Lancer Athletes Share Their Pre-game Rituals

Everybody who plays a sport has one. Whether it is listening to their favorite song in the locker room or eating a certain meal an hour before the game, every player has a game day ritual that makes them feel just right before they get on the field. Micheal Jordan wore his old North Carolina basketball shorts under his Chicago Bulls uniform when he played in the NBA, NFL linebacker Brian Urlacher eats two chocolate chip cookies before every game, and LeBron James always does his famous talcum powder toss before every tip off.

Professional athletes aren’t the only ones who do something special before games to make them feel better before taking the field. The football team plays Marvin Gaye’s “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” in the locker room after every win.  A couple players have their own routines that help them get ready before kickoff. Junior Elliot Faerber, statistically the best wide receiver in Kansas, drinks a gallon of lemonade from Chick-fil-A on game days. Faerber also likes to play with his two dogs Riley and Nolan and toss a medicine with his mom to get relaxed before leaving for the game. On his way to the game, Faerber wears a yellow throwback Philadelphia Eagles jersey, which he believes is good luck.

Faerber’s teammate, sophomore Patrick Blackburn, listens and dances to ‘Take It Off” by Ke$ha in the team’s locker room before every game to get himself pumped for every game.

“After I get all my pads on I like to put the song on and get pumped,” Blackburn said. “I know the words perfectly so I sing along as I get ready for the game.”

Other players like senior wide receiver Grant Ellis do small things during the game. Ellis spits on his gloves and slaps them together every time he runs on the field. Even if his laces are on tight, at halftime he reties them just to get it off his mind.

“It’s just small stuff I do during a game that gets me focused,”  Ellis said.

The soccer team had their own pregame ritual. Some of the players went over to senior defender Cam Smith’s house to watch episodes of their favorite show, Gangland.

“It is a badass show and gets us really pumped before every game,” sophomore Tyler Rathbun said.

Three members of the team would have a pregame pee to help them relax before games. After stretching with the team, Smith,  Rathbun and junior Jeremy Young would go to the bathroom at the same time and in the same order. Rathbun took the far left urinal,  with Young in the middle, and Smith in the far right. After they were done, the three raced back to their teammates. Rathbun saw the routine as good luck and says the three of them did it before almost every game during the season.

Young also drank Crystal Light energy packets before every game. Ever since eighth grade, Young has drank a bottle of the energy drink, which has the equivalent amount of caffeine as two 20 oz. Dr. Peppers, on the way to games.

“It wires me before the game starts,” Young said. “If I’m feeling tired, I down a bottle to feel ready for the game.”

Senior goalkeeper Chris Melvin liked to wet his gloves with water before he left for the game and right before the game started.

“It makes my gloves feel a lot softer and I feel like I play a lot better when I wet them,” Melvin said.

The soccer team celebrated every win by enjoying a post game meal at the players’ favorite restaurant, Chipotle. After games, senior Spencer Jarrold always ordered a chicken burrito with corn, salsa and sour cream, which he calls the taste of victory.

“I don’t usually order that kind of burrito, but I like to save it for when we win,” Jarrold said. “When I bite into the burrito and taste the spiciness of the chicken and salsa, I can taste our sweet success.”

It isn’t just the players that have superstitions. Head coach Jamie Kelly, along with the rest of the coaching staff, never wears his blue polo to the games. The superstition began when Kelly wore his blue polo to the KAMO tournament. The Lancers lost both of their games in the tournament. A few weeks later, one of their assistant coaches wore a blue polo to the Blue Valley Northwest game where the team once again were defeated.

“After losing that game to Northwest, none of the coaches wore a blue polo to the game,” Kelly said.

Even though none of these superstitions or pregame rituals ever give a team an advantage over an other, they play a significant role. Melvin didn’t get an advantage over other players when he poured water on his gloves before games, but he couldn’t imagine a game not doing it.

“If I don’t wet them they just don’t feel the same,” Melvin said. “It’s something that just bugs you all  90 minutes of the match. I don’t think not doing it would make us lose the game, but it’s not worth the risk.”