Robservations: Plenty of superstition in sports

By Rob Nunley / Columnist

NUNLEY

An old superstition passed down through my mother’s side of your friendly neighborhood sports editor’s family dictated that there would be no use of the washing machine Wednesday. No laundry is done on New Year’s Day, whatsoever, because, as Mom explains, “you might wash someone out of your life.”

Well, fair enough, I guess. Better not to take the chance, I suppose. But that yearly tradition around the Nunley home set my mind wandering about the many superstitions that surround the sports world.

Now if you’re a Warren County sports fan — and let’s face it, if you’re not, why are you reading this — you’ve seen a few acts of superstition throughout the years. Right off the top of my head I can think of a certain formerly wire-headed baseball coach that once remarked, “I’ve stood in every part of the coaching box I can think of, and we’re still not hitting. Maybe I should try the dugout.”

But there are several others, in almost every sport you can think of. And wouldn’t you know it, a young man named Michael Morrison has collected them in an article I recently found while surfing the information superhighway. I’ll reprint a few here for you, with a few comments thrown in for good measure. See if any of these bring you some luck the next time you hit the field.

Baseball: Spitting into your hand before picking up the bat is said to bring good luck. (Good luck, maybe. But wet hands? Gross.)

• A wad of gum stuck on a player’s hat brings good luck.

• Lending a bat to a fellow player is a serious jinx.

• Some players actually sleep with their bat to break out of a hitting slump or stay in a groove. (I’ll bet that’s a big “hit” with the Mrs.)

Basketball: The last person to shoot a basket during the warm-up will have a good game.

• Wipe the soles of your sneakers for good luck. (Ask any player why they do that, though, and they’ll offer you any number of “reasonable” explanations.)

Bowling: The number 300, a perfect score, on your license plate will increase your score.

• To continue a winning streak, wear the same clothes. (To continue having teammates, wash them between league nights.)

Fishing: Fish may not bite if a barefoot woman passes you on the way to the dock.

• Don’t tell anyone how many fish you’ve caught until you’re done or you won’t catch another.

• Spit on your bait before casting your rod to make fish bite. (Yeah, because nothing enhances the flavor of a night crawler like a big wad of Red Man.)

Football: Double numbers on a player’s uniform brings good luck.

• It’s bad luck for a professional football player to take a new number when he is traded to another team. (Unless, of course, that number has a dollar sign at one end and a whole lot of zeroes at the other.)

Golf: Balls with a number higher than 4 are bad luck.

• Carry coins in your pockets for good luck. (Carry large bills if you intend to place a wager against Dale Stubblefield.)

Ice Hockey: It is bad luck for hockey sticks to lie crossed.

• Players believe they’ll win the game if they tap the goalie on his shin pads before a game. (Goalies believe that the next time someone bangs their shins with a hockey stick, they’re getting clotheslined.)

For a more detailed list, check out Morrison’s article at www.infoplease.com/spot/superstitions1.html