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Superstitions in Sports:
New England Supremacy

With the New England Patriots going a perfect 16-0 this past Saturday night the pressure continues to build for them doing what no other team before them in the history of the NFL has done, become a perfect 19-0 in one season. Technically, the 1972 Dolphins still own the top billing in football land of them having a perfect season. Like any compelling story there should be an asterisk associated with this particular record as at that time the NFL regular season consisted of a mere 14 game schedule compared to the 16 which is played today. As a fan I am personally happy that the members of the '72 Dolphins can no longer uncork their champagne bottles when a possibly late undefeated team fails to earn the perfect season and exclusivity of the record is solely theirs. However, records are made to be broken to be bettered by a deserving opponent who has truly done the painstaking work to become the greatest. If the Pats do run the table and win the Vince Lombardi trophy this year what else does a future team do to better this standard? Does this unprecedented standard become so elite that it can no longer be succeeded but maybe equaled for future teams? Instead of looking at the overall team perspective the answer herein lies within individual statistics. The top stat to look at falls squarely on the shoulders of the teams top general, the quarterback. TDS/INTS, QB Rating, Overall pass Yards are all the ingredients to determine where in history this superb team falls on the list of the all time great teams. Would the Pats 16-0 be as sweet as it is if Tom Brady (50 TD's) did not surpass Peyton Manning (49) with the most TD's in a season? Does Randy Moss' 23 TD's equal Jerry Rice's (22) when Rice played a shortened season with only competing in 12 games? This is for sport buffs and talk shows to run ramped with this notion of supremacy.

All this talk about records and greatness carried over a long time can be magnified to unprecedented levels with every game can be possibly decided by a few plays that can alter the game and inevitably cause the outcome to be either chalked up in either a W or a L. Just think of the nightmares that Defensive Coordinator of the Baltimore Ravens, Rex Ryan had when he inadvertently called a timeout on a 4th down that played out to be seemingly defensive stuff by the Ravens during week 13. The play was whistled down after the fact and following the timeout Brady subsequently got the first down and later scored the game winning TD to Jabar Gaffney to seal their narrowly edged victory. It almost seems like the stars and the heavens aligned perfectly for Patriots and their fans alike when it seemed like nothing was going to deter this juggernaut team from ending the season without a single blemish. What gives to this higher power of influence and how can one try to harness its power to fall on the favorable side of doing well in order to ultimately win?

Superstitions in sports have been and will always remain prominent in how athletes treat or handle certain situations and believe the natural order of how they prepare for each game is somehow indicative to the outcome. As bizarre or as strange as it seems there are many stories of great hilarity that seem to permeate past the locker room onto the flowing pages of sports reporters. As it was mentioned by Chris Collingsworth on the NFL Network during the final game Pats vs. Giants that Mr. Brady for the first time documented his team's road trip on video camera to give a special insight to the potentially historical game. Hindsight of course is 20/20 but if the Pats did lose this game would Brady ever bring his camera to a game of such significance? Or would the loss be attributed to Brady and possibly a few of his teammates from not following their regular routines and schedules that they normally would adhere to? For Pet sake Tony Romo got criticized from his teammate, Terrell Owens that when he has his high profiled girlfriend, Jessica Simpson or Carrie Underwood (last year) in the stadium he seems to find his poorest performance for the occasion.

Unfortunately, I do not have an all exclusive pass to these locker rooms to experience and to report in full detail of these strange occurrences or behaviors that these professional athletes commit that can sway the sporting gods to be on their sides. However, I do have a very specific microcosm of pre-game rituals and superstitions that university football players on a particular team engaged in the 2005 season. This insight can no doubt be extrapolated to a certain degree to the professional ranks such as the New England Patriots as to the great lengths individuals go out of their way to set what is right before each game.

