各項運動選手的迷信行為
Soldiers of fortune
The Irish Examiner 05 Mar 2003
By Hugh Farrelly
SUPERSTITION - 'tis an awful curse. For those of us who labour under its he
avy yoke, life becomes a bizarre procession of ritual and counter-ritual,
all designed to ensure the best possible outcome to whatever challenge is
placed in front of us. Sport is particularly riddled with the virus. The
modern professional sportsman may be meticulously prepared with
psychologists, video analysts, dieticians, fitness experts and others all
laid on to ensure that nothing is left 'to chance' but the final result
could still hinge on whether a key player has put on his left boot before
his right or whether he kissed his daughter before the game.
Prepare the guy as much as you want, if his head is not right come match
day it will all have been in vain.
This is why coaches and managers indulge superstition in the dressing-room.
Indeed, if one man's lucky rabbit's foot helps secure a positive result for
the team then it will be actively encouraged.
Pre-match hell
Superstition plays a huge role in my life, as evidenced by a pre-match
ritual which has hardly altered in 13 years of club rugby.
It starts with coffee in the morning, two cups, with loads of sugar to
ensure the eyes are fully awake. Nothing to eat for breakfast, absolutely
never, for the lion hunts better on an empty stomach.
A shower to further invigorate the senses but never a shave. This stems
from the mistaken belief that the stubbly look will prove intimidating to
the opposition.
Then there's the music.
Two songs, one while packing the gear and the other played just before
leaving the house. The first song has changed over the years, in the
mid-1990s it was 'Tub-thumping (I get knocked down)' by Chubawumba, current
ly it is 'Going to my home town' by Rory Gallagher. However, the second
song has never varied, 'Little Red Rooster' by the Rolling Stones unless I
hear that before leaving for the game there is no point even turning up.
Lucky attire is also essential. Underneath my club socks I wear an old UCC
sock and an old Lansdowne sock and also don a 'lucky' white bobby sock over
my right ankle.
Under the club jersey resides the Cork GAA top and my shorts are never tied
before leaving the dressing room.
Running onto the pitch it is always the same ritual, rotate the right arm
backwards, rotate the left arm backwards, jink to the right, jink to the
left and then we're ready for the fray.
Yes indeed, superstition is an awful curse.
Tanks to Thomas
However, it is comforting to know that I am not alone with this illness.
Indeed, compared to some of the nuts out there my pre-match ritual is quite
normal. Take for example, rugby league prop Mickey Edwards who plays with
the Rochdale Hornets in England's second division. Mickey always has to lea
ve the dressing room last, quite a common superstition, but more weirdly, h
e always carries a small model of Thomas the Tank Engine, his favourite toy
, in his right sock.
Strange racket
Then there's Russian tennis star Marat Safin who travels everywhere with an
'evil eye' given to him by his sister to help ward off evil stares.
In fact, tennis is full of superstitious souls. Lleyton Hewitt will not go
on court unless he has listened to everyone's favourite Rocky tune 'Eye of
the Tiger' by Survivor, while John McEnroe would never walk on the
tramlines between points unless, of course, he was on his way to abuse an
umpire.
Tim Henman insists on occupying the same dressing room area and using the
same shower for every game during a tournament, something which has yet to
bear fruit in Wimbledon.
There is also the bizarre, but true, story of Bjorn Borg's grandfather.
Apparently, early in the Swedish ace's career, his grandfather was fishing
while listening to Borg playing in the French Open. Things were not going
well, Bjorn was a set down, and his grandfather happened to spit in the
water just as Borg won a point.
Grandad kept on spitting and Borg kept on winning points, eventually taking
the match in four sets.
Bjorn's grandad was spitting away merrily as the Swede went on to capture
five Wimbledon titles and the old man was convinced that his saliva was
just as vital to the cause as Borg's devastating ground strokes.
This is known as 'post hoc' reasoning, the assumption that a sequence of
events entails causation which, essentially, is the basis for all
superstition.
Formula for success
In a dangerous sport such as Formula One, when each race could potentially
be your last, it is understandable that superstition is rampant.
Perennial world champion Michael Schumacher will only get into his car from
a particular side, although it would not matter if he only drove with one
hand such is the superiority of the Ferrari machine. Another F1 driver,
Alexander Wurz, drives in every race wearing odd coloured shoes.
Wicket misfortune
A less dangerous sport but one similarly riven with superstition is cricket
.
Phil Tuffnell, the charismatic England spin bowler, revealed in his
entertaining autobiography the extent to which players go to avoid any
misfortune befalling their batsmen.
He describes how watching team-mates remain rooted in their seats if their
batsmen are going well.
Anyone leaving the dressing room to use the toilet receives vicious,
accusatory stares and if a batsman is out during this period, the player
with the weak bladder is blamed as squarely as the bowler who took the
wicket.
