DENVER – Superstitions
in sports have always fascinated me. In my 10-plus years of working with
athletes and coaches in college and professional sports, I have found that 90
percent of them are superstitious and the other 10 percent aren’t admitting it.
I was once told by one professional
athlete here in Denver that his prominent teammate was so superstitious that he
thought it would mess up his mojo if he admitted his superstitions. Most of the
time, it’s something as simple as not shaving during the playoffs or always
dribbling twice before a free throw. Or perhaps it’s a coach who does not watch
his players shoot free throws. When it comes down to it, though, most people in
sports are at least a little superstitious.
I bring this up because of a shirt.
Denver radio voice Mitch Hyder owns a camel-colored shirt
that he describes as “about five years old and borderline out of style.” Hyder
also has expressed a desire to burn the shirt so that he won’t have to wear it
again. The problem? The Pioneers are 11-2 on days when Hyder sports the khaki
top. It started Dec. 8 last season when, feeling about as adventurous as he
gets, Mitch decided to break out a shirt that he had not worn very often. That
night, Denver beat Northern Colorado 69-53, and the shirt was 1-0. You probably
know what came next. The Pioneers won the next seven home games, and Mitch
could be spotted at each and every one of them donning the camel hair creation.
The shirt was 8-0, and we all wondered why Hyder never packed the thing for a
road trip. When the home season ended last year with a pair of losses to Middle
Tennessee and New Orleans, we thought the shirt might have run out of magic.
The shirt was 8-2 heading into the offseason, and Hyder claimed he was going to
donate it to Goodwill over the summer.
Hyder claims that he wasn’t the one believing in the shirt,
but for some reason after DU lost to Northern Colorado in the first home game
this season, Hyder did indeed take the shirt to Montana. You are probably way
ahead of me on this one. Yes, he wore it when the Pioneers defeated
Texas-Arlington, a very good team that was picked to win the Southland
Conference this season after making the NCAA Tournament last year. When Denver
returned to Magness Arena to face South Dakota State, Hyder was spotted along
press row with the camel shirt, which as I mentioned before stands at 11-2.
In case you’re wondering, Mitch is wearing the shirt right
now in preparation for tonight’s game against Florida Atlantic.
Yearly travel totals:
Total Flights – 10
Total Mileage Flown
– 6,593
Total Bus Miles –
969
Total Number of
Hotels – 6
Total Number of
Different Airports – 6
Total Number of
Airline Delays – 1
Total Number of Cancelled
Flights – 1
Total Number of Bags
Lost – 1
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