Pre-game Rituals & Superstitions

My subject is especially close to me as I have sought out information dealing with my teammates', the University of Alberta Golden Bears Football Team's pre-game rituals and superstitions. I collected this particular information using a questionnaire. The results of this project encompass all major categories (verbal, action, belief, and object). My goals are to analyze these pre-game activities and to see whether or not they actually have some bearing to the athletes mental fortitude, which influences the way they prepare on order to compete. Moreover, some pre-game activities have a deeper, personal reason. Perhaps certain elements of these acts have cultural implications. These personal, individualistic pre-game rituals and superstitions will be defined, described and analyzed.

Rituals and superstitions are two terms that can have a whole host of different connotations and can be tricky to define. A ritual is defined as a state or condition characterized by the presence of established procedure or routine. A superstition is an irrational belief that an object, action, or circumstance not logically related to a course of events influences the outcome. These definitions are the foundation to what is classified as a ritual and superstition. However, the goal of this paper is to explore University of Albertans football team conceptualizes and interprets these meanings.

After collecting seventy-five questionnaire sheets I began to dissect the responses by separating them into how many of my teammates responded 'yes' they perform a pre-game ritual/superstition, 'no' they do not perform a pre-game ritual/superstition, or that they do not something but believe it is not a ritual or superstition. The information was broken down accordingly. The majority of the Bears, more specifically forty-eight out of seventy-five coaches and players roughly 64% do believe that their pre-game actions can be described as some sort of ritual and superstitions. A much smaller percentage of the team, 17%, only thirteen members of the team, answered that they did not do anything. Correspondingly, this leaves the remaining fourteen people (18%) of the organization, which characterizes their activities as doing 'some sort of activity' - but not deemed a ritual or superstition. The important concept to remember is that they do not think that their actions coincide with being ritualistic or superstitious. The results of these broad generalizations are categorized into specific groupings and motifs based on the questionnaire.

While approximately two-thirds of the Bears Football team performs some sort of pre-game ritual or superstition, they carry out many diverse and various activities. I have grouped these results into six motifs. First, a cautionary note should be acknowledged in regards to these motifs. Some players mentioned that they do more than one specific thing, so I tried to separate their responses and focus on their primary pre-game activity later confirmed by doing a follow-up with the particular individual.

The first motif, the largest segment of the team does some sort of religious or spiritual activity. This portion accounts for thirteen people (27%) of the team. These thirteen individuals are all athletes, not one coach listed this reason as their response. This motif involves such things as saying a prayer, doing some sort of tribute to remember and dedicate their performance to a dead family member or a close friend, or attending a pre-game chapel before the game. The pre-game chapel is an informal session with the Bears team priest, Greg Idell, who attends all the home football games and most of our road games. It is within this setting that Idell gives a brief, insightful scripture and then asks the players to write down any specific concerns that they would want to pray for before the game.

The second motif is labeled as clothing. This group involves 10 athletes, who are very peculiar rationales involving the type of clothing they wear before the game. Some examples of these are: wearing a pair of brand new socks before every game, putting on their clothing and equipment in precise order-left sock first then the left leg through the pants first, or wearing the same ratty t-shirt that they have had for years, or in one particular case the first shirt he played his first football game in.

The third motif revolves around the pre-game meals consumed the night before. Only five people (4 players and 1 coach) mentioned this aspect as being important to them, as they have to eat the same specific thing at the Keg, or a big pasta meal. This helps start them off in the proper nutrition to be able to perform well on the field. (I feel that this category would have been larger if the team did not eat a buffet together four hours before the game).

The fourth motif is visualization, performed by five athletes. This includes running through the plays in their heads and thinking positively about the game.

The fifth motif is music, related to a total of four athletes, who have to listen to certain kinds of rock-n-roll or specific bands like Metallica. The purpose of this music is to pump them up and raise their adrenaline levels. The fourth and fifth motif should be dually noted as being interconnected with each other as they are usually done together.

Lastly, the sixth motif involves eleven athletes and is generalized into the heading: other. This includes touching some sort of Bear sign before entering onto the field, or sitting under the goal posts before the warm-ups. But what about the individuals who do not believe they have to prepare themselves in the exact same routine or engage in specific behavior pattern?

