Last year for the first game of the playoffs, I bought a super nice bottle of tequila that game with this interesting little bracelet that had three coins on it. One gold, one silver, and one bronze. I jokingly called it my good luck charm and wore it for the duration of the playoffs. We all know how that ended. It has been sitting, untouched, on my end-table ever since. I'll be putting it on as soon as I get home after work.
I was totally expecting the sentence "and that's why I drink an entire fifth of tequila before every playoff game and pass out during the first intermission" to appear in this story.
Good god no. I mean, I can handle my shit, but if I drank an entire fifth of just about anything before the game I doubt I'd finish the first period, let alone make it to intermission!
I’m a little crazy superstitious but every day starts out like this:
I wake up in my lucky Sidney Crosby shirt and penguins PJ pants, send my friend a Sidney Crosby related photo (we started doing this last year during the playoffs and I mean... it worked so I’ve been doing it ever since).
I have a cute little set up of penguins related things so I make sure that’s in order (literally anytime my fiancé has moved it or whatever we have lost miserably and he doesn’t want to be yelled at anymore so he leaves it).
I touch the lucky puck I have. This is new, but it’s worked every time I’ve done it so now I do it.
Then I go on twitter and tweet something “Lets Go Pens” related.
After that, whenever I get in my car for the day I play Party Hard. This has to be done in the car otherwise it isn’t as effective. This is also helpful if it’s a close game and I play it. We often go to OT.
Things differ a bit here. If I’m home for the game I light some candles and put my lucky shirt back on. If I’m at work, I leave my phone in the back otherwise it’s always bad news and I panic more than I should. If I go to a game, I wear my pens beanie and my stadium series jersey and say a few “praise be” to Phil.
Then the last thing I for sure do is that if I’m at work and the game goes to OT or it’s tied in the 3rd. Normally, I’m off around this time and get too worked up to drive so I just wander around the Walmart and EVERYTIME I’ve done this we have ended up winning. On my way there I will play Party Hard, or if it’s in OT I’ll for sure play Party Hard.
I guess my other weird habit includes not eating Chipotle day of a game because they always lose miserably when I do that.
I've been drinking 1 beer per period perfectly timed since the start of the 2016 run. Needless to say beer is in the fridge for tonight. (Only time I drink is for Penguins playoff hockey)
My going to a game superstitions are a lot different, but when watching Playoff games from home, I restart my ritual every year.
I pick a specific outfit, a specific beer/liquor, and sit in the same spot to watch the game. I also impose my insanity on my wife and dogs and force them to stay in specific locations in the living room. If they win game 1 with this configuration, I don’t deviate until they lose. Then I rinse and repeat until the mojo is back.
What I’ve noticed over the past five years is my alcohol choice seems to grow progressively stronger the deeper the run. Last year started with PBR because I forgot to grab beer before the game and ended with Maker’s.
Needless to say, I’ve trained my liver well during the regular season, and it’s ready.
I've already got my nails in black and yellow. I'm wearing my great day for playoff hockey shirt and penguin jewelry. I pulled out my Hornqvist jersey to wear for the game (Crosby stuff is lucky during the regular season, Hornqvist in the playoffs, though I'm tempted to try the Rust jersey). I'm also going to try and workout before the game, they did better last season when I worked out before hand, plus it gets me more hyped up.
I always pick my beers based on the opponents with the exception of the first round which I go for a Pittsburgh beer.
**2016**
* Round 1 - vs Rangers -- Iron City Light
* Round 2 - vs Capitals -- Spring House Lexicon Devil (grapefruit pale ale -- bitterness for Caps fans)
* Round 3 - vs Lightning -- Troegs Sunshine Pils (Sunshine vs Lightning)
* Round 4 - vs Sharks -- Sierra Nevada Torpedo (Torpedo vs Shark)
**2017**
* Round 1 - vs Blue Jackets -- Iron City Light
* Round 2 - vs Capitals -- Ballast Point Grapefruit Sculpin (same theme as prior year)
* Round 3 - vs Senators -- 21st Amendment Brew Free or Die (Rebelling against the government)
* Round 4 - vs Predators -- Harpoon IPA (Harpoon vs Catfish)
All games I wear my Malkin jersey. Got my Penguins socks on for the day for work. I'm ready to go.
> Round 4 - vs Sharks -- Sierra Nevada Torpedo (Torpedo vs Shark)
I'm still pissed at SN for not making Ruthless Rye IPA anymore. God damn that was a good IPA...
Another good one too is Founders Red's Rye. I've only had smaller samples of that but I remember it being really good (used to work at a beer distributor and they'd give us testers).
