Hockey players and hockey fans are a *very* superstitious lot. Patrick Roy (pronouned Wah, not Roy, for you non-hockey people), goalie for the Colorado Avalanche, can't step on the blue or red lines. If his stick breaks, he is almost sure to lose the game. Derian Hatcher, defense man for the Stars, is constantly knocking on wood.

I have my hockey rituals too. When the Stars play, I have to be wearing my Dallas Stars Stanley Cup champs t-shirt. It doesn't get washed til they lose a game, and then I must "wash the loss off of it". And no, it doesn't get stinky, I only wear it when there's a game on. :P I also have to wear my Stars green emerald necklace.

Our goalie, Ed Belfour, is nicknamed the Eagle. I have a little eagle dolly that's wearing a Stars jersey and says "Eddie the Eagle" on the back. I call him Ed Jr. Whenever Ed the goalie touches the puck, or the Stars score a goal, I have to rub Jr's head.

Sometimes, you need even some extra magic. When the Stars played the Devils on Thursday, the game went into triple overtime. My cat is named Stanley (after the Cup.). I told my boufriend to rub her on one of the Stars players on the TV. He rubbed her on Mike Modano, and he scored not 5 minutes later! We tried it again on Saturday when we went into double OT, but the Devils scored the winning goal, and the Cup.

I told Stanley she can go live with some nice family in New Jersey. :)

-- Anonymous, June 13, 2000

Answers

well, yes. i shout out either "donald duck!" or "goofy!" or "mickey mouse!" every time the opposing team shoots a basket, or throws a pass, or kicks a punt, or anything else. in my mind, they'll hear me somehow, get infinitely distracted, and miss. it all started probably about 20 years ago, when i would go bowling with family members and shout out those names, right when the person was about to let the ball go. what a team player i am.

or...

i simply attend a game. in my lifetime, i have probably seen 5 football games, 8 baseball games, and 1 bulls game, in person. every time i go -- the team i'm rooting for has won. i'm a good luck charm, quite obviously.

-- Anonymous, June 14, 2000

Sometimes while watching tense baseball games on TV or radio we will put on our rally caps. Also we would never say "he's got a no hitter going here!" or anything else to jinx it.

We watched the hockey game on Saturday. I don't know too much about hockey but was fascinated by all the reverence about the actual Stanley Cup. When they win the World Series they say "boy we're glad to get this trophy!" but they don't venerate it. I liked the way they took turns holding it over their heads (and I know it's heavy) and kissing it and so on. Also the ads showing it in peoples' houses and stuff.

-- Anonymous, June 14, 2000

Well, on May 4th I was in downtown Indianapolis for a conference and I had a couple of hours to kill before the evening banquet so I walked over to Conseco fieldhouse where they were preparing for one of the early playoff games. WIBC, a radio station here, was giving out Pacer stuff and I got a pair of Boomer ears. Boomer is our catlike mascot. These ears are mounted on a flimsy plastic headband. I have worn these ears to work every day, to faculty meetings, to the grocery and the mall and everywhere and they seem to be working! We are in the NBA finals and have 3 more games to win and our guys will get their well-deserved trophy and rings!! I decorated the ears with pictures of the players and I have had to mend the band several times with scotchtape. They are getting rather dilapidated, but I dare not take them off now! Go Travis! Go Reggie! Go Jalen! Go Pacers!

-- Anonymous, June 14, 2000

About the only ritual we have before our hometown team plays is to pray.

Pray, pray, pray a lot. Then pray some more. You see, my hometown team is the New Orleans Saints.

I guess we should start praying in preparation for next season. Maybe they can win more than four games......

-- Anonymous, June 14, 2000

Cool rituals Laurie! Two I have are playing the Dallas Stars theme that was done by Pantera and that I had downloaded on MP3 before the start of the season.. anyway, I play that before every period on my computer. (If I'm not watching a game on TV, then I'm listning through the net)

I also buy a new Stars hat (before they were in Dallas of course it was the North Stars from Minnesota) before the start of each season, wear that hat the entire season especially during the season, wash it after the 41st game of the season (half way point of the season) and then retire the hat after the last game of the season and then go the summer wearing some other pro team cap or something other than a Stars hat (although I did break a little with tradition a couple of years ago and wore it to the NHL draft in Edmonton, I may end up doing that again this year when I go to the draft in Calgary)

-- Anonymous, June 14, 2000

LOL Lizzie, now you've got me started! Here's a crash course on the history of the Cup for ya (not that you probably wanted to know, but...) The Cup was purchased by Lord Stanley of Preston in 1893 for 10 guineas, which was about 50 American dollars at the time. The Cup was originally meant as a trophy for Canadian amateurs, but the big guys eventually muscled in and took control of it.

It's the oldest trophy in North American sports, and has had a pretty interesting life. It's been drop kicked across a frozen canal in Ottawa, forgotten by the side of the road by the 1924 Montreal Canadiens when they stopped to change a flat, and stolen in 1962 from a case in the Chicago Stadium by a crazy Canuck (no offense to any Canadians ) who said he was "taking it back to Montreal where it belongs!" Dogs and horses have eaten out of it, and a baby was baptized in it. Rumor has it that members of the NY Rangers peed in it (yech, and people DRINK outta that thing??!!?) What Lord Stanley bought for 50 bucks is now insured for $75,000, but to hockey players, it's priceless.

