# What are these athletes wearing around their neck? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 26, 2008, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-athletes-wearing-around-their-neck/446962 "2008-04-26T13:47:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2008, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-athletes-wearing-around-their-neck/446962/1 "2008-04-26T13:47:27Z")
Earlier today, I went to my local peddler of sporting goods where I failed to find the bicyle pump I was looking for. This is however entirely irrelevent to my question. As I was leaving the store pumpless, I noticed a rack of colourful necklace-like things. I had seen them on the necks of some baseball players and I had always wondered what was up with this recent fashion. Reading what was written on the packaging did not help me much; apparently this is high-tech stuff but I still have no idea what it’s supposed to do. Is this one of these beautiful things that don’t _do_ anything or do these necklaces serve some function? Here’s [Hideki Okajima](http://www.projo.com/photos/20071026/sp1026_sox73_bb_10-26-07_3H7KPD4.jpg) wearing one. ---
**Author:** ![HongKongFooey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c4cdca/32.png) [@HongKongFooey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HongKongFooey)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2008, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-athletes-wearing-around-their-neck/446962/2 "2008-04-26T13:57:37Z")
Just another dumb fad to go along with copper bracelets, magnets, etc: [http://skeptico.blogs.com/skeptico/2005/07/titanium\_neckla.html](http://skeptico.blogs.com/skeptico/2005/07/titanium_neckla.html) ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2008, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-athletes-wearing-around-their-neck/446962/3 "2008-04-27T17:35:32Z")
Last night, as luck would have it, I spoke with a [young pitcher](http://www.billanastas.com/blag/wp-content/uploads/2007/09/claybuchholz.jpg) who had just thrown a fantastic game for the Boston Red Sox against the Rays. I had watched the game on TV and whenever they would show the close up headshot of the pitcher on the mound, he appeared to be wearing about 4 different necklaces, one of which is like the one you showed in your example. So, I see this guy in a popular Tampa nightspot late last night, and he also has all of the stuff around his neck. At first I thought it was just some other 20-something kid trying to look cool, but this guy was a tad bit more familiar and who else would be wearing a crucifix, St. Christopher’s medal and two other chains/cords around their neck. I went up to him and asked if he had pitched earlier tonight. He said yes, and in a way that made me fairly confident that he was the same guy. I asked him about the one thing around his neck and he said it was a “lightning cord” or something like that. I asked if it had any special properties or if it was a superstition, and he said “No, it’s just a thing I wear”. So I told him I was glad the Rays won but he pitched a heck of a game (three hits over eight innings). ---
**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2008, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-athletes-wearing-around-their-neck/446962/4 "2008-04-28T00:16:49Z")
[QUOTE=ShibbOleth] I asked him about the one thing around his neck and he said it was a “lightning cord” or something like that. I asked if it had any special properties or if it was a superstition, and he said “No, it’s just a thing I wear”. [/QUOTE] The notion that just wearing a necklace would improve your performance seems taken right out of D&D. Phiten titanium necklace of constitution +3. I wonder how many people wear them just as a fashion statement. I went to another sporting goods store yesterday to buy my pump and I took a closer look at their collection of necklaces. The packaging makes absolutely no claim about performance enhancement, although Phiten’s website does. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2008, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-athletes-wearing-around-their-neck/446962/5 "2008-04-28T00:44:52Z")
[QUOTE=jovan] The notion that just wearing a necklace would improve your performance seems taken right out of D&D. Phiten titanium necklace of constitution +3. I wonder how many people wear them just as a fashion statement. [/QUOTE] Eh, con is basically only good for fort saves and fatigue checks. +3 str or dex would be more useful for an athlete. ---
**Author:** ![Crescend](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Crescend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crescend)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2008, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-athletes-wearing-around-their-neck/446962/6 "2008-04-28T01:40:20Z")
[QUOTE=Captain Carrot] Eh, con is basically only good for fort saves and fatigue checks. +3 str or dex would be more useful for an athlete. [/QUOTE] But what if we put the pitcher on a treadmill?