These individuals are comprised of the smallest portion of Bear football players and coaches, only thirteen in total (10 players, 3 coaches). However, an interesting side note is that out of the ten players, six of them were receivers. Such a cohesive uniformity makes me speculate that they believe their on field action is mostly a reactionary position. That no matter what pre-game activity they perform it will not benefit them in any way, unless the quarterback, Darryl Salmon gets them the ball. Unlike other players on the field they can create big plays by making a key hit or tackle during almost any part of the game. These players, usually the defense do not need to wait in the wings to contribute to the team. The reasoning for not believing in performing a specific pre-game activity according to offensive Coordinator, Terry Eisler states, 'do[es] not feel it has any affect on the outcome [to the game].' Another player who chose to be anonymous believes "...that superstitions have no effect on how I play. Superstitions cause you to over think unrelated aspects to the game." A valid justification, one that is similarly stated by the Bears best receiver, a two-time All-Canadian, and best all time statistical school leader for receptions and yards, Andrew Inherent sure...don't really believe any of that stuff makes a difference. I like routine but I wouldn't say that I am superstitious about it. A strong, clear message of these activities will not have any bearing towards the game. A sentiment that is vaguely expressed by other Alberta Bear football players, who believe that they do some sort or irrational routine but are not sure if they fell it is a ritual or superstition.

The third category consisting of fourteen people in the Bears organization believe that their pre-game activity is not a ritual or superstition but that they just simply do it. An explanation of this category, which is deducted from their responses, is a dubious task. For example, one particular response is that a player used to do something, like watch an inspirational excerpt from his favorite movie, Any Given Sunday before the game but no longer does it for some unknown reason. Another example is playing a game of poker in the dressing room before the game, but during road games there is no activity no one partakes in it. This infrequent activity can be attributed to this quasi ritual or superstition that is not always performed. For some reason pre-game poker is not seen as a pre-game ritual. Only one out of seventy-five people mentioned it. Surprising, since I have observed many of the same people continually playing this card game. This activity can be seen merely as something to do or to kill time for most athletes who have to be at the dressing room a minimum of 2 hours prior to kickoff. Also, for road games the athletes arrive by bus to the filed a half hour earlier and donut have time to divulge into playing poker. However, seven of fourteen people responded that they listen to some sort of music (2), visualize the game (3), and wear some specific article of clothing (2). Interestingly, these pre-game activities are very similar to the ones expressed by their ritualistic and superstitious counterparts as performing a pre-game activity. What can be inferred about this confusion of what is and what is not deemed a ritual and superstition.

This coincidence can be theorized in two ways. The first speculation can be that I did not explain the questionnaire accurately as to leave some sense of bewilderment to what is a ritual or a superstition. This was purposely done as I did not want to tell them what my interpretation of these meanings was to give any clear definition of what a ritual or superstition was. This is known in folklore studies as an etic perspective, a knowledgeable person who researches the reasons why the subject (pre-game activity) exists and why it is done. I wanted to rely on their response, an emic perspective, which they have a great deal of experiential knowledge of what they do but are not fussy with labeling them as such. The second possibility from what I can tell by their responses is that these actions merely coincide with their pre-game activities and are not cognizant of what they do, because to them they are not passionate about it. Likewise players who have explained their pre-game activity as superstitious are not fully glued to this action and only perform it when it is convenient for them.

