Missed Opportunity Story by Geofree Capodanno

Superstitions in Other Sports
by Geofree Capodanno


How many times have you run across a story or some sort of article about sports superstitions and routines? If you have read one recently, was it about baseball? I am going to bet that it definitely about baseball. Baseball superstitions and routines are covered throughout every medium from Wade Boggs’ portion in the book, Believing in Magic: The Psychology of Superstition (Vyse, 2000) to the Pedro Cerrano character in the film Major League (1989, Universal). But what about other sports superstitions and routines outside of the baseball world?

I did a brief survey using eight sports-minded individuals. I asked them what sports superstition or routine they last remember either reading about or watching in a program or film. All eight people answered using only baseball superstitions and routines. One person recalled the “Curse of the Bambino”, based on the 1918 Babe Ruth trade that supposedly brought an 86-year World Series curse to the Boston Red Sox. Another person mentioned that Wade Boggs would eat only chicken on the day of a game and used to draw a symbol meaning “To Life” in the dirt before every one of his at-bats. Someone else brought up the routine executed during Nomar Garciaparra’s at-bats where he pulls on his batting gloves and bangs his toes. He also commented how Garciaparra steps on each dugout step with both feet before a game. Three others brought up Turk Wendell, who seems to be the epitome of baseball superstitions and routines. Wendell would perform bizarre rituals like brushing his teeth and chewing on licorice between every inning as well as stepping over the first-base line on the way to the mound. The two others that were surveyed discussed not speaking about a no-hitter or a perfect game while one is in progress and believing that it is good luck to step on one any base before running back to the dugout at the end of any inning.

This was all great information to share because my results showed that baseball superstitions and routines have a superior notoriety over any other sport realm. What about bowling? What about the rodeo? Outside of my survey, I was able to research and find that baseball is not the only sport that has unusual superstitions and rituals. The first thing that I noticed was that the coverage on this information outside of baseball was scarce. Nonetheless, the information was enough to keep me interested in writing about them in this paper and exposing some lesser known superstitions outside of the baseball world.

Bowling contains some lesser known intricacies. Many bowlers believe that in order to continue a winning streak, they must wear the same clothing. They also think that by carrying any types of charms either around their necks, in their pockets, or on their bowling bags will deliver good luck to them.

Rodeo cowboys have an extensive list of superstitions. Rodeo cowboys never wear yellow during an event, fearing that it will deliver bad luck. They eat hot dogs before an event in hopes of bringing them good luck, but they refrain from eating popcorn or peanuts during an event in dread of having the opposite effect. They don’t kick any paper cups tossed to the ground at rodeos or read their horror scopes on the day of their competitions. Rodeo cowboys also do not compete with any assortment of change in their pockets because the superstition states that the change amount in their pockets will be all that the cowboy would win for that night. Other superstitions of the rodeo cowboy include: always shaving before any event, never putting a hat on a bed in fear of severe injury or death, and putting in their right foot in the stirrup before the left foot. Cowgirls even have their own superstition separate from the men. They wear different colored socks on each of their feet in hopes of attracting good luck.

Like rodeo cowboys, tennis players also try to avoid wearing the color yellow at any of their matches. Tennis players also tend to walk around the outside of the court when switching sides for good luck while avoid stepping on the court lines to dodge any bad luck.

Not only did I discover fishing superstitions, I also uncovered some deep-rooted superstitions as well. Fishing superstitions rival the quantity that exists in baseball. It was a horrible act to wish any departing fisherman “good luck” back in 19th Century England. Apparently, the deed was considered so ill-fated that fist fights would happen. One set of superstitions that allegedly caused bad luck included: if someone drove a nail into their boat for repairs at anytime on a Sunday, if a crew possessed a looking glass that was cracked and unusable, or if hatches had been dropped at any point before leaving the port. If any of these actions manifested, it was guaranteed to bring either physical injury, no fish for the day, or both.

In Western Europe, swine was banned on the boat at all times. In fact, if anyone even said the word “pig”, they would be thrown overboard. A woman was also considered bad luck at that time. Continuing on this myth in Ireland, a red-haired woman that happened to cross in front of a fisherman’s path was considered awful luck as well.

In the Bahamas and United States, fishermen never bring a banana on any fishing trips. United States anglers free their first catch of the day for good luck. This is common on a lot of the professional tour and amateur tour circuits. Some other superstitions include: not fishing after hearing an owl hoot, refraining from swearing during a lightning storm, and spitting on baited hooks.

Surprisingly, I discovered how unaware I was of the many superstitions in other sports. I fish and bowl on a continuous basis, yet I was oblivious to some of the superstitions of those two sports. Baseball superstitions reign over all of the other sports included in my report for a couple of reasons. The first would be local and national televised coverage of baseball at both the major and minor league levels. The second factor would be that baseball is America’s favorite pastime and successful in attracting both televised and live event audiences. Its popularity generated from television rights surpasses any audiences interested in watching a combination of fishing, bowling, and rodeo televised events. Although, the notion of throwing someone overboard for saying “pig” or getting into a fist fight when someone wishes you well by saying “good luck” make the idea of touching a base before going to the dugout seem so…so normal.