Superstitions - Episode 14

Summary

The Musers The Podcast – Episode 14: Superstitions

Date: September 24, 2025
Hosts: George Dunham, Craig “Junior” Miller, Gordon Keith
Theme:
This episode dives deep into the weird, funny, and sometimes neurotic world of superstitions—especially as they appear in daily life, sports, and childhood. The Musers share personal, sports-related, and cultural superstitions with their trademark blend of absurd humor, skepticism, and irresistibly relatable storytelling.

---

Main Theme & Purpose

The trio investigates just how superstitious people can be—even those who don’t consider themselves superstitious at all. With a spotlight on the number 13, black cats, lucky habits in sports, and wacky old wives’ tales, the Musers dissect why superstitions persist and whether they carry any real meaning or psychological benefit.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Letter of the Week from Singapore [02:32–04:30]

• New segment: “Letter of the Week” kicks off with a touching email from Liam, a longtime listener now living in Singapore.
• Global Musers fandom: The hosts marvel at their international audience, guessing about Singapore’s population and joking about their ignorance of geography.

2. Defining Superstition [05:21–06:37]

• Craig: Reads Webster’s definition: “a notion maintained despite evidence to the contrary.”
• The trio agree most superstitions clearly ignore any evidence and persist purely for psychological comfort—or irrational fear.

3. 13: The Unlucky Number [06:37–11:22]

• Craig: Admits to an intense aversion to the number 13. Won’t log a 13-mile bike ride, sit in row 13, or work on the 13th floor.
  • “If my ride is going to be exactly 13, I’ll ride around the block until I hit 14 because I refuse to write down 13 in my diary.” [07:04 – Craig]
• Hotels and floors: Discussion on skipping the 13th floor and how this “fixes” nothing.
• Sports tradition: In cycling, racers given the number 13 pin it on upside down to “drain the bad luck.”
• Notable athletes: Most who wore 13 (Dan Marino, Steve Nash, James Harden) famously didn’t win championships; a few exceptions noted (Wilt Chamberlain, A-Rod, Kurt Warner).
  • “I always admired the athlete who will have the balls to go out there and wear number 13.” [10:10 – Craig]
• Gordon’s skepticism: Dismisses the logic, finds the 13th floor workaround especially dumb.

4. Classic Superstitions: Black Cats, Mirrors, Pennies [11:22–13:07, 25:44–27:39, 27:39–32:31]

• George: Avoids black cats (“I have found myself… going in an opposite direction so I don’t have to cross the path of a black cat.” [11:56 – George])
• Gordon: Used to own a black cat named Salem (after the “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” character); says nothing ever bad happened.
• All agree: Superstitions aren’t rational but persist because “your stupid part says ‘what if?’” [13:30 – Gordon]
• Mirrors: Explores superstitions about breaking mirrors, two mirrors facing each other, and covering mirrors at night.
  • Gordon describes TikTok trends about covering mirrors and the “Bloody Mary” challenge. [25:57–27:17]

5. Sports-Related Superstitions [14:40–19:48, 22:36–23:56, 32:02–34:01, 46:31–47:12]

• Gordon: Claims “superstitions are bullshit,” but allows athletes get caught in rituals and routines due to the pressure for any advantage.
• Baseball: Most superstitious sport; examples include never stepping on foul lines or refusing to mention a no-hitter-in-progress.
  • “If you’re talking to a teammate, don’t say he has a no hitter…you say he has a mild sunburn going.” [15:54 – George]
• Watching sports: Both Craig and George admit to seat-changing, clothing-changing, and food rituals (like “rally M&Ms”) at home based on team success.
  • “If my team is playing poorly, I’ve gone into my room and changed clothing because clearly the shirt I have on is a bad luck shirt. So I need to reset.” [18:36 – Craig]
  • George wore the same shirt, pants, and shoes during a 25-game North Texas winning streak. (He did wash them.)
• Athlete routines vs. superstition: The line blurs—does a “lucky” routine enter OCD territory?

6. Everyday (and Oddball) Superstitions [25:44–32:31]

• Pennies: George must always pick up a penny for good luck; Gordon claims he does too for “karma.”
• Money:
  • $50 bills are “bad luck” (gangster Bugsy Siegel died with only $50 bills).
  • $2 bills, wheat pennies, buffalo nickels are “good luck.”
  • George: “You can’t give two $50s as a graduation gift! Double bad luck!”
• Golf: Marking the ball with a specific coin if it “worked” before.

7. Reciting and Mocking Lesser-Known Superstitions [34:11–36:33]

• Gordon reads off wild superstitions:
  • Never shake hands across a threshold.
  • Don’t let a broom touch anyone’s feet.
  • Whistling indoors invites evil.
  • Never cheer with water—especially in Germany.
  • Never play cards on an eating table (“invites the devil”).
  • Don’t step on sidewalk cracks (“break your mother’s back”).
  • Don’t open an umbrella indoors.
  • Hold your breath past graveyards.
  • Knock on wood for good luck—Craig insists it must be three knocks.

8. 666 and the Power of Bad Numbers [41:20–43:12]

• Craig: Also spooked by 666. Won’t fly on flight 666, take it as a race number, or even see it on his bike’s computer without feeling uneasy.
  • “If I see that it’s staring at me, it messes with me for the rest of the day.” [42:06 – Craig]
• George: Indifferent to 666.

9. Evidence vs. Superstition (The Jinx Effect) [43:23–45:11]

• George: Genuinely believes his presence or absence impacts Jordan Spieth’s golf results.
  • “Jordan Spieth plays better if I’m not watching.”
• Skirmish over whether the “evidence” supports superstitions (Craig’s examples: athletes who wore 13 didn’t win titles, George’s failed shots predicting Cowboys losses).

10. Rabbit’s Feet, Four-Leaf Clovers, and Wishing Well Logic [45:42–48:14]

• Gordon: Traces rabbit's feet to ancient Roman medicine for gout—not actual luck; says everything just gets “imbued with meaning.”
• Four-leaf clovers and other “lucky tokens” discussed and derided.

11. Letting Go (or Not) of Superstitions [48:14–51:05]

• George: Wants to “make an effort just to let some of this stuff go—but then what if something bad happens?”
• Craig & Gordon: If your superstition isn’t harming your life, let it ride; if it’s a burden, let it go.
• Gordon: Advises keeping a rational distance: “Just know that it’s kind of no big deal. I just do it. But just as long as you’re not really invested in the idea that this is making a difference cosmically in the world.” [49:14]
• Craig maintains that, with history’s false beliefs proving true later, you might as well keep your petty superstitions—just in case.