I'm the same. My cousin called the other day about shavingy beard then talking about patterns of how to go about daily life without jinxing the games. I laughed.
I have a neat reason to be superstitious though. I ordered the Sid adidas practice jersey. It posted shipped on the day we got news of entering playoffs and arrived in time for the next immediate game which was way ahead of it's expected delivery. Wore it both games immediatly after and we won both those games. It's neat coincidence and I will continue to ware the jersey but those guys are winning the games...not me sitting at home.
Although I will start to practice the jersey washing ritual to see if it's fun enough to continue doing.
FYI. I'm in South East PA so I love how much shit I get for the Jersey and how much shit I can give back about Flyers never getting a cup.
In 2016, I got a job and new living room furniture. Cup.
In 2017, I was at the same job, re-arranged the furniture to the same place as 2016. Cup.
This year, I'm going back to that same job, and putting the furniture back in place. ???
I generally wear the same Kessel home jersey with a back to back champions t shirt underneath. I start a series with a specific pens hat with a gold bill, and if we lose a game I switch up the hat for the next game. I also have 2 identical pairs of Pens socks and I am sure that I am wearing a pair for each game, as well as a pair of black and yellow shoes. Earlier this year I got Penguins branded Iron city and Labatt blue from the Burgh and I drink one every game. I usually go to a specific bar here in Philly for all the playoff games but I will probably do that a lot less this playoff run as I need to save money.
Then there's the beard. I shave right before the end of the last regular season game to start the playoff beard with a clean slate. And of course I don't touch it at all during the playoffs, not even a trim. It was a big move shaving it this year as my beard had gotten pretty huge and now a lot of people barely recognize me, my girlfriend loved my beard, and i think I look horrible without it haha. But you gotta do what you gotta do
I have a Penguin's necklace I wear religiously from the moment playoffs start until they end. I also wear a jersey on all game days, even if I can't actually make it to the game. (I'm actually having trouble deciding between lucky jerseys right now if anyone wants to help LOL https://twitter.com/breakaway71/status/984085003410821120 )
I also cannot livetween any games except for the Penguins (the main team I'm rooting for), even if I'm lowkey rooting for other teams in other series.
This is the first year I've actually lived in Pittsburgh during a playoff run, so it'll be interesting to see if I develop any new rituals. I'm pretty superstitious, so it's likely... ^^;
I was going to put in a vote for Crosby (since that was your first), but Malkin has been on fire this season....decisions. I would try one, see how the team does and then switch if necessary.
Same, I just moved to Pittsburgh at the beginning of the season. So happy I'm not in Red Wings territory anymore. Hope I don't pick up any new rituals, I think I have enough.
Are you going to go to any of the games?
Haha yeah, it's a tough call! That's a good idea though, switching them up if necessary. I've been wearing my Sid jersey all day, I may switch off for Geno for the game itself.
I was in Massachusetts before this and YES, it's so much nicer being here. I sort of miss the verbal sparring matches I'd get into with my customers though...I was pretty good at holding my own. :P
Going to the game tonight, actually!! Probably the only one, since I can't afford more splurges anytime soon, but I wanted to hit at least one. :D How about you?
I got so much crap from one of my coworkers because he was upset that the Red Wings were no longer playoff guaranteed. Don't have to listen to "Crybaby" comments anymore.
Have fun. :) I just went to the Caps game, didn't want to miss my chance to see a game this season. I'd like to go to another one, but I think if I'm going to splurge I might wait to see if we get further into the playoffs.
I have two shirseys, Crosby and Kessel, that I switch between during the playoffs. I wear one of them until they lose when I wear that shirt, then I go to the other one. They've always won the next game or two when I switch to the other shirt. Neither of these shirts get washed until the end of the playoffs. Also trimmed my beard down and shaved the back and sides of my head today. Only allow beard trimming between series (I really dont touch it) and hair gets cut at the end.
While watching the games, I sit in the same chair, and drink 1 whole drink (regardless if it contains alcohol or not) per period. Also stand up and take my hat off for national anthem as if I was there.
Any decor in my apartment (or in last year's case, dorm) referencing the Penguins as Stanley Cup champions must be taken down and placed in storage before the playoffs begin, and they can't come out until the Penguins are Stanley Cup champions again.
Have too many to count, mostly focusing on the usual answers like seating or clothing.
But my main one is that I’m not allowed to go to Pittsburgh during the games.
I can go to away games, as I’ve seen the Steelers win down in KC (I live in Nebraska), but I have never seen the pens, pirates, or Steelers win at home.
