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Thursday, May 10, 2007

Superstition in sports

At the end of every period, Ryan Miller, the goalie for the Buffalo Sabres is the last off the ice. And before getting off the ice, he does what can only be called a twirl. At the end of the game, after a win, all the Sabres have to touch his head.

In the warm up, Daniel Briere grabs 7 or 8 pucks and shoots them in the net. He takes each puck around the pile to shoot it at the net. Even the last puck -- it goes around an invisible pile.

Superstition? We the fans are a superstitious lot. We wear the same clothes on game day, sit in the same seat, drink the same beer. We try to do things, in a superstitious way that help ensure our team's victory.

For players at a high level, superstition is more about routine. Ryan Miller does a spin. Briere shoots the pucks. These are routines that help them get into game mode. In Bull Durham (yes a movie), there 's a speech to the effect tat when a player is on a streak, that player should respect the streak. There's something to that, but it's more about being prepared. Getting in the right mindset to be victorious. To prepare. I expect they'll be ready. In fact, watching them all year, I can almost guarantee it.

We're ready. We're starting the night with Sushi. And hopefully ending with cooked Senators.

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