Custom-made karma

By JOEY KNIGHT, Times Staff Writer
Published September 13, 2007

For most athletes, success is predicated on routine.

Few can attain their mental optimum without zealous allegiance to the creatures-of-habit notion, which might be a fancy way of calling them superstitious.

Of course, this is hardly a new concept.

We hear all the time of competitors - be they swimmers, setters or strong tackles - eating the same pre-event meal, wearing the same outfit on game days or reciting the same Shakespearean sonnet at the starting line.

But what might come as a surprise are some of the superstitions - ranging from the hokey to the hygienically challenged - observed by prep athletes and coaches in our own back yard.

Here are some we've learned about, with their level of effectiveness (on a 1-10 scale), with a few honorable mentions on the Web.

Mike Flynn, Tampa Prep volleyball coach

On match days, Flynn closes his office door and, while going through his pre-match checklist, puts on the soundtrack to Rudy. And no, Flynn didn't go to Notre Dame. "I just like that story," he said. "I like overachievers."

Level of effectiveness: 3. Though still a county power, the Terrapins fell in four games Tuesday at home to rival Berkeley Prep, their sixth consecutive loss to the Buccaneers.

East Lake boys golf team

After each victory, the Eagles go out for chicken wings, with coach Terry O'Reilly springing for the first 50. "I started the wings after we won the (Pinellas County Athletic Conference) championship two years ago," said the coach, who acknowledges the gastronomic routine is purely superstitious.

Level of effectiveness: 9. The Eagles, 9-0 entering a four-team meet Wednesday, remain as hot as the sauce on their postmatch poultry. In a meet last week at Clearwater Country Club, the defending Class 2A, District 12 champs shot the lowest nine-hole round in school history (146).

Dean Lofton, Gulf cross-country/track coach

In deference to his late father, local football coaching icon Wilbur Lofton, the veteran Bucs coach doesn't wear school colors (green and white) on race days. "(Wilbur) didn't wear school colors on game night. I just felt I should do the same thing," Dean Lofton said. "One time I remember we were at the regional meet, and all I had was a Gulf High T-shirt and I wore it, and the kids made me turn it inside out."

Level of effectiveness: 7. Erase the one-point losses to Wesley Chapel in the past two Sunshine Athletic Conference meets, and Lofton's girls cross-country team has dominated the SAC this decade.

Matt Eastman, Armwood fullback

A burly (216 pounds) bearded junior, Eastman doesn't kiss his girlfriend, Amie Lyons, on game days because he says he wants to stay focused. "She hates me for it," he said.

Level of effectiveness: 9. Abstinence rules! In his first varsity start two weeks ago against defending Class 4A state champ Plant, Eastman ran for 82 yards in a 26-7 triumph.

Trent Silver, Jesuit golfer

In his bag, the Tigers junior keeps a necklace with three multi-colored stones known as the "Eye of Naga," which, according to legend, are Buddhist relics. Silver bought the stones on eBay for $25.

Level of effectiveness: 3. According to teammate Jack Twomey, Silver made everyone touch the necklace before a recent tournament in Orlando, where Jesuit finished eighth out of 12 teams. While the Tigers trounced rival Tampa Catholic by 25 strokes Monday, Silver shot only 40. "My team hates it," Silver said. "They think it's unlucky."

Countryside swim team

According to veteran coach Ian O'Neil, the team employs a no-shave policy in the days - and sometimes weeks - leading up to big meets. Girls don't shave their legs, O'Neil said, and guys don't shave anything. The reasoning: Learning to swim fast with a hairy body will make the Cougars that much more hydro-dynamic the day of the meet, at which time they are clean-shaven. "It just helps them with the drag in the water, but the whole team has to do it," O'Neil said. "It's part of a ritual that we've always done."

Level of effectiveness: 8. Shag is in. The Cougar girls were runnersup at last season's Class 3A meet - the best finish in program history - and are heavily favored to win Saturday's PCAC meet.

John Castelamare, Wesley Chapel football coach

The Wildcats veteran coach typically rises at 4:33 each morning, but sleeps in until 4:40 on game days. Why the extra seven minutes? Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle, No. 7, was his favorite baseball player.

Level of effectiveness: 7. Though a step up in classification has hurt them in recent years, the Wildcats registered undefeated regular seasons in 2001 and '03, and earned another Class 3A district crown in '04.

Palm Harbor University boys swim team

Coach Lisa Bitting says the Hurricanes march from the locker room to the pool deck at each meet repeating the same cryptic chant. According to Bitting (and we're being phonetic here) it goes, Sicky socky, sicky socky, hoy, hoy, hoy. Don't ask the coach what it all means. "I don't know if I want to know," she said.

Level of effectiveness: 9. The 'Canes won conference, district and region titles last season, and placed second at the Class 3A meet.

Honorable mentions

Derek Winter, Plant receiver

Every game day, Winter wears the same socks (gray with little footballs on them), undershirt (a black cutoff) and underwear (yellow boxers with a football and the No. 5 on them).

Level of effectiveness: 10. Winter, whose 90 catches last season helped lead Plant to a state title, had five more receptions for 114 yards and two touchdowns in a 48-21 rout of Gaither on Friday.

Stephanie Socias, Academy of the Holy Names cross country

Though her pre-run diet fluctuates, Socias' staple of choice these days appears to be a peanut butter cracker.

Level of effectiveness: 9. Stock up on the Skippy. Socias won Tuesday evening's West Hillsborough Invitational with a personal-best time (21:12). The only reasons we don't give her a 10? The field for Tuesday's race wasn't terribly strong, and Socias hasn't been on the peanut butter kick very long.

[Last modified September 12, 2007, 21:54:21]