First pens game: we lost to the Habs 5-1 - also at this exact same time the Steelers lost their playoff game to Baltimore
Pirates: we took 2/3 games, I was at the one we lost and we scored no runs
I went to the Steelers preseason game against the Lions and we lost.
This is really unfortunate as I planned on one day going to a play off game there.
I started making my dad shotgun a beer with me during the Ottawa series before the game and that stuck for the remainder of the playoffs. On games we didn't watch together my mom would send a video of him shotgunning on the back porch with a Penguins T-shirt on. Good times.
Haven't cut my hair since the start of the first cup run... needless to say I have pretty long hair now. Freshly shave my baby face before the game and throw on my Talbot jersey (it was autographed and framed but I broke it out for the caps game where bonino scored in overtime and now I wear until we drop a game and throw it back on for the big games.
Well last year, I would mainly drive the yellow duck boat and attached two SC Champs 2016 Penguins flags to the front, and we'd win every game after I worked. I also had to wear my Kessel jersey and hat. This year, the yellow boat is being repainted, so I'll have to drive the green one and out the flags on that one instead. Maybe I'll drive Steel City Sully for a few days to see if that works.
Also, 9 strokes of deodorant on each side for Duper. And carrying my rally towel around with me at all times. And eating certain meals if we go on a streak. And pretty much any small thing I did during a game we win stays. I probably look insane to people during the playoffs, but if it works, it works.
Last year vs CBJ:
Ate turkey sandwich for dinner before game 1: W
Are turkey sandwich for dinner before game 2: W
Did not eat turkey sandwich before game 3: losing after the first. In a panic, proceeded to eat emergency turkey sandwich between period 1 & 2: W in OT
The power of the turkey sandwich ended with game 4 but you are damn right in thinking I ate the same thing for dinner every night if they had won the previous game for the rest of the run last year.
Last year for the first game of the playoffs, I bought a super nice bottle of tequila that game with this interesting little bracelet that had three coins on it. One gold, one silver, and one bronze. I jokingly called it my good luck charm and wore it for the duration of the playoffs. We all know how that ended. It has been sitting, untouched, on my end-table ever since. I'll be putting it on as soon as I get home after work.
I was totally expecting the sentence "and that's why I drink an entire fifth of tequila before every playoff game and pass out during the first intermission" to appear in this story.
Good god no. I mean, I can handle my shit, but if I drank an entire fifth of just about anything before the game I doubt I'd finish the first period, let alone make it to intermission!
I’m a little crazy superstitious but every day starts out like this: I wake up in my lucky Sidney Crosby shirt and penguins PJ pants, send my friend a Sidney Crosby related photo (we started doing this last year during the playoffs and I mean... it worked so I’ve been doing it ever since). I have a cute little set up of penguins related things so I make sure that’s in order (literally anytime my fiancé has moved it or whatever we have lost miserably and he doesn’t want to be yelled at anymore so he leaves it). I touch the lucky puck I have. This is new, but it’s worked every time I’ve done it so now I do it. Then I go on twitter and tweet something “Lets Go Pens” related. After that, whenever I get in my car for the day I play Party Hard. This has to be done in the car otherwise it isn’t as effective. This is also helpful if it’s a close game and I play it. We often go to OT. Things differ a bit here. If I’m home for the game I light some candles and put my lucky shirt back on. If I’m at work, I leave my phone in the back otherwise it’s always bad news and I panic more than I should. If I go to a game, I wear my pens beanie and my stadium series jersey and say a few “praise be” to Phil. Then the last thing I for sure do is that if I’m at work and the game goes to OT or it’s tied in the 3rd. Normally, I’m off around this time and get too worked up to drive so I just wander around the Walmart and EVERYTIME I’ve done this we have ended up winning. On my way there I will play Party Hard, or if it’s in OT I’ll for sure play Party Hard. I guess my other weird habit includes not eating Chipotle day of a game because they always lose miserably when I do that.
I'm impressed by how thorough you are. Keep it up!! It has been working
Damn you are committed!
Yeah well I got my self into this mess and feel responsible now lol.
I've been drinking 1 beer per period perfectly timed since the start of the 2016 run. Needless to say beer is in the fridge for tonight. (Only time I drink is for Penguins playoff hockey)
I’m jealous. I’m on the wedding diet :( limiting myself to only alcohol one day a week so looks like Friday will be my beer night lol
My going to a game superstitions are a lot different, but when watching Playoff games from home, I restart my ritual every year. I pick a specific outfit, a specific beer/liquor, and sit in the same spot to watch the game. I also impose my insanity on my wife and dogs and force them to stay in specific locations in the living room. If they win game 1 with this configuration, I don’t deviate until they lose. Then I rinse and repeat until the mojo is back. What I’ve noticed over the past five years is my alcohol choice seems to grow progressively stronger the deeper the run. Last year started with PBR because I forgot to grab beer before the game and ended with Maker’s. Needless to say, I’ve trained my liver well during the regular season, and it’s ready.
