Geelong's Gym

You would think the world’s top athletes would be pretty confident in their skills and abilities.  But apparently, there are some who feel their particular superstitious practice is what gives them the extra edge.  Some of these are a little weird but read on…

No wonder he was called Michael "Air" Jordan

10.  Michael Jordan.  The greatest professional basketball player of all time was known for a specific quirk.  He wore his University of North Carolina shorts under his uniform in every game.  To cover them, he wore longer shorts, which inspired a new trend in the NBA.

9.  Bjorn Borg.  This Swedish tennis legend’s superstition related only to Wimbledon.  He would prepare for the annual tournament by growing a beard and wearing the same Fila shirt.  Maybe it helped, because he took out five straight Wimbledon titles from 1976 through to 1980.

8.  Kevin Rhomberg.  Rhomberg had a compulsion to touch someone if they touched him.  This made life difficult for him when word of it spread – players would touch him and run, sending him into a panic!  In fact, a game had to be halted when the Yankees players refused to stop touching Rhomberg.

7.  Serena Williams.  Despite being one of the most feared female tennis players of all time, Serena believes much of her winning is the result of closely followed routines.  These routines include, bringing her shower sandals to the court, tying her shoelaces a specific way and bouncing the ball five times before her first serve and twice before her second.

6.  Jason Terry.  Seriously superstitious, Terry wears five pairs of socks while playing and the night before a game goes to bed wearing the  shorts of the next day’s opposing team.

5.  Wade Boggs.  This All Star pro baseballer, known as The Chicken Man, ate chicken before every game, always took batting practice at 5:17 and running sprints at 7:17.  And that’s not all.  Before coming up to bat he would draw the word “Chai” (Hebrew for “life”) in the dirt.

4.  Patrick Roy.  Before every game, NHL Goaltender Roy would skate backwards towards the net before turning around at the last second, which be believed made the goal shrink.  During the game he would converse with the posts and thank them when a puck was deflected.

3.  Jason Giambi.  Whenever he hit a slump, this 6 foot 3, 240 pound first baseman would put on a golden thong/G-String.  So well did this work, his teammates would often borrow it to break out of their own slumps.  Yuck!

2.  Lyoto Machida.  I think this one definitely goes into the “What the…” realm, because this Brazilian Shotokan karate master drinks his own urine every morning.  He believes it is a natural medicine that cleanses his body.  Gross, yes, but he has yet to lose a round in his professional mixed martial arts career.

1.  Turk Wendell.  This New York Mets reliever really takes superstition to a new level.  His eccentricities include: leaping over the baselines when walking to the mound, chewing black licorice while pitching and brushing his teeth in between innings.  He also wore a necklace decorated with the sharp teeth of wild animals he had hunted and killed.  Not to stop there, he asked the New York Mets to make his contract for $9,999,999.99 in honour of his uniform number of 99!

Information in this blog is thanks to Men’s Fitness magazine.