Published: October 12, 2008 12:00 am            

Sooner superstitions

DALLAS -- Jay Jones tried his best, but he couldn't help the Sooner football team win Saturday.

The Sooner fan left the stadium and purchased a corn dog on the other side of the fairgrounds. Then he hurried back to the Cotton Bowl, finishing off his corn dog by the time he got back to his seat for the start of the third quarter.

"It didn't work this year," said Jones of Louisville, Ky.

Jones' corn dog ritual always led to a Sooner victory against Texas in the past, he said. He said he even resisted the temptation to buy a gordita instead, believing he must make his purchase count.

Many football fans have superstitions, whether they last for only a few games or are more deeply rooted.

A recent study showed that the feeling of lack of control contributed to people's finding patterns that didn't exist, which leads to superstitious behavior like wearing lucky shirts or going through elaborate rituals. The study was published in the journal Science by Jennifer Whitson of the University of Texas.

With such high stakes as the No. 1 versus No. 5 team at the Cotton Bowl Saturday, Sooner fans were doing everything they could to help their team.

After the game, Sooner fan Tonie Waller of Ada said he may have contributed to the Sooner loss. His son normally comes to the OU-Texas game and wears a lucky hat.

"He didn't come to the game," Waller said. "I came instead, so I'll have to blame it on him."

Virginia Manchester of Norman normally sits with her husband, son and daughter-in-law at football games. She said her son encouraged her to switch the seating for the game against Texas.

"We have to sit in a different order than the Florida State game, because we lost (that one)," Manchester said before the game Saturday.

Beth Edwards of Moore said her husband Tom is also sometimes superstitious about football.

"If he has a lucky hat, he wears it 'til we lose," she said.

But she said she supports anything that could possibly give the Sooners an edge over their archrivals the Longhorns.

"Anything that'll help, we're all for it," she said. "You never know what it is. We need the magic at all times."

Julianna Parker 366-3541 jparker@normantranscript.com

        

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