Steve Waugh, Australia's uncompromising Test captain always carries a red
handkerchief given to him by his late grandfather, and given the amazing
run of success he has presided over, this is a good luck charm not to be
sneezed at.
Sri Lanka's Mahela Jawawardne keeps kissing his bat if he is going well at
the crease and watch out for England's captain Nasser Hussain talking to
himself before every delivery.
Then there is Jonty Rhodes, the dynamic South African batsmen and the world
's best fielder, who insists on having his area in the dressing room in
pristine condition before he goes into bat. Rhodes, a famed 'neaty', spends
the entire waiting period before batting obsessively folding his gear,
arranging his equipment and sweeping up around his dressing room berth.
His amused team-mates apparently throw balls of paper and deliberately
'litter' his personal area and then chortle as Jonty scrabbles about
frantically tidying up.
However, my favourite cricketing anecdote involves former Zimbabwean
opening batsmen Grant Flower and Mark Dekker. Every time they walked out to
begin the innings they would have the same exchange. "I hope you get hit
on the head today," one would say.
"And I hope the same happens to you," the other would reply.
Starter's orders
Horse-racing is a pastime which, with its betting background, inevitably at
tracts a lot superstitious souls.
On the racetrack it is not permitted to wish anyone good luck, be they punt
er, trainer or jockey.
It is also considered unlucky to bet on fillies as they are 'temperamental'
although this would seem more of an exercise in pragmatism as, basically,
you can never be sure whether she is in season or not.
Any horseshoe seen facing down is considered the worst luck possible and yo
u should never lend money to anyone at a race meet, a practice most are onl
y too happy to follow.
Colour of money
In golf, lucky balls, markers, tees, clubs and club covers abound while Tig
er Woods' lucky charm is red and that colour will always form some part of
his attire.
Darren Clarke's penchant for cigar-smoking out on the course is more to do
with dependency than superstition but the genial Irishman has one strict ru
le, that he never bets on himself.
Soggy Fry
And then of course there is soccer.
We all remember Laurent Blanc kissing Fabien Barthez's bald pate before imp
ortant games for France and indeed Manchester United. Former United midfiel
der Paul Ince, currently with Wolves, famously only puts on his shirt as he
is leaving the players tunnel while Manchester City goalkeeper Peter Schme
ichel has a bizarre pre-match ritual where he kicks the posts before kick-o
ff to ensure the goal is 'closed' to the opposition.
And what about former Birmingham manager Barry Fry who urinated on the four
corners of the St Andrews pitch in order to banish a supposed gypsy curse
on the ground?
Oxford United did something similar in 2001 when they called in the Bishop
of Oxford to exorcise its gypsy curse.
Substituting the centre circle for a holy circle, the Bishop, resplendent i
n a purple cassock, performed the exorcism because gypsies were said to hav
e cast a curse after the club went to the high court to evict them from the
ir camping ground which was on the site of their new Kassam stadium.
There are also apocryphal tales regarding Liverpool legend Ian Rush which c
laim that, if he went scoreless in the first-half, he would go into a toile
t cubicle at half-time and, ahem, unwind, so he would be more relaxed in th
e second-half. True? Who knows, but he did get a lot of second-half goals t
hroughout his career.
Lucky break
Finally, to snooker and the remarkable tale of Paul Hunter, the young potte
r from Leeds. In 2001, Hunter was playing the hot favourite Mark Williams i
n the final of the Benson and Hedges Masters and at the interval the match
was following its predicted course with Hunter trailing 6-2.
Hunter's fiancee, Lyndsey, went to his dressing room to console her beloved
but things got out of control and her consolation turned out to be extreme
ly energetic.
Hunter emerged 'rejuvenated' and went on to win a thrilling encounter 10-9.
Unfortunately, Paul, who came clean about the incident afterwards, was unab
le to employ Lyndsey as his regular lucky charm as it wasn't considered in
keeping with a sport noted for its sense of decorum.
So what are we to deduce from all this? Do these superstitions work or are
they merely symptoms of eccentricity brought on by nerves?
Well, despite being a fully paid-up member of the superstition club, I am t
he first to acknowledge that it's all a load of boll**ks.
I discovered this for certain in 1998/99, when going through seven pairs of
'lucky' jocks during one particularly poor season.
Also, why do so many teams invoke the help of the Almighty before battle?
Is God a Chelsea supporter?
Does he wear a Ferrari top when Schumacher races?
Praying for victory to a (hopefully) impartial higher being is surely the u
ltimate exercise in futility.
Yet, we will continue to do these strange things before sporting contests a
nd if superstition helps an athlete feel more relaxed or confident as they
run onto the field then it does have some merit in sport.
But, at the end of the day, as David O'Leary might put it, results come dow
n to personal performance, for there is no lucky charm, leprechaun, spirit
or spectre that is going to win the game for you.
Touch wood.
--
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