Members of the team that win the Cup get to spend a day with it during the summer. Last year, Jamie Langenbrunner of the Stars took it river rafting, and Guy Carbonneau took it to the grave of his father who'd passed away (I believe) during the playoffs. I think the fact that it has such an interesting history, and that the players actually get to spend time and do what they want with it, has a big part of it's reverence. It's almost like a "buddy" to them. Little boys all over the world play pond hockey, dreaming of the day when they might hold Lord Stanley's Cup over their heads.

Arthur, your rituals are cool too! My bf had to quit wearing his Stars hat after awhile. It got to the point where every time he wore it, we'd lose. I think I'll be retiring Ed Jr next season, and using my Sergei Zubov autographed Stanley Cup commemaritive puck instead. I live in the Dallas area, and go to the Stars Center where they practice a lot during the season. Like I said, they're very accessible. I don't know if you collect, but if you do, I'd be more than glad to help you out with memorabilia and autographs...Gives me an excuse to talk to Ed :)

-- Anonymous, June 15, 2000

Interesting thing about getting to spend the day with the Cup, though. After a few incidents involving the Cup in...less than savoury conditions, it was determined that there needed to be people looking out for the Cup's safety and best interests. Hence, the Cup bodyguards. The Cup goes nowhere without its guards, who handle the Cup only with white gloves at all times. Their only job is to transport the Cup from place to place (making summer a reeeeally busy time for them!) and ensure its safety and sanctity.

Oh, and it's not really that heavy - only about 30 pounds or so. Not that anyone who just won the Cup would notice if it weighed 10 times that!

-- Anonymous, June 15, 2000

I'm a Maple Leaf fan myself. I have 2 jerseys, an older away one and their third jersey from the 98-99 season with the old style leaf on the front. I'll wear one until they lose, then will switch to the other and wear it until they lose.

Before each period starts, I will 'clean my crease' in front of my chair, sweeping my feet from side to side.

I'll drink beer in my Maple Leafs beer stein; the brand I choose follows a similar pattern to the jersey theory. Sometimes I'll pick a brand that I drank at a point in the past when they were on a hot streak, in an effort to recapture the same magic.

During the game, I will talk/yell/swear at the television.

Considering they haven't won the Cup since 1967, I don't think my efforts have come to fruition yet. At least I can say I was alive for their last 2 Cup wins, being born in '64. If they ever win it again, I'd wager there would be a national holiday up here (well, except in Montreal.)

By the way, the Cup you see everyone hoist overhead and get to take home during the summer? It's a replica. The original cup is enclosed in glass in an old bank safe at the Hockey Hall Of Fame.

-- Anonymous, June 15, 2000

The Cup Sitters have always cracked me up. Even with them, the players still do some crazy stuff with it, and it strikes me funny that they wear the white gloves, considering all the things it's been through.

Right Ron, I forgot to mention that it was a replica. And they retire the rings once it starts getting too big, and add new ones...

I like the Leafs, and my bf is a huge Leafs fan. He was projecting them to win the Cup before the season ever started, so you can blame him for it this year. :) He put a jinx on your guys. :)

-- Anonymous, June 15, 2000

Oh man. I used to have rituals for Cowboy games, but they have funneled down to one:

I Want To Be Alone.

I have this problem. If the 'Boys aren't doing well, I am too tense to watch. I'll move around the room, fold some clothes, clean the kitchen (the television is visible from there), run check email (listening on the radio, I always turn down the television volume and listen to the game on the radio) -- I have all this nervous energy, and the idea that they're doing badly? I finally realized that I'm a really BAD loser. It's why I hated to play Monopoly as a kid. Because if I was winning? It was a great game. But if I wasn't? The game would never END. I HATED IT.

Anyway, as soon as the Cowboys start to show life and come back, I'm in there glued to the television.

Now, the reason I have to be alone? Because I figured out years ago that when we went anywhere else to watch a game, the men would camp out in front of the television, and the women would chat. It made no difference that I was in front of the tv watching the game -- women would want to CHAT with me. There would be something SO DAMNED IMPORTANT that they just HAD to tell me at THAT moment. Of course I know women who are fans and watch the games. But somehow when I'm at anybody else's house, I'm not allowed to watch the game, I'm supposed to be polite to the other women. Harrumph!

And what's the deal with the guy thing of yelling at the television? I see commercials on television, and guys are always yelling at the television. This is the way it SHOULD be. I yell at the television. I shriek when something bad almost happens, or worse, happens. But the men in my family? My husband and sons? They just WATCH. They may yell a LITTLE, but let me make a squeak, and they LOOK at me. What planet did I come from?

Okay, so that's it. My Dallas Cowboys ritual: Game one or Super Bowl:

I Want To Be Alone.

Pooks

-- Anonymous, June 16, 2000

Thanks for all the Cup arcana! That was actually what I wanted to know.

-- Anonymous, June 19, 2000