which has led me to develop some interesting and sometimes dangerous superstitions.
For instance during the Texas Longhorns latest run through the men’s bball tournament I haven’t urinated. I realized through the first game that I held it the whole game so now I think if I pee they will lose. This can get very uncomfortable, especially now that they throw in all those extra commercial breaks. I’ve held strong so far and hopefully I’ve got two more games in me.
During football season I for some reason developed a fasting rule. I think I did this unintentionally for the Texas-Neb game back in 1999. They won that game so now before and during every game I attend (most if not all home games) I fast. It becomes especially hard during the first part of the season since the temp in the stands can easily reach over 100 degrees. Try standing for that for four hours straight with nothing to drink. Tough but so far I haven’t passed out. I hope I won’t kill myself. Of course I may decide to try adn start a new superstition during this upcoming season.
When I was in middle school we were playing some organized basketball. For the first three games I had some cuts on my fingers and I never missed a free throw. The next game I didn’t need the band aids and missed 5 of 10. For the rest of the season I wore band aids even though I didn’t need them and shot over 90% from the line. We were state champions that year and a lot of that I felt we owed to my band aid wearings.
So for some reason I really believe my actions affect the outcomes of games in which I have no direct participation. Stupid but I know tons of people have these little superstitions. I often wonder how all this gets started. Of course I don’t see anything changing anytime soon so I hope my bladder doesn’t tear or that I don’t get heatstroke and die at a football game.
You might try holding your breath while a certain batter is at the plate. If possible, try counting to ten, or better yet twenty, before breathing again. That usually works to influence the outcome…even, or perhaps especially, if you are in Chicago and the game is in Seattle.
Or taking baby steps across the room during your team’s half-inning. If you make it without stepping even a bit out of a straight line, your team is bound to score a run or two. If you stumble, forget it.
Or look up at the tv the PRECISE MOMENT the pitcher delivers the ball to the plate. That works, too, as long as you time it PERFECTLY.
“Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is characterized by obsessive thoughts and/or compulsive behaviors that significantly interfere with normal life. Obsessions are unwanted, recurrent, and disturbing thoughts which the person cannot suppress and which can cause overwhelming anxiety. Compulsions are repetitive, ritualized behaviors that the person feels driven to perform to alleviate the anxiety of the obsessions. The obsessive and compulsive rituals can occupy many hours of each day.”
You know, every once in a while someone asks me, “What is it about longhorn fans that you find so very irritating?”
The next time I get a question like that, instead of launching into my standard list of obnoxious things longhorn fans have said or done in my presence, I will simply refer them to this thread.
My Bears suck, but at least I recognize that it’s out of my control to help or hinder their suckitude.
blakeformayor- Glad I could help, although I’m not so sure what exactly you find so irritating about my post.
A few years back I was watching one of the Texas A&M games with a friend of mine in College Station. We were having a little BBQ at his house. We were cooking and eating outside and had TV’s going in both outside and inside. His wife was doing some preparation type stuff and would occassionally bring meat or other things out to us outside to cook. There were roughly thirty people there so people were watching the game inside and out. His wife started to hang out outside with us while we cooked and ate. A&M gave up a touchdown and momentum started swinging against them. I said half jokingly that his wife being outside was jinxing the team because they were doing quite well when she was inside. Well that was that for her being outside. He made her stay inside for the rest of the game. She is a pretty huge A&M fan anyway so she was more than happy to oblige. That seemed to work too because they started doing very well after that.
So sometimes it’s not me in control but other people who I would never suspect. Of course I didn’t really care about the outcome of the game either way so I’m not any of my actions could tempt the fates.