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the irrational persistence of superstitions:
  • “Your reasonable part of your brain understands that this is having no impact on my life. But your stupid part says, what if?” [13:30 – Gordon]
• On the number 13 and sports:
  • “I will never book a flight where my seat is in the 13th row ever…” [07:55 – Craig]
  • “I always admired the athlete who will have the balls to go out there and wear number 13.” [10:10 – Craig]
• On black cats:
  • “I’ve found myself going in an opposite direction so I don’t get near that black cat, which is so dumb.” [12:02 – George]
• On the value of superstitions:
  • “Superstitions are bullshit. That’s my entire list.”—[14:24 – Gordon]
• On athlete routines vs. OCD:
  • “Is it a routine, or is it superstition, or is it just pure OCD?” [23:56 – Craig]
• On letting go:
  • “I was about to say we should make an effort just to let some of this stuff go. But then what if something bad happens?” [48:19 – George]
• On pennies:
  • “I cannot walk by a penny and not pick it up. I will be bothered if I don’t.” [28:09 – George]
• On the “jinx” and sports fandom:
  • “I can’t tell you how many text chains I’ve been on...and I’ll say something like, wow, we haven’t had a turnover yet today…And then I’ll get hit up back immediately: you just jinxed us.” [16:58 – Craig]

---

Timestamps for Important Segments

• Letter from Singapore: 02:32–04:30
• Superstition definition & intro: 05:21–06:37
• Number 13 anxieties: 06:37–11:22
• Black cats & personal fears: 11:22–13:07
• Sports routines turn superstitious: 14:40–19:48
• Athlete rituals vs. OCD: 22:36–23:56
• Pennies, cash superstitions: 27:39–32:31
• Weirdest old-time superstitions: 34:11–36:33
• 666 and “evil” numbers: 41:20–43:12
• Fans’ influence and the “jinx” effect: 43:23–45:11
• Rabbit’s foot origin analyzed: 47:12–48:14
• Should we let go of superstitions? 48:14–51:05

---

Conclusion

The Musers’ take on superstitions is by turns skeptical, self-mocking, and weirdly affectionate. Whether it’s refusing to ride 13 miles, switching shirts at halftime, or meticulously avoiding sidewalk cracks, they illustrate how superstition is less about logic and more about comfort, ritual, and the human tendency to seek patterns—even if they’re absolutely absurd. In the end, if your quirks aren’t hurting anyone, maybe they are a little magic after all.

Remember: “It’s bad luck to miss a single episode of The Musers The Podcast.” [51:49 – Craig]

Transcript

[Kelly Clarkson]

It's Kelly Clarkson, here to talk all things Wayfair. The best place to buy furniture, decor, and anything else you can think of to create a home you absolutely love. I know when I shop with Wayfair, I find options for every style. Whether I'm feeling boho or farmhouse, modern, traditional, French country, I can find exactly what I need for my home and more. No matter your space, style, or budget. Shopwayfair.com to make your home way more you.

[Craig]

Wayfair. Every style, every home. So we're not going to do it this week in this episode, but I think we do owe the listeners at some point a full episode on the lyrics. I saw tiger, tiger saw.

[George]

Man, did y' all forget about.

[Craig]

What do you think?

[Gordon]

What is that from once and for all, I don't even know what that is. What is it?

[Craig]

Table talk. What do you guys think about doing an entire episode on that song?

[George]

I think we do about five seconds on it and that's all you can do. It's the dumbest song ever. I don't know why you guys are so hungry up on it.

[Gordon]

We need to see if we can get Joe Exotic on the show. Maybe he'll be. Now that I would be a great podcast guest.

[Craig]

He's still in prison.

[Gordon]

Yeah.

[George]

Yeah.

[Craig]

Can he do the show from prison?

[Gordon]

And then he pissed off because his twink divorced him while he was in prison?

[Craig]

Yes. All right, well, let's just all appreciate the richness of the lyrics. I saw Tiger, tiger saw man.

[Gordon]

The Musers, the podcast.

[George]

It's episode.

[Gordon]

Episode 14, superstitions.

[Craig]

Welcome to the Musers, the podcast. We are the Musers. I'm Craig.

[George]

I'm George.

[Gordon]

And I'm Gordon.

[Craig]

We've been doing a radio show in Dallas together for 30 years, and now we're trying our hand at podcasting. And this is episode 14. I don't think we're veterans yet, but my question is, how long do you have to podcast or how many podcasts do you have to do to be considered veteran podcasters a year? Yeah.

[Gordon]

I just don't know when the pension kicks in, when you're a rookie, fully vested.

[George]

Yeah, I wouldn't bank on that.

[Craig]

But what if you've podcasted for a year, but you've only done two in that year?

[George]

Yeah. Then you can't be a veteran.

[Gordon]

No.

[Craig]

So does it have to be either.

[Gordon]

A year or.

[Craig]

50 podcasts? Whichever comes first.

[George]

Seems like 14 is enough to call ourselves veterans. Let's go with veterans, podcasters, total veteran.

[Gordon]

Thank you for your service.

[Craig]

Well, 13 episodes are in the books and so far, thankfully, response has been pretty positive. Thank you for all the kind comments that have been posted on Apple and Spotify, and thanks for all the messages sent to us via social media and email. And speaking of email, before we get to our topic this week, Superstitions, we would like to introduce a new feature, the Letter of the Week.

[George]

Yay.

[Craig]

Note to advertisers, this spot available for sponsorship. This week's letter of the Week comes to us from a land far, far away. And you may have heard us in previous episodes mentioning our Singapore listeners. Well, because of how detailed you can get with podcast analytics these days, we are able to see that we have many listeners in different countries around the world. Turks and Caicos, Kuwait, the Maldives. We have listeners in Saudi Arabia, Andorra, Albania, Fiji. And we have about eight people in Singapore who download each episode. And this week we got an email from one of our Singapore listeners. Hello to the musers. My name is Liam and I am one of your much referenced listeners in Singapore. It tickles me to no end when that gets mentioned in an episode. While I may be your most remote listener, I am exceptionally familiar with you all. I grew up in Lake Highlands and I've been a P1 of your radio station my entire life and even attended the Ticket vs. Lake Highlands girls basketball game in which Corby wore tennis shoes and fell to the ground like a stack of marbles.

[George]

Sprained his ankle.

[Craig]

It was actually running shoes is why he fell to the ground, not tennis shoes. Thank you for your radio show and thank you for the podcasts. They remain my one everyday link to the town I grew up in. Signed, Liam.

[George]

Wow. How about that? From being a Lake Highlands wildcat all the way to Singapore.

[Gordon]

Where is Singapore? Is that the land down under? Which one is that one?

[Craig]

It's kind of close to the land down under. It's in southeastern Asia.

[Gordon]

Okay.

[Craig]

It's fairly tiny with a lot of islands, but not a huge footprint.

[Gordon]

What's the population of Singapore? Let's see if you can guess it.

