that I've come across. He wouldn't pick up pennies unless they were heads up. One year the Jets won the same week that he went to the dentist. Although he was finished with the appointment, the next week he still went to the dentist. He didn't have any work done, just stayed there enough time to shoot the breeze and then left, all because his team had won.

 

And I have to credit my friend, Charlie Jones, the great announcer, for this item. He collected a quote from Rick Rice, a journeyman minor-league pitcher, circa 1920. Rice supposedly said, "I always eat frogs' legs before I pitch. They make my fastball jump."

[Guest IrishTobey]

Hey Snatchy,

These are really interesting. I love reading stuff like that. I do have 2 superstitions when watching ND. They are both for when ND is struggling. The first one started when ND played BC in that infamous game in 93. ND was of course way behind and it looked hopeless. I was watching the game with my brother, an uncle, and 2 cousins. One of my cousins had to go to the bathroom and while he was in there ND scored a touchdown. That sealed it. Somebody had to be on the jon at all times. Believe it or not nobody would stay in the bathroom on the last drive b/c we wanted to watch. Of course Bercich (sp?) dropped a sure interception and David Gordon kicked the game winning field goal. By not being willing to sit on the jon we singlehandedly cost ND the NC. To this day if ND is struggling I'll call one of my cousins or they will call me and we'll go to the bathroom. It usually works. The second involves my little Shih-tzy puppy Gertie. 2 years ago when ND opend up with Washington State they were way behind and the dog had to go potty. I went outside and came back in and I think Watson or one of the linbackers had forced a fumble and they were about to score. the dog went back outside and a few moments later Jones ripped off a nice TD run. Now, the I make the dog go outside if ND needs a boost. How's that for superstitions.

[Guest domehead]

good topic Snatchy.

 

This might sound strange..but my superstition consists of, and always has consisted of..2 egg sandwiches mayo only..this dates back to the mid seventies while living in South Bend ( born there ) although at that time I would simply split one w/ dad. To this day when watching N.D. at home we still eat our egg sandwiches..and when we attend games..of course for breakfast. God bless the IRISH

[Guest Snatchy_McPants]

Ok..........so where do I begin. On every Friday during the season (not just game weekends) I HAVE to wear "The Shirt" for this season. Obviously, this year will be particularly painful as this years shirt is hideous. On gameday I once again don the shirt, smelling wonderfully I might add, and head over to my dad's house. There I meet up with my brothers and my dad, all wearing the shirt. My brother and I both have authentic, game-worn ND helmets. (They were expensive as hell and came on a base, but we had ways of getting them off of there.) My brother and I must run routes out in the yard wearing the helmets for at least a half-hour before kickoff. The ball we use is an autographed Bob Davie ball. Again, expensive as hell, but it always makes us laugh when it lands in the lake, mud, etc. The last thing I do before entering the house is catch a complete pass cleanly from my brother.

 

This brings us to gametime. The helmet must sit on my lap at ALL TIMES. Based on how the Irish are playing, I have to constantly adjust if the helmet is facing the screen, away from the screen, upside down, etc. This is crucial. If I'm tapping the helmet out of nerves and catch myself doing it, I have to rub the helmet to reverse it and calm the team down. Finally, if worse comes to worse, if the team NEEDS me, I strap on the helmet and it stays on until a score or big defensive stop. (Have you ever tried to drink a long-neck through a helmet? Not easy).

 

Of course, these steps must be followed IN FULL or it's irrelevent. To back this data up, I draw your attention to the '03 season. I lived in Missouri and rarely got to watch the games let alone run routes. I don't think we need to relive those results. Then last season, I didn't get to run routes for the BYU game. We lost. I was able to do my routine for the follwing games up to the Purdue game, which I went to. We won them all except for the Purdue game. I got back to my routine the next two games, but because I am a slow learner, I attended the BC game...........which we LOST! Seeing a trend here? The rest of the season played out the same. I was able to run my routine for the Tennessee game but that was it.

 

Rest assured Irish faithful, I WILL be 100% this year. The team needs me!

 

(P.S. New trend added this year. I bought a "Get Nasty" wristband a week ago and haven't taken it off since. Perioud.)