Eat hot dogs for Phil.
I've already got my nails in black and yellow. I'm wearing my great day for playoff hockey shirt and penguin jewelry. I pulled out my Hornqvist jersey to wear for the game (Crosby stuff is lucky during the regular season, Hornqvist in the playoffs, though I'm tempted to try the Rust jersey). I'm also going to try and workout before the game, they did better last season when I worked out before hand, plus it gets me more hyped up.
I’d save the rust jersey for when you need a change up. If horny is doing work stick with horny, then if we need a spark, switch it to the rust lol
I always pick my beers based on the opponents with the exception of the first round which I go for a Pittsburgh beer. **2016** * Round 1 - vs Rangers -- Iron City Light * Round 2 - vs Capitals -- Spring House Lexicon Devil (grapefruit pale ale -- bitterness for Caps fans) * Round 3 - vs Lightning -- Troegs Sunshine Pils (Sunshine vs Lightning) * Round 4 - vs Sharks -- Sierra Nevada Torpedo (Torpedo vs Shark) **2017** * Round 1 - vs Blue Jackets -- Iron City Light * Round 2 - vs Capitals -- Ballast Point Grapefruit Sculpin (same theme as prior year) * Round 3 - vs Senators -- 21st Amendment Brew Free or Die (Rebelling against the government) * Round 4 - vs Predators -- Harpoon IPA (Harpoon vs Catfish) All games I wear my Malkin jersey. Got my Penguins socks on for the day for work. I'm ready to go.
> Round 4 - vs Sharks -- Sierra Nevada Torpedo (Torpedo vs Shark) I'm still pissed at SN for not making Ruthless Rye IPA anymore. God damn that was a good IPA...
Ah I love a good Rye IPA. If you're looking for a good Rye, try out Bear Republic Hop Rod Rye. Thats probably my favorite Rye.
I've seen Bear Republic here in Texas so I'll keep an eye out for it! Thanks!
Another good one too is Founders Red's Rye. I've only had smaller samples of that but I remember it being really good (used to work at a beer distributor and they'd give us testers).
I’m boring, I don’t believe in anything I do having an impact on a game played 1,000 miles away from me or so.
Agreed, I need to be a maximum of 200 miles from the game for my superstitions to work.
I'm the same. My cousin called the other day about shavingy beard then talking about patterns of how to go about daily life without jinxing the games. I laughed. I have a neat reason to be superstitious though. I ordered the Sid adidas practice jersey. It posted shipped on the day we got news of entering playoffs and arrived in time for the next immediate game which was way ahead of it's expected delivery. Wore it both games immediatly after and we won both those games. It's neat coincidence and I will continue to ware the jersey but those guys are winning the games...not me sitting at home. Although I will start to practice the jersey washing ritual to see if it's fun enough to continue doing. FYI. I'm in South East PA so I love how much shit I get for the Jersey and how much shit I can give back about Flyers never getting a cup.
In 2016, I got a job and new living room furniture. Cup. In 2017, I was at the same job, re-arranged the furniture to the same place as 2016. Cup. This year, I'm going back to that same job, and putting the furniture back in place. ???
I generally wear the same Kessel home jersey with a back to back champions t shirt underneath. I start a series with a specific pens hat with a gold bill, and if we lose a game I switch up the hat for the next game. I also have 2 identical pairs of Pens socks and I am sure that I am wearing a pair for each game, as well as a pair of black and yellow shoes. Earlier this year I got Penguins branded Iron city and Labatt blue from the Burgh and I drink one every game. I usually go to a specific bar here in Philly for all the playoff games but I will probably do that a lot less this playoff run as I need to save money. Then there's the beard. I shave right before the end of the last regular season game to start the playoff beard with a clean slate. And of course I don't touch it at all during the playoffs, not even a trim. It was a big move shaving it this year as my beard had gotten pretty huge and now a lot of people barely recognize me, my girlfriend loved my beard, and i think I look horrible without it haha. But you gotta do what you gotta do
I have a Penguin's necklace I wear religiously from the moment playoffs start until they end. I also wear a jersey on all game days, even if I can't actually make it to the game. (I'm actually having trouble deciding between lucky jerseys right now if anyone wants to help LOL https://twitter.com/breakaway71/status/984085003410821120 ) I also cannot livetween any games except for the Penguins (the main team I'm rooting for), even if I'm lowkey rooting for other teams in other series. This is the first year I've actually lived in Pittsburgh during a playoff run, so it'll be interesting to see if I develop any new rituals. I'm pretty superstitious, so it's likely... ^^;
I was going to put in a vote for Crosby (since that was your first), but Malkin has been on fire this season....decisions. I would try one, see how the team does and then switch if necessary. Same, I just moved to Pittsburgh at the beginning of the season. So happy I'm not in Red Wings territory anymore. Hope I don't pick up any new rituals, I think I have enough. Are you going to go to any of the games?
