Very Superstitious | mfp1228's Blog

Since the dawn of time, the human species has been superstitious. Superstitions and rituals are rooted in every culture and creed; yet, there has never been a culture quite nearly as superstitious as the world of sports, and its spectators. Yes, sports fans, the ever day guy and girl who wear his/her lucky shirt, hat, or pair of underwear as an amulet of luck or faith. We entrust these items and/or rituals as the key to our team's victory. The outcome will not be due to the great performance of the very athletes we adore, but by the mystical power that sports fanatics have to control the fate of their team.

Superstitions are known all throughout every realm of the sports world. We have the Billy goat, the Babe, the Bartman, the terrible towel, the rally cap, and the ever-crucial body paint. Extreme cases of such fanatical superstition has given us groups like Cheese heads, the Dawg Pound, Cameron Crazies, Caniacs, and of course, Raiders Fans. There are more than enough to name, but each team has their own set of traditions. I find one of the most exciting and devoted realms of sports is the college level. Be it football, basketball, or any other, there is nothing greater than the pride of an individual's alma mater. I realize some may disagree, but it is my opinion that cheering on the athletes that represent a school is the most intense. They are the athletes of our future, the unpaid, hardworking athletes, striving to reach the next level. They do not whine about making less millions than another, take a play off, argue with the coach or go on strike. They play every quarter, inning, half, and down to the best of their ability. It is because of these things I believe that due to the devotion of the players that you see an overwhelming amount of faithful and superstitious fans in college sports.

I must admit I'm as guilty as the rest of America. I wear red boxers to every Hurricanes game, sport my Chicago Cubs hat all summer, and spend every autumn weekend in ECU Pirate Purple. My girlfriend blames me personally, for every East Carolina loss this season. To her, it's not possible that the plague of injuries or the skill level of our competitors has anything to do with the team's record. It is all because of my failure to play a video game! Ridiculous some might say, yet that is the beauty of sports fans. At the beginning of the football season I began playing as ECU on EA Sports' NCAA Football '09. By luck or coincidence every game I've played, the Pirates have won; every game I neglected to play was unfortunately a loss. My only problem with this theory is that I never seem to get any credit for willing our team to victory.

This is just one of many examples that I'm certain other sports fans experience; it is a crucial requirement of the devotion to the teams we support. There are those who are naysayers, who say superstitions mean nothing. By definition superstition means irrational beliefs, but if superstitions mean nothing, how else are we as sports fan supposed to cope with a team's defeat? Whether fact or fiction, superstitions allow us as sports fans to replace the doubt of our beloved athletes and their performance with some cosmic curse or neglected sacrament, and if not for this reason, superstitions, rituals, and traditions simply make our sporting experience much more enjoyable.

Personal Note: Today I played an intense virtual battle against the Herd from Marshall, we'll see how solid this superstition is tomorrow