[George]

Do you know it?

[Gordon]

I'm guessing it's under 3 million. Is that wrong?

[George]

I have no idea.

[Gordon]

I have no idea.

[George]

That sounds good. 3.5 million. How about that?

[Gordon]

Clueless I am about the world.

[Craig]

The population of Singapore is 6 million.

[Gordon]

Double what I said.

[George]

You didn't count, Liam. So Yeah, okay.

[Craig]

And 300 or 3 million others. You didn't count.

[George]

Yes, and them too.

[Gordon]

Indeed.

[Craig]

All right, that's our letter of the week. Thank you for reaching out, Liam. And if you'd like to email us, you can do so at this address. The Musers podmail.com the Muserspodmail.com all right, our topic for this episode, superstitions. I think this is going to be a fun ride because as I was thinking about this, I realized I'm probably more superstitious than I realized. According to Webster's a superstition is simply defined as a notion maintained despite evidence to the contrary. And most people, when they observe a superstition or adhere to a superstition, they probably ignore that last bit. Evidence to the contrary. Yeah. There being no evidence that this is a lucky number or that you have to walk this many steps or whatever it is. But when I was thinking about this, I decided to notice myself through the day and see what superstitions I have. And something came to me very, very quickly. And this is a very common one, but I have a superstition surrounding the number 13.

[George]

Really?

[Craig]

So a few episodes ago, I told you about my passion being bike riding. And I don't know how many times that I have ridden my bike. It's in the tens of thousands of bike rides. And after each ride I will always write down in my fitness diary or cycling diary how far I went and the time and how I felt and all of that. I will never ride 13 miles, ever. If I have ridden 12 and I'm exhausted, I will go, I will stop there or if I have, or I'll get it to 14. Like if my ride is going to take me home and it's going to be exactly 13, I'll ride around the block a few times until I have 14 because I refuse to go home and write down 13 in my diary.

[George]

Well, you're not alone because we found out some buildings, hotels will not have a 13th floor.

[Gordon]

Yeah, I think that's so stupid.

[George]

Yeah, it's never hit me. But I can't accuse you of being crazy because I'm about to tell you something that are just so dumb.

[Craig]

So here's another one with 13. I will never book a flight where my seat is in the 13th row ever.

[George]

Yeah, see, I've never thought about.

[Gordon]

I'll just take another flight.

[Craig]

I'll book the 12th. I'll book the 14th. Yeah. If it was. If the only seat available on a flight was in the 13th row, I wouldn't do it.

[George]

Did you used to freak out in our old office? We were on the 13th floor, right?

[Craig]

Hated it. Yeah.

[George]

Really?

[Craig]

Yeah, hated it. And I like when I get into a hotel and it goes from the 12th floor to the 14th floor, and there's no 13 or. Although in my mind, the 14th floor is still the 13th floor, number 13.

[George]

They're just not labeling.

[Gordon]

That's why it's so stupid that they do that. As a kid, when I was first told that, my dad told me that we were riding an elevator and I noticed there wasn't a 13 on it. He told me that because some people consider 13 a bad luck. Goes back to the Bible. And. Yeah, so they don't have a 13, but I said, if you count up there's a 13th floor, they're just mislabeling it. If you just mislabel something, then all the bad luck goes away. That doesn't make any sense, apparently.

[George]

Okay.

[Craig]

Yeah. And you know what they should do is they should leave the 13th floor just empty, but still have a 13th floor. But nobody stays on the 13th floor.

[Gordon]

Well, they should leave it empty except for they fill it with rabbit's feet for good luck.

[George]

Yeah. To counterbalance number 13.

[Craig]

You know, also back to the sport of cycling. In that sport, if somebody in a race is given the number 13, the tradition is to pin it on your back upside down.

[Gordon]

That sounds like more bad luck to me, But I don't know, I guess.

[Craig]

It'S like a horseshoe. It's draining the bad luck out of it if you pin it upside down. But I've had that happen before in races where I've gotten number 13 and I will pin it on upside down. I hate it. And I'm overly cautious during that race because I think I'm going to wipe out. But the odd thing is, with 13, Friday the 13th has never really bothered me. I will fly on a Friday the 13th.

[Gordon]

See, but that's supposed to be doubly bad luck.

[Craig]

Okay, I got a few more things on 13.

[George]

Okay.

[Craig]

Unless you got it. Is this about.

[George]

No, no. This is not 13.

[Craig]

No. Okay. I have also always admired athletes who wear the number 13 without it freaking them out.

[Gordon]

Stan Marino wore it, but didn't win a Super Bowl.

[Craig]

Never won a Super Bowl. Steve Nash wore it, never won an NBA title. James Harden never won an NBA title. Paul George never won an NBA title. The athletes that have worn 13 and somehow succeeded that I found were Wilt Chamberlain, although he only won two.

[George]

Yeah, that was kind of the knock on him that he didn't win more.

[Craig]

Right.

[Gordon]

But he had good luck off the floor, didn't he?

[George]

Yeah, yeah. More than 13.

[Craig]

A rod who, when he went to the Yankees started wearing 13, did win a title there.

[George]

Yeah.

[Craig]

And then Kurt Warner. But you could say that Kurt Warner, who did win a Super bowl wearing 13. He wasn't he in the Arena League, and maybe that's because he wore 13.

[Gordon]

What?

[George]

Okay, yeah, that's how he got started, I guess, was the Arena League.

[Craig]

But we have had a few athletes succeed, but the most famous are Marino and Nash, and they never won a title wearing 13. But I always admired the athlete who will have the balls to go out there and wear number 13. And it doesn't seem to bother them.

[George]

Another one that a rod. You may put this on his ledger. He had to eventually put up with JLo. So that was. Yeah, bad luck there.

[Gordon]

Yeah. And I think that was JLo's 13th marriage, so it's bad luck.

[George]

All right, I can't say anything to you about 13. Do you all freak out when you see the black cat on the side of the road or the street? Because I know.

[Gordon]

I do know.

[George]

And I have no evidence that says something bad happened to me after I saw the black cat. But it always freaks me out for at least, I don't know, half of that day as I'm waiting for something to receive bad news or something happen. And I have found myself going in an opposite direction. Even, like, going down a street and thinking, okay, I'm gonna take a left here so I don't have to either cross the path of that black cat.

[Gordon]

Or it's supposed to be them crossing your path crosses.

[George]

But I'm not going to give them that opportunity. I'm going to take a left here so I don't get near that black cat, which is so dumb.

[Craig]

I'm with you. I'll have a cat cross in front of me, and I will think about it in the moment, but it doesn't hang with me for the rest of the day.

[George]

You've never accelerated to try to hit one. That's really got to be bad luck.

[Gordon]

Have a black cat. I did, too. My beloved black cat, Salem.

