This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Oh, October.
There are just so many things to love about you. But one of the things I enjoy the most is watching how superstitious people get whenever you roll into town. And no — I'm not talking about the superstitions surrounding Halloween. I'm talking here about the superstitions surrounding the wide, wide world of SPORTS.
Oh, October. When it comes to the whole sports thing, you are just the best. There's a little something for everybody. High-school football. College football. Professional football. NBA preseason basketball. College preseason basketball. Professional soccer. Girls high-school soccer.
AND ALSO THE WORLD SERIES! (Go, Cubs!)
I probably forgot a sport or two there. And I'll probably hear about it. But that's not the point. The point is that there's a whole lotta SPORT going on right now, which gives people with a superstitious turn of mind an excuse to break out their freak flags and let 'em fly.
Athletes are notoriously superstitious. They'll wear hats inside out to help their team score a come-from-behind victory. They'll say an "Ave" when they approach the batting box. They'll leap up and touch an overhead sign as they trot out of the locker room to take the playing field. They'll wear the same pair of socks for an entire season without washing them in the firm belief that dirty socks can help their team win a ballgame.
In my experience, however, fans can be even more superstitious than the athletes. My husband, for instance, who is a baseball fan par excellence, won't leave his seat while his team is batting. He doesn't want his desire for nachos to interfere with a given game's rhythm. He knows his team needs him to stay put in his seat, so he'll go without nachos for them. Dude is unselfish that way.
Why are fans superstitious? Is it a way for them to exert control over something they have no control over?
No! They go without nachos BECAUSE IT WORKS!
I happen to know this from direct experience. Back in the day when our family lived and died by the college football sword, my mother engaged in all kinds of pregame rituals to ensure victory, most of which involved deep-cleaning the house and making beef stew (recipe below).
BUT! Her secret weapon was her fully loaded charm bracelet, from which dangled (among other things) her class ring, a $5 gold piece, some round discs with her kids' names engraved on them, and a charm from Lincoln High School where my dad and his brothers played football (NAME-DROPPING ALERT) for Coach Sanky Dixon, environmentalist Terry Tempest Williams' grandfather.
Small world, right?!
Even though hauling that heavy bracelet around on her wrist was a little like wearing a pair of concrete boots, Mom faithfully strapped it onto her wrist every Saturday afternoon and dragged her arm to the stadium.
Except for this one time.
And guess what. The team started to lose. So she said to my brother, who was a teenager, that she was going to run home and fetch her charm bracelet. The team depended on that charm bracelet. The team needed her to get that charm bracelet. Without that charm bracelet, the team would be doomed.
My brother, as brothers who are teenagers often do, mocked her, but Mom ignored him. She drove herself home at halftime, put on her charm bracelet, drove back to the stadium and took her seat again, after which the team pulled ahead and won the game — and every other game after that.
All because of her charm bracelet.
So there you go, October. I rest my case. Superstitions rule.
Ann Cannon can be reached at acannon@sltrib.com or facebook.com/anncannontrib.
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Pat's Game Day Stew
1 pound stew meat
4-6 carrots, cubed
4 potatoes, cubed
2 packages Lipton Onion Soup mix
2 (10 ¾-ounce) cans cream of mushroom soup
1 ½ cans water
1 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
Brown stew meat. Add rest of the ingredients. Bake in a heavy covered pan in a slow oven, 225 degrees, for 5-6 hours.
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Pat's Game Day Stew
1 pound stew meat
4-6 carrots, cubed
4 potatoes, cubed
2 packages Lipton Onion Soup mix
2 (10 ¾-ounce) cans cream of mushroom soup
1 ½ cans water
1 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
Brown stew meat. Add rest of the ingredients. Bake in a heavy covered pan in a slow oven, 225 degrees, for 5-6 hours.