Sports and superstitions

By: Cristina Hauerstein

There's a lot of discussion in sports whether superstitions work or not. Some people go all out - especially during the playoffs - and some just go with what they feel like doing that day. We created a poll on instagram (@chirping.chicks) and we got a bunch of different responses, some from watchers and then some from actual players.

From players,we have two people saying that they need to put on their gear a certain way and another says they have a specific stretching routine before getting dressed.

For those who watch the sport, we've gotten many responses. Some have kept the same phone wallpaper since the 2020 playoffs or wear the same t-shirt for every game they get to go to. A classic that we've gotten is people wearing their favorite jersey to a game or listening to "hammer time" (not more than once) before the game starts.

Other superstitons that we've gotten were wearing mismatch socks on game days, wearing a specific outfit or piece of clothing during the playoffs aside from the jersey and not thinking about the game in general before and during it - it leads to assumptions that always backfire. Some people also have noticed that when it thunderstorms in Tampa Bay, the Bolts usually win (there must be something in that lightning...).

And for some home games, viewers have said that they usually sit in the same spot in their house, watch the game at the same volume and not eat during the game.

Now, many of those superstitions usually start off as a coincidence but what are the chances them working (almost) every time? Probably pretty low but maybe having no superstitions and not believing in them works too.