[George]

I'm sorry. Oh, wow. What a spooky name.

[Gordon]

Well, he's named after Sabrina, the teenage witch, because a friend of mine did the voice of that cat on that show.

[George]

Okay.

[Gordon]

So we named him Salem to honor my friend.

[George]

How long did the cat live?

[Craig]

Good.

[Gordon]

14 years, probably.

[George]

Pretty good.

[Gordon]

Yeah. He's a great cat. Rescued him, found him as a little kitten out in front of the house.

[George]

Yeah, that's pretty good. But I. Again, I have no evidence that says.

[Gordon]

You know why? You don't really. Because there is no evidence, George.

[George]

I don't know. It's just been placed in my brain, though. Geez, stay away from black cats.

[Craig]

Yeah, it's just stupid. It doesn't hang with me. But I would prefer a white cat or Siamese cat or something else to cross my path.

[George]

Yeah, I'd be fine with that.

[Craig]

It's like with all of these. Yes. My reasonable part of my brain understands that this is having no impact on my life.

[Gordon]

But your stupid part says, what if? What if?

[Craig]

But the stupid part says, well, it doesn't cost you anything to not wear the number 13.

[Gordon]

Yes, it does. It costs you fear, paranoia, attention. That's the problem with superstitions. If you run that logic on all of these things. Because the list of superstitions is 400 miles long. Slight exaggeration. 1300 miles long. Yeah, that sounds what it is, more of an exaggeration. But yeah, if you start paying attention to every single one of them, it gets into that kind of weird OCD territory where you're having to watch your step and you're trying not to step on lines and you won't go behind a ladder and you're doing a bunch of stuff that you don't need to do. You're knocking on wood. You're saying gazoon tight and God bless you when someone sneezes, all that stupid stuff.

[George]

You don't have a dumb one.

[Gordon]

No, here's my list. Superstitions are bullshit. That's my entire list.

[George]

You don't have one.

[Gordon]

I don't have one.

[George]

Wow. Now, okay, maybe that's because it's because we're bigger sports fans than you. Because a lot of mine revolve. That we'll get into. Revolve around sports?

[Gordon]

Yes, because sports, for whatever reason, athletes. Because it's so, you know, it's. Every game is a game of millimeters, and so you're looking for any advantage. And so people get so in their heads about bad luck. That's why athletes are just so superstitious.

[George]

Yeah.

[Gordon]

And because they're superstitious, it passes on to you, the sports fan. That's why I avoid the whole thing and just don't watch sports.

[George]

Baseball's the. As far as the participants, they're the worst about it.

[Craig]

Yes, for sure.

[George]

Stepping on lines.

[Craig]

Yeah.

[George]

When you get out of a slump.

[Craig]

Or when you walk onto a field, you can't step on the foul line. That is seen as bad luck. So you'll see tons of players do this and they jump over the foul line or something like that. I think that's because there's more downtime in baseball. You're sitting around, think about it a lot. You're standing around a lot. In fact, most of the time, if it's a two and a half hour baseball game, you're probably in action. Only 20 minutes of that.

[George]

Yeah.

[Craig]

So you've just got so much downtime. But yeah, there's the not stepping on a foul line. There's the don't talk to the pitcher if he's got a no hitter going.

[George]

Yeah. You can't even talk to him. And if you're talking to a teammate, don't say that he has a no hitter.

[Craig]

Right.

[George]

A major leaguer once told me, you say he has a mild sunburn going right now. A mild sunburn? Yeah. You don't say anything about he hadn't allowed a hit.

[Gordon]

Does that just mean he's been out of the mound a long time?

[George]

I guess so. I don't know.

[Gordon]

I don't know where it came from.

[George]

Jeff Russell told me that X Ranger.

[Gordon]

Pitcher, now I get not talking to the pitcher because you don't want to get in his, distract him in any way.

[George]

Hey, you're through six.

[Gordon]

But it has nothing to do with, you know, you affecting the energy of the universe that's going to cause him to lose his no hitter.

[George]

But it even seems like it spills over to the announcers that they don't want to talk about the fact that if they're the home team announcers because.

[Gordon]

They don't want to get blamed. This is all trying to avoid the mob mentality of stupid people.

[George]

That's why fans would get mad at him.

[Gordon]

Fans will get mad, but I bet.

[George]

I bet the player would get mad at him. What? You said I had a no hitter in the fifth.

[Gordon]

Yeah. So you're to blame for me losing it, not the fact that I served one up right over the middle and.

[George]

You gave us a free run homer, not me.

[Craig]

I can't tell you how many text chains I've been on with friends watching various sporting events and I will say something like, wow, we haven't had a turnover yet today. Or wow, our guy's got a no hitter going. And then I'll get hit up back immediately. You just jinxed us.

[Gordon]

Yeah, sports fans. I love being the guy that jinxed us.

[George]

And when we talked about doing this, I thought, you know, I'm really not superstitious. But then I found myself this past weekend and I've done this and I know Craig has too, throughout cheering for a team, especially if you're watching the game at home and they're not having very good luck. If you're sitting on the couch, then you go sit on another chair.

[Craig]

Yes.

[George]

I found myself doing that this weekend watching my son's team, because two weeks ago, when I sat in this chair, they did better. So I went and sat in that chair. Sure enough, they did do better. See, it works. And you feel like, I guess it's almost beyond superstitions, like you're doing your part as a fan. Yeah, and I felt that way watching my kids in sports, whether it was my oldest playing golf, I was very leery of what I would wear wear to the golf tournament. Watching my other sons play football. We had a seating chart in the family. And if it wasn't working, then I'd say, hey, you switch. You sit there and then. Yeah, okay, let's see if that works. Rally cookies at halftime. Rally M and Ms. At halftime. If they were down, those seem to work pretty well.

[Gordon]

What are rally M&M's?

[George]

Just doing my part because if I didn't, I was very superstitious that it wouldn't work out.

[Craig]

Yeah, I'm the same way I have at halftime. If my team is playing poorly, I've gone into my room and changed clothing because clearly the shirt I have on is a bad luck shirt. So I need to reset. It's called resetting.

[George]

Yeah, it's a reset.

[Craig]

And you're right. You can't send in a play. You can't take the ball and run with it. You can't swing the bat, whatever it is. So you're trying to do your part as a fan by impacting the collective energy in the universe, the sports energy. And you can very well do that by changing clothing or changing your position. Sometimes if sitting is bad luck, I'll stand up by the TV and watch. And if you change something like that, change a position and then your team starts playing well, then you will stay in that position the rest of the game.

[George]

Absolutely. And then speaking of clothing, for a conference winning streak, back when I was doing North Texas, they won 25 straight Sunbelt games. I wore the same shirt, same pants, and same shoes to all of those conference wins. Did you wash them until. Yes, I washed them. Kept them clean.

