Sports Column (Gettysburg Times): "Superstitions"

(This Gettysburg TImes sports page column is running this weekend. Enjoy. SAP)

BY SCOT A. PITZER
Times Staff Writer
__________________

Believe in jinxes?
What about superstitions?
Of course not.
I don’t either.
Unless the Pittsburgh Steelers are playing.
I know, it’s silly to think that fans actually have an influence on the outcome of a game.
I’ve heard stories about hardcore sports fans who — in fear that they might snap a winning streak, or harm their team’s playoff chances — go weeks without showering, changing their socks, or shaving.
(Don’t worry. I shower every day.)
Such superstitions are silly.
But whenever your team is 7-5 in December, and must win-out its regular season schedule just to BARELY qualify for the NFL playoffs, fans will resort to anything.
Count me as one of those fans.
Two close friends of mine married one another last fall, so naturally, I bought them the perfect wedding gift: football jerseys.
The female is a Steeler fan, while the male is a passionate Philadelphia Eagles supporter (I know — quite a combustible relationship, is it not?).
As I was forking over the $100 for the two custom jerseys, I figured heck, if I’m going to spend this kind of cash, I might as well buy me one too.
So I did.
A #7 Roethlisberger jersey.
I wore it for the Dec. 11 game versus Chicago.
Pittsburgh won, 21-9.
The next weekend, the black-and-gold ventured to Minnesota.
Again, I wore the #7 jersey.
We won that game, 18-3.
Dumb luck, perhaps, but the Steelers were 9-5.
Playoff hopes remained alive.
The next week, I again wore my new jersey, and we shellacked Cleveland 41-0.
Why ruin a good thing?
I dedicated myself to wearing that black home jersey for the rest of the season.
In Pittsburgh’s 16th and final contest against the Detroit Lions, the Steelers won 35-21, and earned the sixth and final AFC playoff berth, a Wild Card spot.
During the work week leading up to the first playoff game, a clash in Cincinnati against the Bengals, I recall a conversation with Times sport editor Josh Martin.
“There is no way we’ll beat the Bengals,” asserted Josh, also a die-hard Steeler fan, “and then go up to Indianapolis and beat them, and then beat Denver or New England in the title game. It just ain’t going to happen.”
The chances, yes, were slim.
But the Steelers won three road playoff games in a row and, of course, culminated their spectacular post-season run with a Superbowl win against the Seattle Seahawks.
And I watched it all wearing my Roethlisberger jersey.
You can only imagine my fear in June when I learned Big Ben was involved in a motorcycle accident that almost claimed his life.
Miraculously, he recovered, and was slated to play Thursday in the Steelers’ 2006 season opener.
But more trouble materialized.
Last weekend, the franchise quarterback was hospitalized, and doctors performed an emergency appendectomy.
The surgery prompted coach Bill Cowher to announce that Ben would not play against the Miami Dolphins in the season opener.
Great.
Ben’s not playing, so do I (a) wear his jersey for Game #1 — the same uniform i wore when we won eight games in a row last year to close out the regular season — or do I (b) scrap the good luck charm, and dress myself in other apparel?
If I choose option (a), I risk jinxing my own superstition.
Can’t do that, now can I?
Furthermore, if I wear the jersey, and we lose to the Fish, I taint the shirt’s legacy.
When the clock ticked its 11th hour, even though backup Charlie Batch was at the helm, leading the Steelers’ charge, I wore my Roethlisberger jersey.
Pittsburgh beat the Dolphins Thursday night, 28-17.
But I don’t believe in superstitions.
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Scot Pitzer is a Times staff writer.