Superstitions…Not Just a Sports Fan’s Hollow Ritual!

Superstitions. We all have them as sports fans, and we all follow them to a tee.

And they work. I swear to you, they do.

My wife, for example, will wear the same jersey, same jeans, same hooded sweater, same t-shirt, and even the same socks after a win for her beloved team from Newark. Sometimes she will not even wash them. Think of the implications of that after a long winning streak. That can be unpleasant.

I, too, have had my own superstitions this year with the Rangers. Ranging from normal (at least from a sports fan's perspective), to bizarre, to downright outrageous. And Monday night was when it reached that point for me.

For a long time, wearing Rangers gear has not normally been a good idea for me on game days. It would seem whenever I would wear a Rangers t-shirt, or a sweat shirt, or anything bearing the emblem of the Boys in Blue, they would lose. So at one point this season, I just stopped wearing Rangers gear on games days. I would not even sleep in a t-shirt with a Rangers logo the night before, if I knew they had a game the next day. However, it reached a point in February of this year, when NOTHING I was doing was working for me.

So one Sunday afternoon, after a particularly disheartening defeat the night before (in which I did not wear a single thing Rangers related), and another game to follow that night, I angrily proclaimed to my wife that I did not care anymore. And that I was going to wear my Rangers t-shirts, sweat shirts, sweat pants, whenever I felt like it, and if they won, great. If they lost, whatever. It had nothing to do with me, or any of my silly superstitions, which was what they were to me at that moment. So that night I watched the Rangers, wearing my Original Six t-shirt, which bore the logos of the 6 classic teams from that era, including a very tiny Rangers logo. And wonder of wonders, they won.

However, feeling that victory was the only one I could get out of that shirt, I quickly discarded it, and switched to a different one the next game. This time with a full blown Rangers logo on it. And they won again. I wore that same shirt a few nights later, just to test it, and they lost. I switched to another one the next game, and they won.

I proceeded to spend the next few weeks going through my ENTIRE Rangers wardrobe, never wearing the same thing twice. Wearing whatever felt natural to me at that moment. Such as my old school Rangers sweater one night when I was at my best friend's house watching the game, to my 80's style Rangers jersey a few nights later when I was at the Garden, both of which I do not wear very often. I was now fully locked into my routine, and the Blueshirts kept on winning. I was so sure of this formula for success, I wouldn't even tell my wife what I was doing.

And then I made the mistake of telling her one night, and they lost. And you better believe I blamed her for that loss. It was all her fault. I swear to you it was.

After that, I tried going back to the beginning of the wardrobe cycle again, but with mixed results. Some wins, some losses. And then my biggest fears became reality, as my wardrobe suddenly betrayed me again. They started losing whenever I would wear an item with a Rangers logo on it, going back to my original theory that wearing Blueshirt gear on game days was indeed, bad luck.

Don't believe me? I did not wear anything Rangers related when they played the Flyers this past Sunday afternoon, and they won. I started off Monday's game against the Bruins wearing that same Original Six t-shirt that started the 7 game point streak, and they were losing 3-0, for almost the entire game. So, with under 4 minutes to go, and the Rangers still trailing 3-2, I angrily removed the shirt, flung it across the living room, and sat there on the couch in just my boxer shorts. I did that half thinking it might help, half not even caring what the results were.

And then, Dubinsky scored, and tied the game.

I jumped up off the couch, screaming at the top of my lungs, and in mid-celebration, grabbed that evil Original Six t-shirt off the floor, ran into the bedroom, and SLAMMED it into the hamper, all to the complete befuddlement of my wife, sitting on the bed, switching back and forth between the game and another program, and watching me...with utter amazement.

But whatever..running back into the living room, I then proceeded to remove my boxers, and throw them down the stairs. I watched the rest of the game in my underwear. No lie.

Until of course, 51 seconds later, when Michale Sauer scored to put the Rangers ahead with less then 3 minute to go in the game. And then complete BEDLAM occurred in my household. And my poor wife was witness to it ALL!

See my point here folks?

Superstitions work. No matter how strange, how odd, or how jaw dropping to another person they may seem. THEY WORK. So, whatever I feel is going to help the Rangers tonight, as they take on the Thrashers at the Garden, I will do. They need this win more than any tonight, with Carolina just 2 points behind them for the 8th, and final, playoff spot. A win tonight, and a Hurricane loss tomorrow against those same Thrashers, and the Boys in Blue are in the playoffs. A loss, and it all comes down to that final game at home, against the Devils. I do not want that. For my sake, for my wife's, and for my best friend, whom I will be watching the game with at his house at 12:30, Saturday afternoon. Do you really think he wants sit to there with me, while I watch the entire game in just my boxers?? No, he doesn't. Nor does his wife, but if that’s what it takes, then so be it. So, Tod and Amy…you’ve been warned!

Superstitions. We all have them. So, fellow Rangers fans… whatever rituals you have out there tonight…do ‘em. If you don’t, but have a gut feeling about doing something, but you’re a little trepidacious, don’t be. Sometimes the weirdest things can make a difference. Who in the world thought me throwing a t-shirt across the room Monday night, and watching the rest of the game in my boxers would work?

But it did…I swear to you, it did. And you can rest assured, whatever magic I have to weave tonight, whatever ritual I have to follow, whatever weird gut feeling, or sudden urge I get, I will do. Anything to assure victory for the New York Rangers tonight, and set up the possibility of a playoff clincher before Saturday’s final game.

Cause superstitions work.

I swear to you, they do.