[Gordon]

You're not. You're not supposed to wash them.

[George]

I would only take it so far. And then once they lost, I didn't wear it anymore.

[Craig]

Right, that makes sense.

[George]

The good luck was gone.

[Gordon]

Yeah, but you were wearing it when they lost.

[George]

Yeah, but not the previous 25 to 1 that's pretty good record.

[Craig]

Well, and that's because the good luck ran out, right?

[George]

Yeah. Something's only going to have luck for so long.

[Gordon]

It's unfaucked.

[George]

Whether it's a shirt or a package of M and Ms, they're only going to be good for a couple of games or a couple of quarters.

[Craig]

Yeah, that's obvious.

[Kelly Clarkson]

It's Kelly Clarkson here to talk all things Wayfair. The best place to buy furniture, decor and anything else you can think of to create a home you absolutely love. I know when I shop with Wayfair, I find options for every style. Whether I'm feeling boho or farmhouse, modern, traditional French country, I can find exactly what I need for my home and more. No matter your space, style or budget. Shopwayfair.com to make your home way more.

[Craig]

You Wayfair Every style, every home football.

[George]

Is back, and underdog is the best place to make picks and win money all season long. Playing underdog is easy. Just pick whether your favorite player will go higher or lower on stats like receiving yards, interceptions and more. In tomorrow's game, I'm taken higher on Josh Allen's passing yards. Also like Dalton Kincaid going higher than 30.5 receiving yards. Download the app today and sign up with the promo code musers to score 50 doll in bonus funds when you play your first $5. That's promo code MUSERS. Millions have won billions making picks on Underdog. Will you be next Underdog make picks win money must be 18 or older, 19 or older in Alabama and Nebraska, 19 or older in Colorado. For some games 21 or older in Arizona, Massachusetts and Virginia and present in a state where underdog fantasy operates, terms apply. See assets.underdogfantasy.com web playandgettermsdfs.HTML for details offer not valid in Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Concerned with your play? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit www.NCPCambling.org. in New York, call the 247 Hope Line at 1 or text Hope and why to 467369.

[Gordon]

Okay, now superstitions, they do work on your own mentality. Like it's an outward sign of an inner invisible. Grace is what we used to say in the church. So if you do a ritual, you can affect your own mentality. So if it's your performance that you're doing and you have to do certain things that you feel help get you in the zone like that, that's okay. I think that that's okay and acceptable to a certain point because if it gets you. If it makes you a head case, then obviously it's starting to get detrimental to you.

[George]

Yeah.

[Gordon]

But if you want to get in the mood to do something, right, and you have a few items that help you get in the mood or you have a routine that gets you in the mood, those are forms of superstition, in a way, because they don't necessarily. They put you in the right mentality, not necessarily the right physical space.

[George]

Yeah, but there is a line there between routine and superstition, though.

[Gordon]

Yeah. Yes. Where is that line?

[George]

I don't know. I can't say. But, like, I've heard from swimmers that say they have to listen to the. The exact same song going to a competition.

[Gordon]

Yeah. And if they've performed well, listening to that exact same song going to the competition, it's. They associate it with winning in that particular performance. So subconsciously, it primes them to give their best because they recognize that it's associated with winning the meat before. So it can help them in that sense, but it doesn't help them in the cosmic sense of, oh, this is. I need to play this song and everything, so then the universe will give me the energy. No, the energy comes from within you.

[George]

Right.

[Craig]

It's.

[Gordon]

You're associating it with the winning that you had before.

[George]

But if your favorite morning show plays Derek Commissar on the way to a golf tournament, and you play, well, then there is something to that. We did that in high school. Yeah, that was our high school golf song. We thought that if we heard that song, and one time we didn't hear it on the way to a tournament. And so we called this radio show called Stevens and Pruitt, and they played it, and they sent it out to the R.L. turner golf team, and.

[Gordon]

And y' all lost.

[George]

We lost, but we felt good going into the tournament, like, yeah, here we go. And, yeah, we didn't win.

[Craig]

Gordo, you mentioned being OCD earlier, and that's the. The gray area for me is when I was younger, I was much more ocd, and I think a lot of that I thought was me being superstitious, but it was me being OCD. Now, I don't think my aversion to the number 13 is OCD. I think that's just me adhering to a superstition. But when I was younger, for example, as a kid, I'd be out playing basketball, mom would call me in for dinner, and I would say to myself, I have to make 10 shots in a row, or else something really bad is going to happen to me.

[George]

Oh, my gosh.

[Craig]

So I turned that into a superstition, but I think that was more ocd.

[Gordon]

Yeah.

[George]

Yeah.

[Gordon]

And. And I think, I think kids have that a lot. I mean, I, I had some of that when I was a kid. And I think all kids go through a certain phase where they have to, I gotta make this. I gotta. I can't go until I make this many shots. I mean, like, that is more common than you think. But it's because as a kid, you lack a lot of control over the world and you want to think that you have. That this is somehow the world is controllable if you just do some certain things.

[George]

Boy, growing up, I would want the Cowboys to win so bad that sometimes three or four days before a game, I would say, okay, if I make this, they'll beat the Steelers. And I would miss it and I would worry about it all the way up until this time. I'm afraid they're going to lose. Why? I missed this shot of a piece of paper in my bedroom. So I don't think they're going to win. I think I had evidence back then that they didn't win those games, which is probably, you know, it's probably unrelated, but probably. I used to worry about goofy stuff.

[Gordon]

Like that household things that they bother you. Like breaking a mirror. Does that bother you?

[George]

Mirrors don't bother me.

[Craig]

That never bothered me.

[Gordon]

There's a lot of superstitions surrounding mirrors.

[Craig]

Yeah.

[Gordon]

And it's really. I don't know why. Mirrors are the thing that creeped people out so much in the 17, 1800s.

[George]

Yeah.

[Gordon]

They came up with a lot of superstitions. But breaking a mirror, you're not supposed to have two mirrors that face each other. That's supposed to be really bad luck. There's a whole tick tock trend that happened recently where it was. Kids have to. You have to cover your mirrors at night. Never sleep with a mirror that faces your bed in any way or you need to throw a blanket over it. And so, yeah, people were covering up all their mirrors.

[George]

Yeah. Okay, that's crazy.

[Craig]

And why was that? Was there something.

[Gordon]

It lets spirits in. It all has to do with the spirit world. And demons can enter the world through the mirrors. At night, facing your bed, they'll come in and speak to you. They're dream whispers.

[George]

Well, we saw those. I guess they were witches when we were growing up, looking into the mirror and who's the fairest of them all?

[Gordon]

So, yeah, you had that. You ever do the Bloody Mary thing. You stare into the mirror, say Bloody Mary three times or something, and she's supposed to appear on your face.

