The Town Herald

The netpaper about Elftowners, by Elftowners, for Elftowners.

Sports Superstitions

Written by [Thunder Cid]



Sports are a very competitive business, and athletes always face a great deal of pressure to be at their best. For them practice is not enough, players also need to have a sort of mental edge, which often manifests in some strange and nonsensical behaviors and beliefs. Athletes often preform certain rituals that really have no significance, but not adhering to them will certainly make them worse, if only in their own mind.

One of the most common athletic rituals can be seen in both baseball or hockey. Both have highly unique roles on their teams and are thus very isolated. In fact, isolation serves them well: If a pitcher is throwing a no-hitter or a goalie is working on a shut out, the unwritten rule book says that you do not talk about it, don’t even think about it, and never go anywhere near the player working on perfection. Just stay out of his way and be ready to hoist him in the air if all goes well.
Every time a pitcher throws a no-hitter or perfect game, you can be sure to see his teammates falling over one another trying to steer clear of him in the dugout.

One of the oldest rituals began in ancient Rome. Gladiators were careful to always step into the arena with their dominant foot forward. Since then, athletes in all sports have been tap dancing their way in and around their respective playing surfaces. Whether it's a rodeo cowboy saddling up with his right foot first or tennis players avoiding stepping on court lines while changing sides. The world's top athletes have failed to outgrow their obsession with not stepping on sidewalk cracks.

In the days before video games, there was the Sports Illustrated cover jinx. Athletes and teams that graced the magazine's cover were doomed to fail immediately thereafter. However times have changed, and now that curse has been replaced by the EA Sports video game franchise. According to legend, the player on the cover of a Madden NFL game is doomed to suffer a significant injury or perform horribly that very season. Ever since 1999, every Madden NFL cover athlete has been hurt or performed poorly the season of his appearance.

Athletes also preform a cornucopia of bizarre rituals during a play. You can always see baseball players Baseball spitting into their hand before picking up the bat or having a wad of gum stuck to their hat thinking it brings good luck. Players also believe that lending their bat to another player is a major jinx as well as having a dog walk across the diamond before the first pitch. Basket ball players will wipe the soles of your sneakers and bounce the ball before taking a foul shot for good luck.

Even the most relaxing sports have their rituals and beliefs. In fishing you should always spit on your bait before casting your rod to make fish bite. You should always throw back your first catch for good luck. Fishermen believe that the fish may not bite if a barefoot woman passes you on the way to the dock and that it's bad luck to change rods while fishing. But the golden rule in fishing is never tell anyone how many fish you've caught until you're done or you won't catch another.



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