Sports and superstition go hand in hand. They’re part of the fabric of the game as much as the give and go pass, the open ice breakaway, or the six-four-three double play.
Superstitions are part of everyday culture as well just ask those who refuse to step on cracks or open umbrellas indoors, or those who are never without their lucky rabbit’s foot or freak out when they see a black cat.
Athletes however are a unique bunch, and strange superstitions and ritualistic habits pervade their existence. On the ice at Walter Brown, on the field turf of Nickerson, and across the courts and everywhere else at Boston University, there are Terrier athletes who are doing whatever it takes to get ready for competition.
In hockey, sophomore forward Justin Maiser tries to enjoy a Snickers bar before every game at the same time. He’s been doing the Snickers bar thing since he was a little kid.
‘Let’s say you do something before one game and you go out there and have a couple of goals or play really well,’ Maiser said. ‘Obviously, you’ll want to do it the next game, so then you try to repeat the same things you did the night before, because you always want to play well and do whatever it takes. Then it sticks with you.’
Dr. Leonard Zaichkowksy, a renowned sports psychologist and professor here at BU, says, ‘Sometimes we put together related concepts, routine, ritual, and superstition. We often get them confused. Superstition is a belief system that defies logic, but yet it persists. There is no data to support it, but athletes are taught to develop these routines so they’re not distracted by events.’
For almost all athletes, ritual and consistency play a role in how they play and how they prepare to play. Hockey assistant captain Brian Collins is no different. Collins will usually be dressed very early before the game, most likely an hour before the contest. Describing his routine, Collins says, ‘I’ll have coffee after a pre-game meal every now and then, and I’ll change the color of my laces every now and then, or change the color of my tape, it’s little things like that, nothing specific that I do before every game.’
When asked about his craziest superstition, Collins assured that he always washes his clothes, showing that he keeps good taste and good hygiene above his hopes for game-to-game consistency. While Collins is one side of the coin, the hockey team’s other assistant captain, John Sabo, is one without many superstitions and says, ‘I just go out there and get ready.’
Senior defenseman Mike Bussoli has perhaps the right idea. He says, ‘I won’t hesitate to have an hour-and-45-minute pre-game nap, which is beautiful. If it’s a road trip, I’ll sleep on the floor of the bus, with a blanket and pillow.’
In describing the team as a whole, Bussoli said, ‘There’s so much routine in hockey, I’m sure every guy in our dressing room puts the pads on exactly the same every day.’
Between the pipes for a hockey team is a player who is very superstitious, and for netminder Sean Fields, his pre-game practices are quite unique. Agreeing with Bussoli, Fields says that he follows the same order for getting dressed every game. On game days he says, ‘I try not to talk, I just try and focus on the game, so if someone talks to me, I just kind of shrug them off, and not really say anything to them.’ Fields contemplated the relationship between superstition and his position in the net, saying, ‘This position is 90 percent mental. I mean, everyone can do a butterfly, and everyone can do a kick save or a glove save. It’s just putting it all together at the right time during competition, and that is what makes it such a mental position with a lot of pressure on you, and that’s what probably all the superstition develops out of.’
From the mentally demanding position of hockey goaltender to that of the psychologically equal game of golf, there is no change in the degree of superstition. Women’s golfer Leah Johnson says, ‘I have a certain way I warm up. I have the same pre-shot routine, and if I don’t do it, I tend to get nervous.’ She likes to wear the same hat when she’s on the greens and always uses a number 3 Titleist golf ball. She adds, ‘It’s a mental game in general and superstition helps keep you focused. If you play well but don’t win, it couldn’t be you, it had to be something else.’
When asked whether this sort of belief system can get out of hand, Dr. Zaichkowksy said, ‘Sometimes [superstitions] can get in the way of an athlete’s performance, because they’re not taking responsibility for their actions. There’s nothing wrong with somebody like Jack Nicklaus putting three pennies in his pocket for luck, as long as it doesn’t go beyond that.’
Women’s lacrosse player Alyssa Trudel likes to line up with her roommate during warm-ups, and softball catcher Christy King, along with the rest of her teammates, will try and avoid stepping on the third base line.
Men’s basketball captain Matt Turner likes to listen to music before the game to get ready, while captain Billy Collins, who describes himself as not too superstitious, will sit in the same place on the bus and at breakfast with the team out of respect for the guys on the squad who take this stuff so seriously. Collins says about his teammates, ‘I think it just helps them focus more, if they’re doing something, and if it’s working they keep doing it.’
Whatever it is that these athletes do before a game, it all seems to be done for the purpose of readying themselves for the pressure and intensity of competition. Alyssa Trudel put it best: ‘Sports are such a mental thing, that superstition provides a calming effect.’
Women’s soccer coach Nancy Feldman describes the effect superstition has on her team, saying, ‘It’s all about getting them mentally focused for the game. It only gets out of hand if it is something that is out of their control that messes with their routine. That’s the negative side of it, if you have a lucky pair of socks and one gets lost, what are you going to do then, does that hurt you?’ She added, ‘We joke about keeping it going, if we’ve been eating the same meal at T. Anthony’s or if I’m wearing the same hat and we’re winning, you try to keep it consistent. In sport that drive for consistency opens itself up for this kind of thing.’
Whether striving for consistent outcome in their games, or just a result of years of habit and ritual, athlete’s superstitions can be a healthy and regular part of sports. Athletes should just remember the words of Dr. Zaichkowksy: ‘I try to teach athletes that they have control over events, because most of the time they’re the ones with control over the results.’
Those wise words also hold true in the rest of the world outside of sports, so take this lesson and learn that you have a good amount of control over the events in your life.
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