The world of sports is a place where superstitions reign supreme.
In every corner of the sports universe, you can find a player, a coach, or a fanbase that is knee-deep in superstitious rituals and beliefs.
Let’s start with an example that is close to many Boston fans of a certain age’s hearts: Nomar Garciaparra. The once-beloved shortstop was well known for his at-bat ritual, where he would readjust the straps on his batting gloves multiple times before waving his bat around in a windmill motion while alternately tapping his toes on the dirt. Rumors are that he also wore the same shirt for batting practice every day.
Or how about Michael Jordan, who used to wear his University of North Carolina basketball shorts underneath his Chicago Bulls shorts for every single game. At the time he came into the NBA in 1984, people thought Jordan wore longer shorts than most players as a fashion statement. Little did they know it was so he could wear two pairs of shorts and still comfortably become the greatest basketball player ever.
The great part about superstitions in sports is that they can be so wide-ranging, and also so incredibly weird. Former Chicago Bears star linebacker Brian Urlacher reportedly used to eat exactly two chocolate chip cookies before every game. Hall of Fame college basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian used to chew on a towel incessantly throughout every contest. Former NBA star Jason Terry owns a pair of shorts from every team in the league, and he used to wear the shorts of whatever opponent he was playing to bed the night before each game. NHL Hall of Famer and former Colorado Avalanche goalie Patrick Roy used to have full-fledged conversations with the goalposts he was standing between. Wade Boggs would eat chicken before every game. The list goes on and on.
Heck, there are even entire sports that live by certain superstitions. NASCAR, which is known for its rabid following, has a number of sport-wide superstitions that it adheres to. There are no green-colored cars in NASCAR because the color is considered bad luck. No driver is allowed to carry $50 bills for the same reason. But perhaps the strangest is the fact that there are no peanut shells allowed on a NASCAR track. Any other peanut product is fine, but the shells are banned because they were once found in the wreckage of a crash in which a driver was killed.
There are more normal superstitions like teams growing playoff beards and there are some unbelievable ones like Detroit Red Wings fans throwing an octopus onto the ice for good luck during home playoff games.
No matter where you look in the world of sports, some crazy superstition is staring you right in the face.
Perhaps that’s why some of us never made it to the highest level of our chosen sports when we were kids. Maybe we just weren’t crazy enough.
