The Rundown: 5 Bizarre Superstitions in Sports
You can’t talk sports without talking about superstitions. Athletes are some of the most superstitious people around…changing their driving route to the stadium if they had a bad game or growing out facial hair for the playoffs. Therefore, we bring you five of the more unique superstitions we’ve heard of, purely for your enjoyment.
Things are going to get weird,
The Last Night’s Game Team
FIVE BIZARRE SUPERSTITIONS IN SPORTS
Head coach of the University of Alabama Crimson Tide football team, Nick Saban, fuels his fire with a Little Debbie Oatmeal Crème Pie before each game.
Basketball great Michael Jordan wore the North Carolina Tar Heels shorts that he had on when he won the college basketball national championship underneath his Chicago Bulls (NBA - National Basketball Association) uniform.
Hockey’s Sidney Crosby has so many ‘traditions’ that we can’t list them all. Some include wearing the same jock strap for years and not calling/seeing his mom or his sister on game day. He swears every time he does, he gets injured.
The golden thong was worn by former MLB (Major League Baseball) player Jason Giambi to help him break out of hitting slumps. Rumor has it that said tiny undergarment was left in the lockers of his teammates and they all began to hit well. (We warned you it would get weird).
The curse of the cover of the Madden video game is a well-known folk tale. Many of the NFL (National Football League) players featured were ‘cursed’ with a horrible season or a season ending injury after appearing on the front of the video game. Quarterback Tom Brady is on the cover of this year’s game. Hopefully his irrational fear won’t get the best of him otherwise they’ll be holding a séance at Gillette Stadium.
OVERTIME
Oklahoma City Thunder’s Russell Westbrook (NBA) won the regular season MVP on Monday night. In his acceptance speech we saw an emotional side of Westbrook. To top off the night, he also won the inaugural Best Style Award. Here’s how you can dress like Westbrook.
SIDELINE STAT
It was a good week for University of Florida Gators alumni. NFL player turned baseball player, Tim Tebow received a promotion in the New York Mets minor leagues (MLB) and sports reporter Erin Andrews walked down the aisle. Not to be outdone, the Gators’ baseball team won their first ever national championship, defeating LSU (Louisiana State University) last night.
COACHES’ CORNER
Since it’s baseball season, here are two universal superstitions you should know about in the game.
Ball players do not step on the foul lines (the white lines that run down the first and third baseline) when entering/exiting the field for fear of bad luck.
Never discuss a no-hitter or perfect game while it’s in progress. (A no-hitter means no offensive player gets a hit and a perfect game means no offensive player gets on base). Don’t be like Martha Stewart whose tweet allegedly jinxed a New York Yankees perfect game earlier in the season.
The Rundown: Get To The Point
We love a short week. Here’s what you’ll need to keep the conversation going this first weekend in June.
School’s out for summer,
The Last Night’s Game Team
MLB (Major League Baseball)
Worth the wait. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim’s Albert Pujols is on the edge of greatness. Going into the weekend he has 599 home runs. Will he join the exclusive 600 home run club this weekend? He would be only the ninth player to accomplish this feat in baseball history.
NHL (National Hockey League)
Bring the heat. On Saturday night, the eyes of the nation will be on the Nashville Predators as they head to Nashville for game three in the Stanley Cup Finals. The underdog Predators are down 2-0 against the defending champions, the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Overshadowed. The Predators have had a plethora of country music superstars sing the national anthem during the playoffs. (In case you missed it, Carrie Underwood’s husband plays for the Predators). Unfortunately, not everyone is excited about the star power. Dennis Morgan, the regular season anthem singer, is not thrilled about being upstaged. His disappointment will continue because rumor has it Martina McBride is slated to sing on Saturday.
Overtime
The road to the College Baseball World Series has begun for the 64 teams in the tournament, but #2 ranked North Carolina Tar Heels have a secret weapon. Remington, an adorable, morale-boosting 2-year-old golden retriever who can fist bump, has been a fixture in their dugout all season.
Sideline stat
The best matchup in last night's game one of the NBA Finals (National Basketball Association) was between Rihanna and Golden State Warriors’ Kevin Durant. After bowing to Cleveland Cavaliers' LeBron James, she proceeded to heckle the Warriors from her courtside seats, prompting a game full of stare downs between the two.
Durant and his Warriors proceeded to "Shut Up and Drive" and beat the Cavs by 22 points.
Coaches’ corner
We’re in the thick of the French Open and instead of talking about the usual suspects like Rafael Nadal or Venus Williams, everyone is talking about Maxime Hamou. Hamou was expelled from the tournament after forcibly kissing a reporter when she was interviewing him live. It was as awkward as you'd expect.