In El Salvador (and from what I understand about a lot of latino nations and people), they were extremely superstitious. Here are some of the truths of the world, according to them:

• You could catch a cold if you showered at night
• Hot water showers in the morning would give you a cold
• If you have pink eye, you need to find a brown egg from one of your chickens, then put it in a little cup underneath a hammock. Sleep in that hammock above that egg overnight, then in the morning, crack open that egg (it should be red now, not yellow). Repeat until red. You're cured.
• Lemon and salt will cure anything (except for pink eye, apparently). Throw in a little honey if those two don't work by themselves.

I could talk about some of the superstitions of Americans, but we already know those. Each year when the Spurs get to the playoffs, I start to remember that my personal actions impact their performance, and whether or not they'll [continue to] win.

Nick Hornby wrote a great book called Fever Pitch about the role English Premier League soccer played in his life. One chapter is especially excellent in how it talks about superstitions with regards to sports. I wish I could find it and repost it here for you to read. Truly funny.

Well, not unlike Salvadoreño people, I happen to have some fairly irrational superstitions that have caused the Spurs to be successful in the past:

• Eat a coconut, macadamia nut cookie from a specific bakery during the second half, preferably while watching the game with my brother.
• At successful moments (crucial 3-pointers, etc) late in the game, run half way up to my brother's home (we used to live a floor apart in the same stairwell) and give him a little high five while saying “Go Spurs!”
• Wear my “Manu es el HOMBRE” t-shirt while watching the game
• Don't wash said shirt, since they haven't lost since I last washed it, despite getting salsa spilled on it before the first game of the 6 game (and counting) winning streak.
• Say “Manu es el hombre” while patting (once) the printed words on that shirt (it's a very lucky and finicky shirt—requires lots of attention).
• Wear my “GO SPURS GO” bracelet
• Don't watch the game live, but delayed about an hour
• Wear my Spurs belt buckle
• Drink water from my Spurs mug at least once during the day of the game
• Never believe they're actually going to win until the game is over.
• Don't tell anybody about the current good luck actions. Only after it is no longer important should they be disclosed (hence this posting a week after the end of the season).

I'm not sure how I can hold anything against anybody that whole hammock-sleeping-over-the-brown-egg thing when I do some of those things. I know some of you do similar things, although maybe not for sports, but for other things.

Let's hear it.