Are You Superstitious On Gameday?

I used to be until I realized that the team performs better when I'm not superstitious, so I stopped.

Not anymore, but I used to be as a kid. Like many people, I would not move from my seat if the team scored. I once saw a car with Ohio plates the day of a win versus OSU, so in years following I would go out on the highway looking for cars with Ohio plates on game day. I used to burn the Sunday news sports section in a garbage can on the front lawn after an OSU loss. I suppose that was more of a tradition. I really miss that rivalry, but I'm glad I'm no longer a fanatic. 

I don't pour my first drink until after we score our first touchdown.

I also try very hard not to check the game threads until halftime. Too much rabble.

I stand during the game.  If I want, I can sit during commercials

Between plays, I pace through the kitchen and back to the living room while stepping on the tiles in a specific pattern

how could anyone still have a superstition after the last…*checks calendar*….twenty years? Whatever you are doing isn’t working.

Except I think Brian might be onto something about this all being his fault. 

If I’m in a sports bar I need to go stand by a table of people I don’t know.

If we have success we have high fives and I go back for key plays.

If we don’t I need to move on.  And I throw salt all around. 

Not superstitious but I do have a routine.? I watch the game again from the previous week on Friday night, then erase it from my DVR.

Just answering this question is bad luck.  Dammit.

I take Fridays off during the season to mentally prepare myself for games on Saturday...

Not anymore but as a kid. Actually my first memories of being a fan are really about the Fab 5. I would have 8 or 9. I remember thinking they lost a game once because I had the flu and was really sick. I also had this giant woven basket with a bunch of toy balls (ball shaped but stuffed instead of being something you actually played sports with). I'd empty that out and have the balls on the opposite side of the living room. If the team was in a funk and needed a run I might start shooting them. I'd keep it going when they were on a run. Pour in the shots and then empty again when I filled it. It was all about the flow of the game and whether I felt I needed to get them going or get them to keep going. I really can't remember being superstitious about football. And I don't think the basketball thing lasted. So I guess I started superstitious but mostly gave it up soon after?

I’m not superstitious, but I am a little stitious. 

So I hold a football when on offense and set it on the floor when on defense.  Stupid and irrational but it makes me feel better.

Yes, I believe that the success of the team is directly related to the amount of emotional investment I have in them. As in, the more I care, the more likely they are to lose. And now that I have managed to check out emotionally after years of abuse, they seem to have turned on a switch.

So, as soon as I come around and care again, they will inevitably blow it.

I will often inhale while looking at Michigan - the unit on the field, bench, score ticker, whatever is available to look at.  I'll exhale looking at some opponent thingy.  Usually big breaths, or very controlled breathing.  My wife will comment when she notices, and its embarrassing.  My 10 yr old son will also laugh at me.  I know it has nothing to do with what's going to happen, but it's a thing?  This translates to other sports, as well.

I want to stop.  How can I stop?  Can you help me stop?  I don't wanna stop...

I didn't wear a single item of Michigan gear while watching the Washington game, and instead wore a Bowling Green hat (daughter was a grad student there).

Should I continue this?

I think fans have finally figured out that the less Adidas gear they wear to games, the better the team does. 

If things are going well I'll maintain the same spot on the couch.  If they aren't going well I'll move to the recliner for better luck. 

I'm completely sure that what happens in my living room has some meaningful impact on the universe, just maybe not on the success of Michigan football.

Not anymore.  Any honest Michigan fan's superstitions were obliterated by the Rich Rod and Hoke years.

Mine go from game to game. Definitely for MSU/OSU. Nothing is ever consistent, it's whatever I was doing when UM got some momentum. IE 2018 OSU. Watching on the couch with my brother and now fiance. My fiance got tired of the yelling so she went to another room. UM scored and then recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff. She attempted to come back out and watch, but we instructed her to go back in the room because we thought the tide was turning. I believe the rest is history and now I have to hear about it each time we talk with folks about my weird obsession with UM football.

Superstitions don't work, until they do. In which case I'm back on the train again. Now I have anxiety. Back to work I go....

I used to care and be superstitious on game day. Then I realized that it didn’t make a difference, so I stop caring this year. So far, it’s working. I wonder if that is in itself another form of superstition…

I used to be, everything from wearing the same shirt (although at least I washed them) each weekend if they were winning to where I was sitting or how my hands were folded, etc. 

The last few years however I've moved away from that. The Universe / God / Karma / (whatever you believe) gives not one whit about whether Michigan wins or loses a given game, and anything I do has zero impact on the outcome.

Black Nike socks.  Every game (football and basketball).

I didn't hang my 'M' flag outside for the WMU and W games and now I afraid to given we are 3-0 with me being flagless.  

This despite my neighbor alternating flying ND and 'Bama flags everyday.  

Used to be.  After 20 years of pain, I’ve accepted that we are cursed (like the Cubs or Red Sox) - until we aren’t.

I do still get a bit nervous before every game, and even more anxious for big games like MSU, PSU, OSU.

I have this cool Wolverine shirt I used to wear on gamedays. I have since deemed it unlucky and will not wear it on gamedays anymore. Other than that, no.

No

I'm convinced that the results on the field are altered based on whether or not I'm watching.

I'm actually not, but I still can't help thinking "hey, if I shut off the tv, they may start coming back".

Its a holdover from when I was a little kid.

I don't eat nervous bird and I drink whole milk, on GameDay. 

I honestly feel if I don't watch the game the team doesn't do as well. Examples: Michigan Houston, basketball; Michigan UCLA, basketball; Michigan Army, football. There are others. You can argue with me about it but I won't believe you.

I burned all my UM shit after the loss in 2006. I knew it was my fault for wasting my money on hats and sweatshirts like that.

Also: I drink ALOT on gameday to ensure to help the team win. It doesn't always work--but I can't be sure.