Superstitions

Recently my fiance' took me to see the movie Silver Linings Playbook. Not a bad movie, but filled with Eagles fans. Part of the movie focused on Robert DeNiro's character's superstitions during the games. The remote had to point a certain way, people had to sit in certain seats, and he held an Eagles bandana throughout the game. I have seen the commercials where fans of some team turn the labels of the bottles toward the field on field goal attempts, the commercial where the 49ers fan returns to his old apartment to reclaim his lucky seat for the Super Bowl, and the one showing fans of  various teams touching signs or crossing their legs in a certain direction to bring their team luck. I was angry that I was not included in these commercials. I am one of the most superstitious and ritualistic people in the world when it comes to my teams. For the Carolina Panthers, I have a toothbrush I use only for home games and another for road games. (I use a different one during the reast of the week.) I will only buy toothpaste, shampoo, anti-perspirant, mouthwash, shaving gel, and body wash that is Panther Blue or at least in packages that have Panthers colors.I have a Panthers edition razor that ONLY gets used on gamedays. Once, my stepdaughter was looking for blades to her razor and couldn't find them She saw my razor and a stack of new blades and took it. I threw it out and got a new one.  I refuse to touch the colors of the opposing team or speak their name in the week prior to the game. I have a special Panthers towel and washcloth that I use on gamedays that have to be laundered and folded by the day prior to the game. I even have a pair of Panthers underwear that I only wear to games. I wear the same outfit each time. Same shorts (in the summer and jeans in the winter) and socks and t-shirt and the jersey has to match what the Panthers wear that day. Again, these items are laundered each week. My superstitions do not involve dirty clothes. On the way to the home games, I stop at the same store and get the same items each time. Which cause me some issue on days we play the Falcons. My favorite drink is Coke Zero, which has a black and red label. So I have somebody else put it on the counter and then pour it into a Panthers Tervis cup with black lid and blue straw (Zaxby's has good ones) so I can drink it. I work in a middle school, and write on a dry erase board daily. I have hoarded all of the blue and black pens so I never have to touch a green or purple one. A few years back, the company we get our pens from changed the color of the blue from a nice Panther Blue to a horrible, more Cowboy-like, blue. I went to every store I could find to buy the old pens. I hunted them down on Amazon and ebay. One year, my ex-wife had decorated the house for Christmas. Someone gave our 2 year old son a stuffed snowman and she sat it in a little rocking chair. The Panthers were playing an away game so I was at home watching on TV. Before the game I put a Panther's hat on the snowman's head. The panthers won, so the snowman sat in that little chair with the Panthers hat on the rest of the season. Even when the other xmas decorations were put away, he stayed. The Panthers went to the NFC Championship that year. (We lost to Seattle.) I have other things I do for my other teams, but there are so many things and sometimes the games overlap...it is a huge deal. My biggest dilemma is when my favorite NHL team, the Carolina Hurricanes play on a day prior to a day the Panthers play Atlanta. The Canes wear red and black. Sometimes the Canes play the Florida Panthers Panthers on the Saturday prior to Panthers/Falcons games. On Saturday I pull for a red and black team playing a team called the Panthers. I turn around Sunday and Pull for the panthers over a red and black team. It gets weird. the worst day was when my step-son to be was playing for a Pop Warner team called the Vikings. One Saturday, we went to his game wearing purple and yelling Go Vikings. The next day the Panthers played, you guessed it, the Minnesota Vikings. I spent the entire day before pulling for a purple team called the vikings, ringing a purple cow bell and waving a purple towel. His team won. SO the next day, you guessedagain, the Minnesota Vikings won. And I caused it! Crazy? Probably. Will I continue to do it? Yes. I even make my family do it. They are only allowed to drink rom a Panther cup on gameday. The week that NC State plays the Tarheels is "Red Week" and I make my family wear NC State, or at least red, clothes every day. Thankfully I am surrounded with supporting, loving people who also love my teams.