[Guest Irish19]

I haven't seen this years shirt. Can you make a link to a picture of it? Thanks.

[Guest Snatchy_McPants]

Ok, but I warn you, it's not for the faint of heart............

 

http://store.fansonly.com/marketplace/store/Vendor61/fullscale/nd-theshirt-c.jpg

 

Actually, the quality of the shirt itself is much better than some in the past, I just can't get over how ugly it is. Ah well, I've still been wearing it.

 

Oh, and in case you were wondering, the shirt says:

 

Front:"The Spirit Lives"

"Notre Dame Football 2005"

 

Sleeve: Increasingly bigger "The Shirt" Logo

 

Back: "If you could find a way to bottle the Notre Dame Spirit you could light up the Universe!" YIKES

[Guest Snatchy_McPants]

.........hmm, starting to wonder if maybe I AM that wierd........

Surely some of you guys have something you do that is superstitious.....

[Guest Ryan]

You can imagine how much crap the t-shirt coordinator got for it. Of course, it was a girl, and I hear she still gets hate mail for it. I feel sorry for her.

 

But she did make that shirt pretty ugly and girlie at the same time. Quite a feat.

 

I heard next year we're having Weis riding a unicorn on the front of the shirt and on the back it will say, "Who needs nasty when you have unicorns?". lol jk.

[Guest Ryan]

I have superstitions...I never really remember them so I usually make up new ones each season. Ones that I always use are like wearing the same shirt to every game, eating Lucky Charms if it's available, all day, stuff like that. Plus, if I'm sitting a certain way, like my foot propped on the coffee table, and we score, I won't move until I'm convinced it's not working anymore. Like for instance, I was doing that during the 2003 Wash. St. game right before we were coming back, and I didn't move until Setta kicked the overtime winner (of course I would stand up if I got excited or nervous, but when I sat down, my foot was always up). I even argued with my mom because she kept telling me to put it down. My argument sounded weird to everyone but me, lol.

[Guest Irish19]

Wow, the shirt isn't the best one I've seen, but I guess it'll do. I'm curious to see if the student section will stay a traditional green, or move to the yellow. We'll have to wait and see.

I really don't have any superstitions besides wearing the same shirt, watching it on the same TV, and sitting in the same position. Otherwise, I watch the game normal.

[Guest Ryan]

Irish19, the students have made an anti-the shirt shirt. I believe it's blue. I'm just guessing but I think more than 50% of the students will probably be wearing this. but maybe not. We'll have to wait for Michigan State.

[Guest Weisguy]

i wouldnt really call it a superstition, but the past few years when im home at my friends house we will put plexiglass in front of his big screen so when notre dame starts screwing up we can throw our empty beer cans at whomever we wish to throw them at

[Guest Snatchy_McPants]

LOL, wow! I wish I had that kind of foresight! That would have saved me 2 cell phones, a cordless phone, a camera, 2 knuckles on my right hand, and anything else I've thrown and/or smashed in fits of rage. Throwing beer cans at plexiglass seems fairly safe. By the way, don't bother telling my I have a problem, that's already been well documented.

[Guest Weisguy]

when im watching down here in my barracks room i throw my empties at the door, and many times last year i would have to get up grab an empty i already threw and throw it again because i couldnt drink fast enough

[Guest Ryan]

Hopefully Weis can put an end to the throwing, I have been known to throw fits too.

[Guest ND2k9]

My Superstition started in the first year of the willingham era. starting the first week, i wore my jersey during the game, and they won. on Monday, i wore my jersey to school. but after that, i just hung the jersey back up, because it wasn't that dirty. As you can tell already, this happened until week eight, when my mom found it lying on teh floor in my room and decided it needed to be washed. What happened? Green jerseys came out, Rhema's TD was taken away, Dillingham gave the ball away. Carylyle gets a concussion. bing bang boom, perfect season over, 14-7 to BC. I NEVER EVER wash my jersey after a win. BUt, with this superstition, i always wash the losses off. I hope my jersey gets mold this year, if you catch my drift........

[Guest Snatchy_McPants]

ND2K9,

 

I, for one, hope you have the nastiest, smelliest, mold-infested.......est (yeah) jersey in the land. And I mean that in the most sincere way! GO IRISH!