In sports, superstition is tradition: Break out the lucky socks

When I was a kid, I played soccer with a girl who wore the same sparkly barrette in her hair every single game. It didn’t match our uniforms and it didn’t have any particular sentimental value to her, but she was wearing it when we won our first big game.

From then on, the barrette was there to stay.

Athletes in every sport, of every age and skill level, have traditions and rituals that precede games. In that way, they’re a little like sailors: superstitious, because so much of their livelihood depends on circumstances out of their control.

The slightest gust of wind, a chance shoelace, a freak injury — all things that athletes really can’t prepare for and can have calamitous results. So many of them leave it all up to fate.

Former Seahawks Pro Bowl and All-Pro cornerback Richard Sherman hasn’t changed his pregame meal in more than four years. On game-day, he eats a grilled cheese sandwich on wheat bread hours before kickoff, without fail.

Several Spokane Chiefs hockey players suit up left to right, lest they unbalance the power of the universe.

In the NFL., Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce listens to Christmas music before games no matter the season, and Giants linebacker Alec Ogletree chows down on Twizzlers, the only brand of licorice he’ll eat in pregame.  

And while it would be easy to chalk up this behavior to overly cautious professional players whose livings depend on the whim of the ball (or puck, or net, or…), the superstitious behavior doesn’t stop there. It’s not just athletes — it’s the fans, too.

Some diehard fanatics wear team jerseys for the day or even the entire week leading up to the game. Others try signature stadium celebrations, prayer or the old standby, a pair of lucky socks.

So the real question is, does it make a difference? Does it really work?

The answer isn’t easy to parse, but perhaps it would be best to take the story of former Washington quarterback Joe Theismann to heart.

Theismann was the most valuable player in 1983, a two-time Pro Bowler that helped his team to two consecutive Super Bowls over the course of his 12-year career. Theismann recently related the story of his own pregame ritual to the New York Times — and how deviating from it may have cost him his career.

On the way out of the locker room before every game, Theismann would silently hit the Redskins logo posted there before heading onto the field. Until one night in 1985, when he hit it and said, “Tonight, your life’s going to change.”

It did. In that game against the New York Giants, Theismann broke his leg in two places, never to play football again.

Ask any sports fan: was it chance? Probably. Is it worth the risk? Probably not.

As all athletes and fans can attest, it’s better to be safe than sorry. We don’t care about your quirk — just so long as it actually works.

Shannen Talbot can be reached at shannen@cheneyfreepress.com.