This inference only comes to my attention as I have a unique position of being both an etic and an emic perspective on such superstitious activities, as I am both a folklore student and a university football player for the Bears. I observed that one player, Garrett Houle writes the letters of WTYM (Word to Your Mama) and ICTDB (Ovex Come to Drop Bombs) on his taped wrists. He explains, bit is just what I dodo when he his asked why he does this pre-game act. Also, when asked what he thought would happen if he did not perform this act he replied "I would be distracted [during the game] when I remembered." However, when I notice during one of our last games of the year I asked him why he did not have those letters written on his wrists. He responded by saying he only did it sometimes when there was a marker around him. I reminded him that the Bears equipment manager, Rick Thiessen always had or packed a marker like the one he mentioned. Houle eventually confessed that he only did this particular ritual when he was in the Canadian Junior Football League (CJFL) and no longer does it when he became a Bear. He felt compelled to write something down for my questionnaire. This rationale I suspect is not just exclusively limited to Houle and that other players felt obligated to write down something as well. Despite these methodological inconsistencies I have selected two individuals from the University Bears football team who display very clear rituals and superstitions before each and every game.

One player in particular who really caught my eye while performing his pre-game ritual or superstition is linebacker Neil Ternovatsky. Every game after he gets spatted (like taping your ankles but over top of your cleats) he marks two crosses on the backs of his heels. I was impressed by his actions and the obvious significance that this symbol implies. Though, after reading his response on the questionnaire I was less than impressed by his vague, non-specific answers. He cited it was for religious reasons and that "you should not mess with a good thing." He also wrote a simple response in regards to what this act means to him, a Reminder of my spiritual side. A nice idea, but lacks the deep roots that I was expecting it would convey to him. Out of 75% responses only one stood out as it expresses the elements that clearly correspond with features of a given culture and reflects its identity by being performed. My personal favorite response and subsequently the major inspiration for my project came from one of the Bears linebacker coaches, Jed Roberts, who played in the Canadian Football League (CFL) for the Edmonton Eskimos for thirteen years. He has a unique ritual and superstition which is closely tied to his cultural beliefs. He blesses the players, coaches and staff by lightly brushing each one of them with an eagle feather right before the game. He touches everyone just once on the shoulder, the chest, or the back. The location of which he touches the person seems like it is not specific nor a key concern. The major focal point is whoever he comes into contact with is touched. However, as I was following Roberts around trying to get some good pictures of this act I was touched possibly three or four times. Normally, it is just once.

The reason why he performs this particular act is that Obit is a Shamanistic ritual designed to give each individual courage, strength and valour in battle. A Shamanistic ritual is defined as a positive synergistic response via a Shaman is to Mediate between the ordinary world and the world of the spirits. It has great cultural ties to the Lakota Sioux who use mediation between the visible and spirit worlds by Shamans. Accordingly, Roberts strongly connects to his native ancestry, Lakota Sioux as this burly man further links himself to his ancient roots by putting down his long hair, which is always pinned back in a pony tail. In this Native American group it is believed that only the Shaman had the power to commune with the gods or spirits, to mediate between them and ordinary mortals, to talk with the souls on behalf of the living. The Shaman whether it was man or woman, was often extraordinary character, both in physical appearance and his acting talents. No doubt, a powerful image as Roberts has assumed to re-enact this special role for the modern day purpose of sport, a deviation from its past rationale.

A Shaman was originally a mystic, poet, sage, healer of the sick, a guardian of the tribe, and a repository of stories. Those who did not possess the full range of the shamanistic attributes became simply Medicine men, and functioned as respected healers. To become a shaman, a person had to Receive the call, to suffer a religious experience, and would then be initiated into the mysteriousness of the art. This was caused by the symbolic death and resurrection process, which acquired a new mode of being; a physical and mental frame underwent a complete transformation. During this period of initiation, the novice would see the spirits of the universe and leave his body like a spirit, soaring through the heavens and underworld. There the person would be introduced to the different spirits and taught which to address in future trances. According to Mircea Elides book Shamanism, during the initiation, spirits would take the Shamans old bones and replace them with new ones. It was thought that sickness was attributed by an evil spirit occupying the victims body; the Shaman would call it out in order to affect a cure. He would do so by a special ritual, beating a rhythm on his drum, swaying and chanting steadily increasing the sound and interspersing it with long drawn out sighs, groans, and hysterical laughter . While this process is a very unique feature of the Lakota Sioux only a simplistic version of this traditional element is experienced in the dressing room.

