Superstitions and Sports Teams: Are You Like Me?


On a scale of one to ten, when it comes to superstitions and sports teams, I’m an 11.5. Regular season sports are one thing, post-season play is intensified by a thousand.

Seriously, how did this happen? What chemical imbalance in my brain is triggering this need to find a cause/pattern/outcome? In my logical mind, I know my actions and rituals have ZERO effect on the outcome of the things happening sometimes three time zones away, but in my sports fan mind, MY actions have an impact on MY team.

I’m 100% relishing in my Red Sox World Series win. No, I didn’t pitch, field or smash a three-run homer, but I wore my lucky Red Sox t-shirt. We (meaning myself and the team, obviously) earned a W every time I wore it during the World Series. The one game I didn’t wear my shirt, well, we won’t mention that game. I feel personally responsible for that cluster of a loss, because not only did I not wear my lucky shirt, but I went to bed before the game was over – double jinx!

Crazy fans like me aren’t the only ones who get caught up in sports rituals and superstitions. I’m sure you could Google ‘superstitions’ and either a team name or sport category and find various examples. Take Wade Boggs, who had to eat chicken before every game, Nomar Garciaparra and his lengthy at bat ritual, the Stanley Cup Playoff Beard, the Madden/Sports Illustrated curses, and whatever Tom Brady’s weird beginning-of-the-season-hair-photo-thing is. My point is that fans aren’t the only ones who try to figure out how to control something outside of their control. Not only does it help to reduce anxiety, but it psychologically reinforces our role within the team hierarchy.

As for me and my lucky Red Sox shirt, maybe I’ll vacuum seal it in a bag until next spring. Nah, I’m just keep it out in case the Red Sox Front Office should call me up and ask me to hop on a Duck Boat during the Victory Parade for all my efforts to help the team. Let me know your rituals at [email protected].

And stay tuned, I’m still waiting to see if my Pats t-shirt has any luck.



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