SAMI

SUPERSTITIONS & RITUALS

Professional Athletes Have Them, I Have Them, Do You?

My favorite colors to wear to the casino are green, black and red (in that order). They make me feel lucky. If I can, I gamble every Friday the 13th. And, I have a beautiful silver charm in the shape of a heart with matching earrings given to me by my husband that I wear for good luck.

If you have your own superstitions and rituals associated with your casino visits, rest assured us gamblers aren’t the only ones. Some of our favorite athletes don’t feel lucky before a big competition unless they’ve performed certain rituals. Here are just a few of the many, many superstitions and rituals in sports.

NBA’s Michael Jordan and Jason Terry

Early in his career, Bulls great Michael Jordan wore his North Carolina college basketball shorts believing they brought him luck. In order to keep the shorts underneath hidden from view, he began to wear longer shorts. Who can argue with “Air” Jordan’s perception of luck?

While playing at Arizona, The Celtics guard Jason Terry and his teammate made a habit of sleeping in their uniform shorts the night before a game. When he made it to the NBA, Terry adjusted his routine slightly and started wearing the shorts of his opponent the night before a game.

Tennis’ Serena Williams and Bjorn Borg

Serena Williams, the powerhouse tennis player, world record holder, mom and wife who is undoubtedly one of the greatest athletes of all time, is also very superstitious. Williams would bring her shower sandals to the court, tie her shoelaces in a certain way, bounce the ball five times before every first serve and twice before every second serve and wear the same socks during an entire tournament! And, she has been known to blame losses on not following her own rituals closely enough.

Bjorn Borg prepared for Wimbledon every year by not shaving and wearing the same shirt every single year. His rituals have been copied by many other athletes and even by entire teams. Some believe he was an influence on the start of the playoff beard in hockey and other sports. However, I believe that the playoff beard isn’t even a superstition at all but rather an excuse for men to stop shaving for an extended period of time. That’s right, I’m on to you boys!

MLB’s Wade Boggs and Turk Wendell

Wade Boggs had to eat chicken before every game. That’s a lot of chicken dinners! Legend has it that during his rookie season, Boggs recognized some kind of correlation between his chicken meals with multiple hits. So, his wife learned dozens of different chicken recipes to serve him.

Pitchers are a strange breed and Turk Wendell had no shortage of superstitions and quirky rituals. His most recognizable identifier was the necklace he wore, which was made from the teeth and various other body parts of animals he’d hunted. Wendell also had to chew four pieces of licorice while pitching, leap over the baseline, brush his teeth between innings, throw the resin bag down as hard as possible, and draw crosses in the dirt while up on the mound.

NASCAR

Most drivers and their racing teams have a strong aversion to the shells of peanuts and $50 bills, believing them both to be unlucky. An old superstition that dates back to the racing era before World War II, peanuts in the shell are almost never sold at or around a NASCAR event because peanut shells were always found in the smoldering remnants of a badly wrecked car. While the legend says that two $50 bills were found in the shirt pocket of champion racer Joe Weatherby after he was killed in a crash in 1964, no one knows if the tale is rooted in truth. Regardless, $50 bills are non grata in NASCAR.

Do you have any superstitions or rituals before, during or after your casino visits? I’d love to hear about them! Write me at Sami@azgamingguide.com and let me know about your good luck charms. $