Tag Archives: Sports

Luck Charms in Lacrosse

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Meadeville, Pennsylvania (Allegheny College)
Performance Date: April 2007
Primary Language: English

My informant plays soccer and lacrosse at Allegheny College. I asked her if she knew of any of good luck charms or if there were any superstitions involved with her teammates. She humorously told me that the most popular good luck charm with her teammates on both soccer and lacrosse is to have a pair of lucky underwear that they wear for games. Also, they usually follow a routine before every game, even down to what they eat.

The most interesting routine is with Lacrosse goalies. My informant explained that, because they there is not much movement involved with their position, every move counts, so they take their routines and good luck charms very seriously. My informant had a friend that one day had two hot dogs before a game that she had played particularly well. She kept this routine up for a straight seven games, (until the team lost), just in case it might affect her game and give the team good luck.

My informant said that goalies in sports are particularly superstitious, though she thought it was more because she felt they were slightly crazy, because there are things in the game that cause the team to lose and have nothing to do with the goalie.

I found that players are more particular about clothing that they wear during the game, like ‘lucky underwear’ or as my informant told me, their spikes, or athletic gear that they wear or use. This is centered around the movement of the game, which to them is what affects their performance.

When I asked my informant if she had noticed any similarities from high school to college sports she said lucky charms in the form of sportswear were common, but that she really felt that lucky routines were more centered around the coaching staff and atmosphere surrounding the team.

 

USC “Fight On” Gesture

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, California
Performance Date: April 2007
Primary Language: English

Sports fans at the University of Southern California take their traditions very seriously, even right down to the Homecoming Game tailgate on campus. There are certain things that the football fans of the Trojans, (USC’s team name), do before, during, and after the home games.

USC has become a very big partying school in the sense that the day of home games are the only time that you can have open containers of alcohol on campus. It has become such a tradition to party before the game that the school has recognized this and allows tailgating on campus.

My informant told me about the rituals involved in attending the games. First, everyone walks over to Exposition Park, which is near the Coliseum where the team plays. On the way there, everyone kicks one of the light posts that are on the very edge of campus before crossing Exposition Blvd. As a matter of fact, my informant told me that if someone does not do this, other fans to kick the light posts sometimes turn them back. This is just a superstition to ensure that the team wins. My informant did not know when this tradition was started, just that it has become so widespread that all students, fans, and alumni perform the ritual.

Another tradition is to make the fight on sign with your right hand. It looks like you’re giving a peace sign, but it is actually a symbol of the team’s slogan, “Fight On,” and is often shaken to the beat of the fight song that the band always plays at the games.

When the game is over, everyone walks back across Exposition Blvd. and once again kicks the light posts for good luck for the next game or the next season.

Traditional dress is the school colors, Cardinal and Gold, and sometimes traditional food is labeled as ‘death dogs,’ the hot dogs that local vendors sell right before and after the game all along Exposition Park.

Take Care of the Field, and the Field Will Take Care of You.

Nationality: American
Occupation: Baseball Coach
Residence: Woodland Hills, CA
Performance Date: April 2007
Primary Language: English

My informant was my baseball coach  last year, and he used this saying at a time when our team, who was usually very good, wasn’t doing so well. We were uncharacteristically making a lot of errors, and we just couldn’t seem to get the ball to bounce our way when we were hitting. One day after practice my coach noticed that the field and batting cages had not been worked on or cleaned. He brought us all together and annoyed he said, “How about we  get our jobs done and take care of this place. Take care of your field and the field will take care of you. Let’s get some good karma going and turn this thing around.”

This is a saying that my informant likely made up himself. That was the first time I had heard the saying, however, I have recently heard several versions of it, namely, “Be good to the field and the field will be good to you.” While I don’t believe in things like karma, I can see the logic in the statement he made. By taking care of the field, dragging and watering the dirt, making sure there it is smooth and there are no holes or big rocks in it will greatly decrease the chances of a ball hitting a rock or a hole and taking a bad hop, which in turn causes errors. So it’s simple: Take care of the field, and the field will take care of you.

Baseball Superstition

Nationality: American
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 2007
Primary Language: English

My informant gave me an example of a superstition about the foul lines in baseball. He told me that before a
baseball game it is bad luck to step on the foul lines before the game starts. He first learned of the superstition when he
was in little league, and a teammate of his told him not to step on the foul lines. My informant had no idea why it was bad luck, and his teammate was no help because he didn’t know either.
You see, on a baseball field the lines are either painted, or made with chalk. Usually this is done well before the
start of the game. A team will usually start getting ready for a game about three hours prior to the game. They will play
catch down the foul lines in the outfield, (But at no time during the catch play will anyone step on the line), take ground
balls and batting practice. After all this, the field is re-prepared for the game; the dirt is raked and smoothed over, and
new bases are put in, all the while the foul lines stay straight and neat. My guess is that the field of play is very important to a ballplayer, not every field is the same, there can be bad hops in the infield and bad bounces of the walls in the outfield, so to respect it by keeping it in good shape could only be good for a ballplayer, therefore any mistreatment to it would warrant “bad luck”.

Baseball Superstition

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 2007

My informant is a pitcher on the baseball team, and he told me that the first game that he started this season he had gotten  a brand new pair of baseball socks from the manager, because the ones he had been wearing had too many holes in them. That night he had a really good game and won. From then on, he says that he has been wearing a new pair of socks every time he has gone out to pitch.

It wasn’t anything he planned on doing, and nobody suggested that he do it. Neither him nor I had ever heard of another instance of a person who did the same thing. There have been instances in sports where players will, for good luck, do things like where the same socks or other articles of clothing, or use the same equipment (like a bat or shoes), while their performance is good. My guess is that he subconsciously feels that by wearing new  socks every time he pitches he is somehow starting fresh, free from the memory of the successes, and failures, of the past.