[Craig]

No, I never heard that.

[Gordon]

I think that's the way it was. I have done the thing where you look in your dimly lit room at night. You look in a mirror at your own face, and you'll watch it morph and change into, like, a demon face. That's crazy.

[George]

What?

[Gordon]

Yeah, it'll kind of go out of focus and everything. Okay, it's not necessarily demon face.

[George]

It just. Your face.

[Gordon]

Face will get distorted to you, and you'll start noticing weird features.

[Craig]

Really?

[Gordon]

Yeah, it's kind of hallucinating that you do.

[Craig]

How dim does it have to be?

[Gordon]

You know, I mean, that you can see your face, but it's. It's fairly low light, candlelight.

[George]

Okay, see, I think you have some sort of superstition about superstition about it.

[Gordon]

There's something just saying there's a lot to mirrors that we don't know about.

[George]

Do you guys always pick up the penny when you see it?

[Craig]

No. You know, I don't like change. I abhor change.

[Gordon]

Well, then. But change is how we get better.

[Craig]

If people talking about money change. If I get change at a restaurant or something, I'll just throw it away.

[George]

Really?

[Craig]

Yeah. I hate change. I hate carrying change. So I would never pick up change.

[Gordon]

Well, why do you throw it in the garbage can? You ought to at least throw it on the ground where somebody else can get good luck out of picking it up.

[Craig]

No, because that's my change.

[George]

Oh.

[Gordon]

See, he doesn't want anyone to have it.

[George]

I cannot walk by a penny and not pick it up. I will be bothered if I don't.

[Gordon]

I do that, too. That's good luck superstition. I don't do it because it's bad luck. I just do it because I think it's bad karma.

[George]

See, you have one that's picking up pennies. I just always feel like, yeah, don't turn it down.

[Craig]

I don't think I've ever heard that one. Is that supposed to be good luck?

[George]

Yeah.

[Craig]

Okay.

[Gordon]

Yeah, because somehow. Okay, now wait a second. Maybe this is superstition because I think that if I don't pick up that penny, I think. Who are you? Who are you that. Oh, this is just so beneath just a penny.

[Craig]

Whoa.

[George]

Meantime, Craig's throwing away 68 cents. You don't save your change. You don't have like a.

[Craig]

No, I actually only threw it away one time, and I think maybe. Gordo, you were in the car. And I did it just to make you laugh. It was at a drive through restaurant.

[Gordon]

Yeah. And you just throw the change into the garbage can.

[Craig]

I got the change and then drove 10ft forward and they had a garbage can there and I threw it away because I hate change. But no, what I'll usually do with change is put it. I've got like a big mug in my office and I put it in there.

[George]

Okay. That makes me feel better.

[Craig]

But you know what? Back in the day I used to put change in there daily. Now I bet I put change in there twice a year because I never get change.

[George]

Wow.

[Gordon]

Did they ever decide that they were doing away from with a penny? I remember being talked about it. I don't think they.

[George]

What are we gonna do? How are we gonna get good luck if they get rid of the penny?

[Gordon]

Well, a dime. You still pick up a dime.

[George]

That's not good luck.

[Gordon]

Why not? That's ten times as bad.

[George]

It's being greedy. If you're trying to look for a dime. I just need a penny for good luck.

[Gordon]

Dime is better luck than a penny.

[George]

I don't think so. My research shows that pennies are still good luck.

[Gordon]

What's. There's lots of superstitions surrounding money. Right. There's Buffalo nickels used to be good luck, right?

[Craig]

Yeah.

[Gordon]

That was before our time because they were long gone. Right. Before we were around wheat pennies.

[Craig]

I think that's good luck.

[Gordon]

Good luck.

[George]

Good luck.

[Gordon]

$50 bills are bad luck?

[Craig]

Yes, for sure. I will never take all your $50 bills.

[Gordon]

I'll take them.

[George]

I have no fear of the 50.

[Craig]

I don't want any in my wallet. That's bad, bad luck.

[George]

Why? In fact, once we were just dealing with.

[Craig]

It just is.

[George]

I got dog cussed once because we were given like a graduate $100 for graduation. And I said, she said, you get the money? I said, yeah, here's 250s. We can't give him two 50s. Why not? It's a hundred bucks. Let's double the bad luck. It's two 50s.

[Gordon]

That's so stupid.

[George]

Yeah.

[Gordon]

$2 bills are good luck. That's what I heard.

[George]

I heard that too.

[Gordon]

They don't make those anymore. Right.

[George]

Man, I didn't see the $2.2dollar bill in forever.

[Craig]

Yeah. In fact, one of our friends here up at the studio, his birthday was last week. And for his birthday they gave him a card with a bunch of two dollar bills.

[George]

Really?

[Craig]

Yeah. So I don't know where they got them, if they were brand new or the $50 bill is considered bad luck because Bugsy Siegel, when he was murdered, the notorious gangster, he had only $50 bills in his pocket.

[Gordon]

And so that I thought that he had aces and eights when he was playing poker, and that's why it's bad luck.

[Craig]

Well, this says he had only $50 bills in his pocket. And so that led to the denomination being avoided in gambling circles.

[George]

Okay.

[Craig]

And led to the superstition that the $50 bill is jinxed.

[Gordon]

Yeah. Aces and eights are the dead man's hand because of Wild Bill Hick Hickok.

[Craig]

Oh, is that what he had in.

[Gordon]

His hand when he was killed in the 1800s? Shows you how far these things go back. So he was shot, had nothing to do with anything he was involved with in life.

[George]

Right.

[Gordon]

Just had to do with the aces and eights that he had in his hand.

[George]

Yeah. That's what brought him the bad luck.

[Gordon]

God, we humans are incredible. We're such meaning making machines that we will throw meaning on the most meaningless of things.

[George]

Speaking of golfers, change relates to that what you mark your ball with, if you're on a, you know, birdie streak, keep marking it with the same mark. I've fallen victim to that. If I've had a good round with a certain ball marker, I'll use that the next round. Just stuff that. But maybe that is part of. Could I claim routine on that. That's the routine I like to have this quarter from the year I was born or something like that.

[Gordon]

Makes you feel squared away in some.

[George]

Yeah, in some way. But yeah, it's. It's a dumb superstition. Shouldn't matter what you mark your ball with.

[Craig]

Was Tiger wearing red every Sunday? Was that his superstition or is that just something? Was that a marketing thing or. I wonder what was behind.

[Gordon]

I thought that was the blood that soaked his white shirt when Elon went after him.

[Craig]

No, he doing that long before Elon.

[George]

Went after it was the symbolize being the red. You know, go low and everything. But yeah, that may have been a superstition. It started at Stanford maybe, I don't know.

