Football Friday nights in Texas, we go all out for our boys, our cheerleaders, band, and support the community as a whole. We wear their colors, their number, and our heart on our sleeves but more important than our fan gear is our pre-game rituals. Don’t try to hide, you know you have one. Who’s wearing those game winning underwear from last week? What about those lucky socks your husband insist that you wash and God forbid you eat something different this week because what tragedy would that create? Don’t forget your game hat!
A mom of several kids and avid football supporter was in the stands before our homecoming game when her daughter asked her to come down to the field to participate in a Victory line as the boys enter the field. She said, “No. We haven’t done that all year. We can’t start now!” And so no victory line was formed, but did we lose? Nope, because I had my lucky shaker. As a mother we know that superstition is just that, superstition. But we also would feel extremely guilty if we thought for one second that not cooking spaghetti the day before the game is the reason that our boys lost.
Shake and bake baby, “Don’t you put that on me Ricky Bobby!” Being married to a die-hard Cowboys fan (and Talladega Nights fan…Someone please feel sorry for me), I learned early on that if I missed one game and they won? Well forget it. I was not allowed to be there for the rest of the season. Once we were at my mother’s house for the weekend and the cowboys lost. They live several hours away so we would always stay the night or the weekend. What happened after those Cowgirls lost? We had to be home in enough time for the rest of the season because my mother made them lose. Fifteen years he has not watched the Cowboys at their house again, and that is an excuse that is hard to deliver. “Sorry guys, I can’t stay here while the Cowboys are playing so we have to leave at 6 am. just so we can be home in time.”
What are some of your pre-game rituals or lucky items? Do you walk around the car three times before you go to the bleachers? How does your crazy stack up against everyone else? And for the record, I think men have more superstitions when it comes to sports than women do.
A mom of several kids and avid football supporter was in the stands before our homecoming game when her daughter asked her to come down to the field to participate in a Victory line as the boys enter the field. She said, “No. We haven’t done that all year. We can’t start now!” And so no victory line was formed, but did we lose? Nope, because I had my lucky shaker. As a mother we know that superstition is just that, superstition. But we also would feel extremely guilty if we thought for one second that not cooking spaghetti the day before the game is the reason that our boys lost.
Shake and bake baby, “Don’t you put that on me Ricky Bobby!” Being married to a die-hard Cowboys fan (and Talladega Nights fan…Someone please feel sorry for me), I learned early on that if I missed one game and they won? Well forget it. I was not allowed to be there for the rest of the season. Once we were at my mother’s house for the weekend and the cowboys lost. They live several hours away so we would always stay the night or the weekend. What happened after those Cowgirls lost? We had to be home in enough time for the rest of the season because my mother made them lose. Fifteen years he has not watched the Cowboys at their house again, and that is an excuse that is hard to deliver. “Sorry guys, I can’t stay here while the Cowboys are playing so we have to leave at 6 am. just so we can be home in time.”
What are some of your pre-game rituals or lucky items? Do you walk around the car three times before you go to the bleachers? How does your crazy stack up against everyone else? And for the record, I think men have more superstitions when it comes to sports than women do.
