In general, I'm not a superstitious person. I believe a little bit in karma, but not much in fate. And I certainly never knock on wood, toss salt over my shoulder or pray to a higher power on topics less important than the health and safety of my family and friends.
But when it comes to sports, I've already blogged about how the rules go out the window, because except in a peripheral way, to most of us, the successes and failures of our favorite teams mean absolutely nothing in the real world.
Which is exactly why sports superstition are so much fun. The sheer insanity of the notion that what I wear or where I watch a Brewers playoff game has any effect on its outcome invokes both a delightfully childlike sense of enthusiasm and a reaffirmation that fans in the stands (or oddly, in their living room) can propel professional athletes to new levels of performance.
Of course I believe in home-field advantage. But my rational side knows it has its limits. This weekend, it's time to tell my rational side to shut up.
I read once that 80 percent of all Americans believe that their rooting has a direct correlation to the outcome of a game. I don't doubt it, and until someone can prove me wrong, I'm all in.
I bet some of you are, too.
And this is why I've been thinking long and hard about what I'll be wearing to the Brewers playoffs games this weekend at Miller Park. My choice for Saturday is a no-brainer.
Of all the many, many Brewers T-shirts I've bought at Spring Training and in thrift stores, one ugly, thinning shirt holds special significance. My wonderful late grandmother bought me the amazingly ugly Robin Yount shirt pictured in the photo above in 1990, when The Kid was still an active player.
The diamond and the outline of his name is neon pink, his career stats (to date) screened in the background. It's stretched, thread-bare and ugly – and hardly in a retro hipster sort of way. I now only wear it on very special Brewers occasions, and it reminds me both of my grandma and when I started to get into the Brewers.
And I'm definitely wearing it Saturday. I last wore this heirloom at the first home playoff game in 2008 – which the Brewers won. Before that, it was donned for CC Sabathia's first start for the Crew. Before that, an opening day that I wasn't dressed professionally in the press box.
Game 2 presents a different challenge. For 29 years, I've hung my hat on the '82 Brewers, but I want to be fair to this new Crew. I'm thinking of wearing one of my 14 Spring Training shirts, but I haven't yet decided. After these first two games, the question switches to where I should watch the road games.
Unlike the Super Bowl, I'm not inclined to watch the games at a bar. I'd rather sit soberly at home with my closest Brewers confidants, nervously hanging on every pitch like it's game seven of the World Series. Maybe we'll tailgate on my deck, sitting on our County Stadium seats. Hopefully, my playoff mustache will have evolve past dustache status.
Regarding the Packers, by the way, I have my superstitions for the green and gold, too, but that's a topic for another blog. Certain venues seem to assure victory, while others have been recipes for disaster. I've yet to find that lucky shirt, either.
Anyway, I think this is a guy thing, and I know I'm not alone here. Please chime in using the Talkbacks below. I'd love to hear your ridiculous superstitions: apparel, location, pre-game food or otherwise, too.
Andy is the president, publisher and founder of OnMilwaukee. He returned to Milwaukee in 1996 after living on the East Coast for nine years, where he wrote for The Dallas Morning News Washington Bureau and worked in the White House Office of Communications. He was also Associate Editor of The GW Hatchet, his college newspaper at The George Washington University.
Before launching OnMilwaukee.com in 1998 at age 23, he worked in public relations for two Milwaukee firms, most of the time daydreaming about starting his own publication.
Hobbies include running when he finds the time, fixing the rust on his '75 MGB, mowing the lawn at his cottage in the Northwoods, and making an annual pilgrimage to Phoenix for Brewers Spring Training.
