Stumblin' Along 2/23 '25
Supersitition
Superstition
- Top 15 Superstitions in Sports
- YouTube Rabbtihole
Alright @YouTheReader,
Today’s tune is Stevie Wonder’s Superstition. The 1972 hit record landed #1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 while routing around Europe as a consensus Top 25 hit.
Superstition about the pitfalls of being superstitious. Everyone knows it’s bad luck to walk under a ladder. Generally, in the Western World, 13 is considered an unlucky number, sorta like Friday the 13th. Breaking the looking glass is another way to say shattering a mirror, which apparently equates to 7 years of bad luck. Like most cool things in history, the Romans claim that a mirror reflected one’s soul, and the body renewed itself every 7 years.
(Source: Sawyer Glass Co)
Stevie Wonder originally wrote this song as a solid for Jeff Beck, an English guitarist who was helping Wonder with his Talking Book album. However, after coming up with the riff and lyrics, Wonder gave Beck little time to record the song, instead releasing it as his own smash #1 hit. Beck was pissed but later made a guitar instrumental version of Stevie Wonder's songs which eventually made up for it. Doesn’t seem like Stevie Wonder believes in bad luck.
(Source: SongFacts)
Stevie Wonder and his band famously performed Superstition on the Sesame Street in 1973. It was the show’s 4th season and was recorded live at their New York studios. Wonder & Co. were already locked in from touring, so they gave one helluva performance, which eventually set the bar for other acts to follow on the show for kids.
A classic funk tune everybody knows!
On to a bit about….
15. Serena Williams’ Socks
Serena Williams famously would wear the same pair of socks throughout tennis tournaments. She wouldn’t wash the match-worn socks until she lost a match. Considered the greatest female tennis player of all time, Williams won a combined 96 tournaments (73 singles, 23 doubles), which means plenty of dirty socks. However, socks weren’t the only thing Serena was superstitious about; she also would use the same shower that she started the tournament, tie her laces in the same way, and bounce the ball 5 times before her first serve. After losing the French Open in ‘07, Serena Williams joked, “I’m not losing because I didn’t play well, I lost because I didn’t tie my shoe the right way, and it’s totally ridiculous because I have to use the same shower, I have to use the same sandals, I have to travel with the same bags.”
(Source: Medical Independent)
14. Jason Giambi’s Gold Thong
Back in mid-May of 2008, Jason Giambi was in the midst of a slump and was batting .193 with just 7 homers. The Yankees were set to play the Mets in a Subway Series when the Yankee 1B/DH admitted to reporters he often wears a gold thong when trying to snap a cold streak. David Cone, who was broadcasting the Subway Series matchup, said, “I was blown away. You've got to be pretty confident in yourself to let that one out." Giambi homered in his first game after the comments, which gave way for Yankees SP Mike Mussina to leave a sign, “Pitchers need thongs too.” From mid-May onwards, Giambi batted .266 with 25 dingers for the rest of what would be his last season in Pinstripes.
(Source: ESPN)
13. Pedro Cerrano’s Locker
Pedro Cerrano’s voodoo doll named Jobu needed to be on the list. The Major League character was loosely based on the Alou Brothers (Matty, Jesus, and Felipe), who had their own locker room rituals. The Alou Brothers kept most of their superstitions close to the vest, but Felipe had a son, Moises, who had one of his own. Moises Alou famously never wore batting gloves. Thus, he needed tough hands. To harden his hands and prevent calluses, Moises Alou would urinate on his hands. This nasty method seemed to work as Alou was a 17-year MLB veteran and lifetime .303 hitter with 332 homers. Maybe don’t knock it, ‘til you try it.
(Source: ESPN’s Heard Around the Batting Cage)
12. George Kittle’s Dad Letter
So the Alou thing was pretty gross, here is a more wholesome tradition. San Francisco 49ers TE George Kittle reads a letter from his father before every football game. The pre-game read started back in 2012 when his dad, Bruce Kittle, was an assistant at the University of Oklahoma, and George was away at college playing for Iowa. Bruce Kittle told NBC Sports Bay Area, “It just began as a way of -- you know, because he would barely return my phone calls. Just kind of talking the maturation process of both the young man educationally and football-wise because it was a huge process.” The tradition stuck in the pros too, “Don't tell Kyle Shanahan, but they send me a link every day, so I have the game film…'Thank you, dad,' he always says, but I don't know if he's going, 'Oh my God, I can't believe he's telling me all this stuff.' So it's a little bit of that, and it's mostly just reminding him to stay grounded."
(Source: NBC Bay Area)
11. Patrick Roy’s Posts
Patrick Roy, the current head coach of the New York Islanders, was an elite goalie in his playing days. In fact, Saint Patrick, as he was nicknamed, is considered to be the very best goaltender in NHL History. Roy was helped by his superstition of talking to his goalposts. It began in the 1986 Stanley Cup Playoffs when Roy told reports, “The goalposts helped me and I played a good game. In OT a guy took a slapshot and hit the post but we won.” When reporters further questioned Roy about his conversation with the goalposts, he told them it went like, “Come on guys help me out. Before the game I give them direction. The goalposts are always with me. They talk back to me. Some nights they say ‘bing’. But some nights they have a bad night, too.”