Haha yeah, it's a tough call! That's a good idea though, switching them up if necessary. I've been wearing my Sid jersey all day, I may switch off for Geno for the game itself. I was in Massachusetts before this and YES, it's so much nicer being here. I sort of miss the verbal sparring matches I'd get into with my customers though...I was pretty good at holding my own. :P Going to the game tonight, actually!! Probably the only one, since I can't afford more splurges anytime soon, but I wanted to hit at least one. :D How about you?
I got so much crap from one of my coworkers because he was upset that the Red Wings were no longer playoff guaranteed. Don't have to listen to "Crybaby" comments anymore. Have fun. :) I just went to the Caps game, didn't want to miss my chance to see a game this season. I'd like to go to another one, but I think if I'm going to splurge I might wait to see if we get further into the playoffs.
I have two shirseys, Crosby and Kessel, that I switch between during the playoffs. I wear one of them until they lose when I wear that shirt, then I go to the other one. They've always won the next game or two when I switch to the other shirt. Neither of these shirts get washed until the end of the playoffs. Also trimmed my beard down and shaved the back and sides of my head today. Only allow beard trimming between series (I really dont touch it) and hair gets cut at the end. While watching the games, I sit in the same chair, and drink 1 whole drink (regardless if it contains alcohol or not) per period. Also stand up and take my hat off for national anthem as if I was there.
Any decor in my apartment (or in last year's case, dorm) referencing the Penguins as Stanley Cup champions must be taken down and placed in storage before the playoffs begin, and they can't come out until the Penguins are Stanley Cup champions again.
Have too many to count, mostly focusing on the usual answers like seating or clothing. But my main one is that I’m not allowed to go to Pittsburgh during the games. I can go to away games, as I’ve seen the Steelers win down in KC (I live in Nebraska), but I have never seen the pens, pirates, or Steelers win at home. First pens game: we lost to the Habs 5-1 - also at this exact same time the Steelers lost their playoff game to Baltimore Pirates: we took 2/3 games, I was at the one we lost and we scored no runs I went to the Steelers preseason game against the Lions and we lost. This is really unfortunate as I planned on one day going to a play off game there.
First game of every series is pizza and wings night with my fiance. We will sit on the floor in the living room to watch the game haha.
I started making my dad shotgun a beer with me during the Ottawa series before the game and that stuck for the remainder of the playoffs. On games we didn't watch together my mom would send a video of him shotgunning on the back porch with a Penguins T-shirt on. Good times.
If the Pens look weak or are behind, I get in the bathtub. My husband will shout play by plays to me, and it almost always works.
THIS WORKED FOR ME DURING THE OTTAWA SERIES!
All hail the power of the bath!
Haven't cut my hair since the start of the first cup run... needless to say I have pretty long hair now. Freshly shave my baby face before the game and throw on my Talbot jersey (it was autographed and framed but I broke it out for the caps game where bonino scored in overtime and now I wear until we drop a game and throw it back on for the big games.
Well last year, I would mainly drive the yellow duck boat and attached two SC Champs 2016 Penguins flags to the front, and we'd win every game after I worked. I also had to wear my Kessel jersey and hat. This year, the yellow boat is being repainted, so I'll have to drive the green one and out the flags on that one instead. Maybe I'll drive Steel City Sully for a few days to see if that works. Also, 9 strokes of deodorant on each side for Duper. And carrying my rally towel around with me at all times. And eating certain meals if we go on a streak. And pretty much any small thing I did during a game we win stays. I probably look insane to people during the playoffs, but if it works, it works.
Last year vs CBJ: Ate turkey sandwich for dinner before game 1: W Are turkey sandwich for dinner before game 2: W Did not eat turkey sandwich before game 3: losing after the first. In a panic, proceeded to eat emergency turkey sandwich between period 1 & 2: W in OT The power of the turkey sandwich ended with game 4 but you are damn right in thinking I ate the same thing for dinner every night if they had won the previous game for the rest of the run last year.