By Calvin Kragenbrink

“Everyone Quiet!” On the bus rides to football games no one can say anything. The bus rides are explained as business trips and no one speaks. Superstitions help people get ready, and this is one that helps the whole Mustang football team prepare.

Superstitions are more commonly practiced in a person’s favorite sport. Some may think that superstitions can give them luck or the ability to perform better by doing this or that. “I think that superstitions give them confidence in their ability; I don’t believe in luck,” Logan said.

Superstitions are personal things that can help an individual get ready, things that may be unorthodox, like wearing your lucky shirt under your pads. Logan has no reason for having his superstitions other than he did in once and had a good game so he has done it every time since.

Senior Connor Welch, Mount Vernon’s catcher on the baseball team, has a routine that he likes to follow. Connor said that if his routine is broken it throws off his preparation for the event. Before baseball games Connor would try to do the same things for a 5:30 home game. “I would try to sleep in, move around a little bit so I wasn’t tired. Then I would go to the field a half an hour early to either get some cuts in or get into game mode,” Connor said.

Baseball is known to be the most superstitious sport there is. With a lot of down time you have more things that you can do to help you with your next at bat or next inning you pitch. “I had a bracelet that I wore during every game until the last third of the season,” Connor said. When you hit a slump superstitions can change to help you play better. “I started hitting poorly so I took it off and eventually did better,” Connor said.

Some common baseball superstitions are not stepping on the baseline, always having sunflower seeds, never talking about a perfect game, and having the exact routine every time entering the batters box. Baseball is a sport that sets you up to fail as a hitter. A great hitter will only end up getting a hit every 3 or 10 at bats.

In the Mount Vernon home dugout there is a plastic shark that hangs from the ceiling as you walk out to the field. When the Mustangs are behind in a game, “Murphy, shark attack” helps the team rally to win. The team also puts their baseball hats folded like a fin on top of their heads while their team is up to bat.

Basketball Coach Ed Timm has a few superstitions himself. Mr. Timm has had the same whiteboard he uses in games for twenty years. He was given a new one but passed it to an assistant coach. “Superstitions give people comfort, takes away the stress,” Coach Timm said. Mr. Timm also wears the same things to games while on a winning streak. Basketball is not a sport with a lot of down time but Coach Timm said, “Sports without a clock are always the most superstitious.”

Junior Varsity football coaches Ryan Whitman and Jeremy Hotz have been part of Mount Vernon football for a long time. “Nobody talks on the bus rides to home or away games,” Whitman said. The silent ride tradition helps the team mentally prepare to play.

“Wigwams” have been the Mustangs’ sock for as long as coaches Whitman and Hotz can remember. “They have been around since my dad was playing here,” Mr. Whitman said. All Mount Vernon players are expected to wear white socks with maroon stripes from Bauman’s.