(Source: The Hockey Writers)
10. Glenn Hall’s Puke
As fun as Patrick Roy’s superstition was, Glenn Hall’s was a bit more disturbing. Hall, otherwise known as “Mr. Goalie,” would force himself to vomit before each game. His reasoning behind throwing up, “I got the feeling I wasn’t giving everything I had if I didn’t go through it. I also felt I played better. I felt if I wasn’t wired, I wasn’t playing well. I’d get up in the morning and I couldn’t wait for game time.” The 18-year NHL veteran played in the pros from 1954 to 1971 and is accredited for being the first goalie to develop an effective butterfly style of goalkeeping.
(Source: The Hockey Writers)
9. Kolo Touré Last Player on the Pitch
Kolo Touré had his own personal Fútbol superstition. He had to be the last player to come onto the pitch of the starting 22. Touré once received a yellow card because of his bit. Back in ‘09, while playing for Arsenal, Touré was late for the start of the 2nd half of a match because he waited in the locker room alongside his teammate, William Gallas, to receive treatment. When the two midfielders finally made their way back to the field, Touré failed to ask the referee for permission to come on the pitch, resulting in a card.
(Source: The Guardian)
8. Michael Jordan’s Tar Heel Shorts
Michael Jordan always wore his North Carolina Tar Heels shorts underneath his NBA gear with the Bulls and Wizards. When asked about his college days, the GOAT said, “The University of North Carolina really gave me the foundation that it took to become a basketball player. Up to then, I hadn't been spoiled by the media spotlight. I was still raw. As a result, I had an appetite to prove to everybody that I was a decent basketball player or a good enough basketball player to be at North Carolina. That was by far the purest experience for me and the most satisfying.” Jordan brought his college shorts to the NBA because he believed they gave him luck ever since he hit the 1982 game-winner in the NCAA Championship. Since #23 doubled up in shorts, he needed the Bulls’ shorts to be a bit longer than their standard length. This superstition gave way to players wearing baggier or longer shorts as a trend because they wanted to be like Mike.
(Source: This Space Jam Clip Below)
7. Babe Ruth Hot Dogs + Beer
In the words of Chris Maddog Russo, Babe Ruth “Started his day with a Bourbon and Ginger Ale. For breakfast he had a dozen eggs, a pound of bacon, and a loaf of bread. His pregame meal for lunch every day was six hot dogs, remember in those days games were played at 3 PM. For a postgame meal, Babe would have a big dinner at say 7 or 8 PM, followed by a supper of sandwiches. All of it is washed down with countless gallons of beer, soda pop, and pitchers of iced tea.” Heroes get remembered, legends never die.
(Source: Funhouse @BackAftaThis)
6. Roger Clemens Rubbing Ruth
During his 6 years as New York Yankee, Roger Clemens as a pregame routine would rub Babe Ruth’s plaque out in Monument Park before heading to the mound. Not as badass as Babe Ruth’s diet, but I remember this being a cool thing The Rocket did in the early 2000s.
(Source: 1999 Game 4 World Series)
5. Nomar’s OCD Batting Routine
Speaking of late 90s and early 2000s baseball, Nomar Garciaparra comes to mind as the player with the most over the top batting routine. Nomah would adjust his batting glove, then readjust his batting glove, then make a readjustment to the adjustment of his batting glove, and that was before he’d start toe-tapping. With the pitching clock in today’s MLB, Nomah’s routine would’ve cost him quite a few strikes. This is also the perfect time to mention that Nomah couldn’t hold Jeets’ gold thong jockstrap.
(Source: Nomar Batting Stance)
4. Tiger Woods’ Red Shirt on Sundays
Tiger Woods’ Red Shirt on Sundays is as great of a superstition you’ll find. The 15-time Major Champion, once told reporters, “I’ve worn red ever since my college days basically, or junior golf days — big events on the last day,. I just stuck with it out of superstition, and it worked. I just happened to choose a school (Stanford) that actually was red, and we wore red on our final day of events. So it worked out. I wear red on Sundays because my mom thinks that is my power color. You know, you should always listen to your mom. She thought being a Capricorn that my power color was red, so I wore red as a junior golfer and I won some tournaments.”
(Source: Bunkered)
3. Jason Terry Bedtime Shorts
Jason “The Jet” Terry had some obscure superstitions in his NBA career. The night before games, the 19-year veteran would wear a pair of shorts with his opponents’ team logo on them to bed. In an interview with The New York Times, Terry admitted he was “different due” and “My daughters say I’m a weirdo.” Aside from the opponent PJs, Terry refused to ever step on to a court without rocking a headband and high socks. In games in which he missed consecutive shots in the 1st Quarter, he would also change his sneakers for the start of the 2nd Quarter. Terry admitted that the opponents shorts first started in college as a joke and he committed to the bit in the pros.
(Source: NY Times)
2. Wade Boggs Rituals
Wade Boggs had a bunch of oddball routines. His pre-game included taking 150 groundballs. He has an affinity for the number 17. During night games, Boggs would take batting practice every evening at 5:17 PM and run sprints at 7:17 PM. Before each of Boggs at-bats, he would draw the word “Chai” (Hebrew for “good luck and life”) in the batters box, and he’s not even Jewish. He also famously was a big-time partier on cross country flights. Legend has it that Wade Boggs once had 64 beers on a single road trip flight. Perhaps Wade Boggs most famous ritual was chicken as a pre-game meal. Starting in 1983, Boggs began eating chicken and that same year he won his first batting title. He continued his ritual up until his retirement in 1999. Boggs’ pre-game chicken dishes became so well-known, he even made his own Fowl Tips Chicken Recipes book.
(Source: Sports Collector Digest + SI Vault)
1. Jason Kidd’s Kiss