[Craig]

Yeah, maybe. Serena Williams used to wear the same unwashed socks for an entire fortnight of a Grand Slam tournament. That was her superstition that if she kept winning in those socks, she would keep wearing the dirty socks all the way through. And she won a lot of Grand Slams, so she wore those same dirty socks for a long time. A lot of times, man, I think.

[George]

Athletes are so superstitious. I remember this reading this As a Kid, Super Bowl 10. The turning point of the game was when the Steelers blocked a Mitch Hoops punt. And apparently they're in a TV timeout right before it and someone came running out from the end zones. The 70s. What was the deal with the 70s with people always running on the field?

[Craig]

Yeah.

[George]

Anyway, it was a woman who ran on the field and gave a necklace to Herb Scott and said, this is for good luck. And he went, get out of here with this. And he threw the necklace off the field. Next play, block punt. Safe. Wow.

[Craig]

He should have taken it.

[George]

And see, we read things like that as kids. And I remember same reaction. Wow, that cost the Cowboys a Super bowl if he just hung on to the necklace.

[Gordon]

I'm looking at a list of superstitions. These are so dumb. Never shake hands or kiss across a threshold.

[George]

Never heard of that.

[Craig]

Never heard of that either.

[Gordon]

Never allow the broom to touch the feet of anyone you know.

[Craig]

Never heard of that.

[Gordon]

You're sweeping. Don't go home right after awake or funeral. You got to go somewhere else first.

[Craig]

Are you taking some bad energy home?

[George]

Gosh, I hadn't heard of any of those.

[Gordon]

Whistling indoors invites evil. Gosh, I wish more people knew about that. There's nothing worse than the over whistler getting in the elevator with an over whistler.

[Craig]

George is a whistler. He'll whistle walking down the hall.

[George]

I will.

[Craig]

But that's indoors. You better stop it.

[George]

Yeah, I just hear tunes in my head. I have to whistle along with them.

[Gordon]

Don't do cheers with water in your glass.

[Craig]

Oh, really?

[Gordon]

In fact, in Germany, if you cheer with water, you're actually wishing death on the person that you're drinking with.

[George]

Wow.

[Craig]

Good to know.

[Gordon]

Do you do the you spill salt, you got to throw it over your left shoulder business?

[George]

No, no. I've heard of that one. No, but I've never done that.

[Gordon]

Don't flip over a cooked fish.

[Craig]

What?

[Gordon]

They're so dumb. This is all so dumb.

[Craig]

What if the recipe calls for you to flip it after six minutes?

[Gordon]

Well, don't flip it over if it's cooked, you know, you can't flip it back over onto the cooked side.

[Craig]

Huh. Never heard that.

[Gordon]

Don't put your keys on the table.

[George]

Okay. Everyone has bad luck then.

[Craig]

Yeah.

[George]

Where else are you going to put them?

[Gordon]

Yeah, right. Don't sit at a table corner. Well, yeah, that's just uncomfortable.

[George]

Jabbed.

[Gordon]

Don't sing at the dinner table. Well, that's just good manners.

[George]

Yeah. Yeah. I used to drive my dad crazy.

[Gordon]

Yeah, my grandmother had something to do with cards. You could never play cards on the same table that you ate a at.

[George]

So that's why you had a card table.

[Gordon]

Yeah. Because you could not do it on a dining table. It was somehow inviting the devil.

[George]

Card tables. I know. Like nice poker tables. But then your family have a card table.

[Craig]

Yeah, we do.

[George]

Pretty flimsy and.

[Gordon]

Oh, they think they. Yeah, they're called card tables.

[Craig]

Yeah.

[Gordon]

We use it as just. It was basically the kids table at every family get together.

[Craig]

Right, Right. I always did the not stepping on a crack because I was afraid I'd break my mother's back.

[George]

Still do it or I don't know if I still do it, but I certainly did that walking down the sidewalk. Yeah. Just like the baseball player. You try to always walk over the line.

[Craig]

I did that until my mom passed. And maybe that's why she ultimately passed because I did step on a crack. I don't know.

[Gordon]

It wasn't back related.

[Craig]

No, it wasn't back related. But every time. And you know, occasionally you would step on a crack and I would always think, oh my God, I hope mom's okay. I really did. Like I was vigilant about not stepping on a crack.

[Gordon]

My mom had a lot of superstitions.

[Craig]

Did she?

[Gordon]

Oh, yeah. One time I opened an umbrella inside. And you would have thought I invited the devil and all his friends for a party.

[George]

Freak out on that one before too.

[Gordon]

Why?

[George]

It does seem weird to open an umbrella inside. I'm kind of spooked by that one too.

[Gordon]

We used to have to hold our breath going past graveyards.

[Craig]

Really?

[Gordon]

Yeah.

[George]

Yeah.

[Gordon]

I don't know why I did that.

[George]

When I was a kid too.

[Craig]

Because you don't want to breathe in death, I guess.

[Gordon]

Or maybe the smell of graveyards. The knock on wood for good luck. I had an uncle that I knock on wood.

[Craig]

I still.

[Gordon]

And it seemed like most of the bosses we had would always knock on wood. Things are good now.

[Craig]

I bet I still do that once a week talking to somebody. Yeah, everything's going great. Knock on wood and I'll. And I'll find. And I have to knock three times.

[George]

Really?

[Craig]

You can't knock twice or four times. Gotta knock three times.

[George]

Seems like we've done that when we've said something that's really bad karma too, hasn't that. We do that as adults, don't we? Okay, I'm gonna knock on wood after saying that. That's really bad.

[Craig]

Like that erases the bad karma.

[George]

Right.

[Gordon]

Don't get a haircut on a Tuesday. What oh, this is restricted to India. Somehow they've geofenced the bad luck for getting a haircut on a Tuesday to India.

[George]

Okay, never think about that.

[Gordon]

Don't walk under a ladder. We mentioned this before. That's one I do think about every time because I think I do more ladder work than the average bear. Although, George, you do a bit of ladder work.

[George]

Yeah, and I respect that one too. And when I worked for my dad and there were big ladders that would, you know, go up to the roof, I would never walk underneath one of those.

[Gordon]

See, I've done like two story ladders and well, even one story ladders. I think that I started off when I first started using ladders, I would do that, not, not walking under it. You know, just a ladder leaned up against the side of the house that you're getting on the roof from that. And I would not walk up under it. And what broke me of that habit, because I no longer do it, was about six months into doing a lot of ladder work, I realized, okay, I'm not walking up under this thing, even though it'd be more convenient to get the materials I'm trying to get to. But yet I am routinely hopping the ladder along the the roof line because I don't want to climb all the way down and move it over two feet. So I'll just kind of hop it over.

[George]

You're one of those.

[Gordon]

And I was like, okay, I'm not spending my energy here on the things that would be have a better result that could bring better results.