I believe Roberts bends this traditional ideology of being reincarnated holistic healer to cure evil spirits from entering our bodies. For example, I do not believe the feather is from an eagle and might be from some other bird, but this small technicality or variant of this procedure does not really matter. The primary concern is that by evoking this profound cultural history onto the players it creates a sense of importance and pride, which in turn causes team harmony and a unified bond. The secondary reason for this ritual is mostly personal as the eagle is sacred to Roberts and his people. "The symbolism behind the act is powerful," Roberts added but it is really only known to him. This act was not fully realized to its actual meaning throughout the team. However, my teammates and I simply liked to be brushed by the feather for reasons that were unbeknownst to us. The meaning is loud and clear, and Roberts explains this pre-game act has a rich, intrinsic meaning to him, "I act as a conduit between the Power of the Eagle/Nature and the individuals who are duly blessed. It is an honor for me to perform this sacred duty ." Certainly, I know a lot of players knew it had a deeper purpose and respected Roberts actions as he treated the process with a great deal of sincerity, and passion. It is this within this sharing of these rituals and superstitions that can affect a community by perpetrating these seemingly silly procedures.

Superstitions are obviously not just privy to amateur athletes; in fact it is the fundamental fabric that cohesively binds the sporting world into one. Higher profile sports are more thoroughly analyzed by the media and the players quirks are made public knowledge for the community to better understand the athlete more fully. As the expose in the Edmonton Sun titled, Superstition! Professional athletes are probably even more entrenched in superstitious behavior As the importance of the game gets greater there seems to be more of a need to keep things the same. The Edmonton Oilers, who were recently on a four game unbeaten streak, as their unsung goaltender, Mike Morrison was the major focal point behind these wins. An interview with Head Coach, Craig MacTavish joked about not getting to know his young goalie that well because he wanted to avoid him and give him space so he would not lose his momentum. Another example of a high profiled sport affecting a certain community, women were outraged by Major League Baseballs (MLB) Jose Canseco who enlightened them how some baseball players superstitions led to the degradation of women. Conseco explained that it is common practice for power hitters while in the midst of a huge batting slump would have a one night stand with the ugliest girl in the bar to break their measly performances- these women are known as Columbus.

The interesting dilemma about all these specific rituals or superstitious activities is that they are constantly being changed when the athlete or the team has not been playing well. Yet, these rituals are given more exposure and gain more significance as the team is on a long winning streak, especially during the playoffs. A fan in Detroit will throw an octopus on the ice during the first playoff series for the Red Wings. The octopus is an old tradition and has garnered a great deal of prestige in the motor city as each leg represents the number of home games, eight which the team must win in order to win the Stanley Cup. The most infamous superstition in all of sports was linked to the 1920 trade of Babe Ruth from Boston to New York, known as "The Curse of the Bambino." The Yankees won an unprecedented 26 World Series Championships since that time; meanwhile (until their 2004 and now 2007 win) the Red Sox had not collected a single title win since 1918, which included the Babe. In 2004, the city of Boston decided to rid them of this curse by bulldozing Babe Truths former Boston house prior to the playoffs. The point is that many people often ban together in their communities and are greatly impacted by these irrational beliefs, objects, or actions whether or not the players or the team believes in them.

The most important thing that I have learned is that the line between rituals and superstitions is a fuzzy one and often gets confused with the mundane routines and habits. For instance, this was the scenario for many University of Alberta football players. For some athletes, amateurs and professionals alike they feel their pre-game activities Have to be completed, because it brings a sense of peace and familiarity, or as Jed Roberts stated it culturally defines who he is and conversely other athletes do not believe in following any rules or superstitions. This subject is a finicky one with lots of variants and compromises on their original pre-game as Edmonton Eskimo, Signor Mobley can attest to. He had to change his superstition for the Grey Cup, instead of washing his car the night before he washed a toy car in the sink while he was in Vancouver.

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