Is Luck A Glossy Word For Safety?

Let me kick this off by saying I know pretty much nothing about sports. But as previously discussed I love a bandwagon and when lots of people are watching and talking about the same thing, it lights up my little world no end.

To be fair, the event doesn’t even have to be happening in the UK. I have recently found myself fairly interested in The Knicks, but I use that term very loosely. In fact I will rephrase it. I have found myself enjoying the Instagram content of Kylie Jenner and other celebrities at the Knicks games. And also the further proof that Kylie and Jordyn are now friends again. If you have no clue what that last sentence meant, do not fear as this is not a blog on celebrity gossip, it’s about how superstition sits within sports and is not just taken ever so seriously but massively celebrated and encouraged.

Jordyn Woods is engaged to a player called Karl-Anthony Towns. And every game since the start of the play-offs, Jordyn has attended with an orange ostrich clutch, a custom version of her own brand’s Tux Clutch Mini. And every game they have won.

Coincidence? Probably.

Now, as I said the court side is what I care about, but I’ve come to realise I actually do want The Knicks to win because that’s who Kylie Jenner’s boyfriend supports and they are also the team that appear on my For You page most.

So when on Monday June 9th it was announced that due to security measures no bags were allowed in Madison Square Gardens, my algorithm provided me with the uproar that followed. The worst part? The reason for the heightened security measures was because a certain orange politician was attending.

It wasn’t just the girls that went wild.

This meant Jordyn couldn’t take her bag.

Like any true fashion focused queen though she created a work around and supported her man and his teammates wearing a custom pair of orange ostrich heels from her own line, Woods by Jordyn, a footwear echo of her lucky clutch.

And they lost. The streak was ended.

So for the next game on Wednesday 11th June, you’ve got to give it to them, they put in the hours with these games, there was to be no restrictions on bags and the lucky clutch could return!

And they won! Go Knicks!

So, does the bag actually hold the power? For a spectator like me, it comes across as it does. I don’t know if the plays were better or the other team’s defence was weaker, but what I do know is the bag was there!

It’s by no means the first time that superstitions in sports have been accepted  and considered to some extent as logical. Iwan Thomas had to put his left foot in his socks, shoes and even through his pant leg on a race day, Serena Williams has to bounce the ball five times before her first serve and twice before her second and John Terry had to park his car in the same spot in the stadium car park, as well as listen to the same Usher CD and even perfected his superstitions to the point of always using the same urinal. Some would call it dedication. But why is this celebrated in sports yet a concern in everyday life?

Why is doing whatever can possibly bring you luck for a game seen as fun and everyone gets behind it, yet following a compulsion that your brain tells you is for safety seen as a mental health issue?

Is Laura Kenny’s (incredible Olympic cyclist and girl crush of many, including me) need to step on a wet towel before she leaves the room for a race any different to someone who needs to turn the light switch off and on seven times before they leave a room for work?

Are all superstitions a form of OCD and as a society we accept the ones that serve us as fans, but if you worked with John Terry and was stuck behind him in the car park as he waited for the same space everyday would it piss you off?

If The Knicks had won on Monday without Jordyn’s bag being in the building would anyone ever mention it again? Or do we just cling to every possible bit of joy we get to be a part of these days that we do everything we can to maintain it?

Do the rest of the players on the team get annoyed that they are working and training ever so hard, but Town’s fiancé rocks up with a clutch bag and gets thanked on social media no end?

Is luck a glossy word for safety?

Maybe the difference is that one version of superstition wins trophies, medals and tournaments and the other just wins peace of mind?

Or maybe we’re all just trying to convince ourselves we have a little more control than we really do?

Either way, I am looking forward very much to the next game (don’t know when it is) and yea, Go Knicks!