Who has it? Who needs it? Where is it? How do you get it? These are the questions.
It’s all about the mojo right? Karma, luck, we put a lot of stock in it. Even a beer company has finally acknowledged how important superstition is to us – (seriously, what took them so long?) Super fan or not, we all know what it means to put on “the rally cap.” “Whatever works” right? I say, RIGHT!
Listen, I grew up in a long-suffering (still suffering) sports town. I could write blog after blog about the rituals, the superstitions we clung to (cling to) for our hometown baseball and football teams. Just ask my mom. In 1980 she spent 2-3 hours every Sunday riding a stationary bike in our basement. She was not allowed upstairs (where the rest of us were watching the game. This was unspoken. My mom did not put up a fight, she knew that if she was not on that bike at kick-off, if her energy or effort waned in any way during that game, that a loss by the Browns was solely on her. My mom was in some kick ass shape that season! I’m not sure Brian Sipe appreciated the dedication it took, but we did – the label Cardiac Kids was taken literally in our household that season. We did make it to the playoffs – not to the big game, I’m not blaming Mimi or anything…
My friend Molly, who I call Trixie, spent 3 of the last innings of a freshmen baseball game balancing on a curb behind, and to the right of the bleachers this past summer. Why you ask? Because while we were chatting in that spot during the 5th inning we started making a comeback against our arch rivals! Obviously it was Trixie’s positioning. We won in the bottom of the 10th! Coincidence? I think not. Current Trixie Tracking (CTT) -Molly aka Trixie comes from the mid-west, huge family, big state, big schools, big sports – she gets the superstition thing and has influential energy, we’ll track her influence and provide periodic updates – CTT: Trixie won’t come to tomorrow night’s football game because we are 4 and 0 and she has yet to make it to a game. Her presence at the Varsity game could well affect the outcome. We’ll miss you at pre-game Trix!
The past two high school football seasons we have established a game-day-sign-buddy-check. Your game day sign needs to either be out at the crack of dawn, or not out, depending on last week’s results of course – and the emails and texts are typically sent prior to any full time job or parenting responsibilities. Out of town? Too bad – get a back up or this game’s on you. This is dedication.
What is wrong with us? Why do we do it? Could we have an effect? Well, physics tells us that energy is neither created nor destroyed. So, I’m down with the “energy is real” theory and that translates to power which translates to influence right? Why do athletes point to the sky when they do something great? Is it Dad? Grandma? The Big Guy? (does the big guy like him/her better than the loser on the field at that moment? And where was He when our athlete sucked last week? I know, it’s just a lot to ponder…)
I like to believe in Karma- good energy out, good energy in. So if I focus my good energy on the game, the player – who’s to argue that it doesn’t have an effect? Talk later, got to go – I have to get my sign out and make sure my lucky shirt is clean – it’s game day.
Oh it’s real….
Tales From The Bleachers 