[George]

Did you ever have to desperately hang on to the gutter because the ladder went out from under you?

[Gordon]

I've ridden a gutter down before. Yeah.

[George]

Oh my gosh. The ladder hop is the craziest maneuver.

[Gordon]

It's so dangerous, so stupid.

[Scientist (Ad voice)]

As a scientist, I can tell you that Sundays are only 24 hours long. But with NFL Sunday Ticket and YouTube TV, you get every game, every Sunday all in one place. That's upwards of 30 hours of NFL in one day. How can there be 30 hours in 24 hours, you ask? I have a theory. Magic. New users get NFL Sunday Ticket for eight payments of 3,450 per month. Sign up at NFLSundayTicket.com local and national games on YouTube TV. NFL Sunday Ticket for out of market games excludes digital only games and commercial use terms and embargoes apply. Availability varies.

[George]

Race the rudders. Race the sails. Race the sails. Captain, an unidentified ship is approaching. Over. Roger, wait.

[Gordon]

Is that an enterprise sales solution? Reach sales professionals not professional sailors. With LinkedIn ads, you can target the right people by industry, job title and more. Start converting your B2B audience today. Spend $250 on your first campaign and get a free $250 credit for the next one. Get started [e-mail] campaign terms and conditions apply.

[Craig]

We have a friend who's got this superstition and I'm right there with him. 666. If I see that, it will freak me out for the rest of the day.

[George]

It's like, doesn't faze me.

[Craig]

It doesn't faze you?

[George]

No.

[Gordon]

You wouldn't mind wearing the number 666.

[George]

I think that's a bad sports number. You only need two.

[Craig]

It's a terrible sports.

[George]

I'd be number 66 and not think anything of it and pose for a picture with my friend who's number six. That way we put them all together. Yeah, we have a friend who really, I mean, doesn't even want you to say 666.

[Craig]

I'm not quite that bad, but I do not. Like if it somehow pops up during the day. I'm writing a check and I look and it's number 666 or whatever it is. Look at the odometer and the mileage says 666. If I do see that it's staring at me, it messes with me for the rest of the day.

[Gordon]

Would you fly on a flight 666?

[Craig]

No way.

[Gordon]

On Friday the 13th and they're transporting black cats in row 13? Yeah.

[Craig]

No way.

[George]

You wouldn't take that as a number in a bicycle race?

[Craig]

No way.

[George]

You would demand another number or just rip off a six or something.

[Craig]

Yeah. And I'll see it a lot. Speaking of the bike, when I'm riding on my little computer, which has miles and elevation and all this, a lot of times I'll look down and the elevation for the ride has just clicked. 666. And I seem to notice that a lot. It seems like I get that number just about every ride. And I start to say to myself, is it because I'm getting a message from the underworld that evil is about to strike, or is it because I'm looking for it? Am I also seeing the number 437 just as often?

[Gordon]

But you don't remember it.

[George]

But you don't remember it. Right. And you ride a lot of miles, so that thing keeps turning and eventually 666 is going to come up.

[Craig]

And it bothers me to no end. Every Time. It does.

[George]

Yeah. We got to let go of some of these things. Let go of them when I'm watching golf, and he hasn't won in a while. But I swear to you, Jordan Spieth plays better if I'm not watching. I can hear he's two back, and I'll start watching bogey, bogey. And then I'll go, okay, I'm going to go do something else. And then, like, I get my. A text from my friend Todd Spieth, and I went, oh, my gosh. So I go back to the tv, and all of a sudden he's three under through five, and I start watching again, and he just levels off. Am I bad luck?

[Gordon]

No, he's just wheels off golfer.

[George]

He has hit some tough times.

[Craig]

So let me ask you this, because we started this episode by defining a superstition as a notion maintained despite evidence to the contrary. But there, George has a bunch of evidence.

[George]

I have evidence here that. I have.

[Gordon]

Evidence.

[Craig]

We have the evidence that 13 is a bad luck number to wear with Dan Marino and Steve Nash not winning titles. Don't we have plenty of evidence to back up these superstitions?

[George]

Yes, you don't, because, you know what. What was it, 2000?

[Craig]

Two different answers right there.

[George]

But here's more proof for you. Was it 2015 we went to the Masters, right?

[Craig]

Yes, yes.

[George]

Jordan Spieth had the lead. And as we were leaving on Friday, you and I were having the conversation, is he going to win five or six of these?

[Craig]

Right.

[George]

He's so dominant. This is his course. And he had the biggest meltdown, one of the biggest meltdowns on the back nine in Masters history. Taking an eight on a par three two days after I left that Masters. Does Jordan Spieth need to kill me to get back in the. In the. In the winner's circle?

[Craig]

See, Gordon, there's more strong evidence.

[Gordon]

Look at George's cup over there. What?

[Craig]

It's got four sixes on it. The four sixes, right? Yeah. See, that's six, six, six, six. So that's not six, six.

[George]

That's okay.

[Gordon]

You're totally fine.

[George]

But if I just went like that, you'd only see three. I know.

[Gordon]

Three sixes. Don't trim your nails at night. You ever heard that one?

[George]

No.

[Craig]

That's the only time I trim my nails.

[Gordon]

Yeah, I know. I don't get that. Why, that would be bad. Don't kiss babies on the lips, or you will curse your baby to a lifetime of drooling.

[Craig]

What? A lifetime.

[George]

All right, you're Just making these up on the fly.

[Gordon]

Carry an acorn to gain immortality.

[Craig]

Never heard that.

[Gordon]

I don't think that's gonna work now. I do remember when I was a kid, I did have a lucky penny. And I did have a rabbit's foot at one point when I was a kid.

[Craig]

Were you ever thrilled by finding a four leaf clover as a kid?

[Gordon]

Yes. And I found a couple four leaf clovers.

[Craig]

Did you think you'd have good luck?

[Gordon]

Yeah, when I was a kid, I was stupid. Yes.

[George]

Did you feel bad for the rabbit.

[Gordon]

Though, that you just had a. I never understood that. Why is that good luck to have a rabbit's foot?

[George]

I don't know, some terrible injury to a rabbit, but yeah, that's good luck.

[Gordon]

Lost its foot in a snare and all of a sudden I'm gonna win the lottery.

[Craig]

All of these have some story behind it which may also be backed by evidence.

[Gordon]

No, see, it's not.

[George]

There could be evidence.

[Gordon]

Comes from a time we thought that we would have bad weather because we sinned against God and stuff like that.

[Craig]

You ever do a rally cap, George?

[George]

Oh, all the time. Yeah, all the time. And I still find myself doing that. If I'm wearing a cap at a game that I. Yeah, I'll turn it backwards. I'll turn it inside out. And I swear I've seen evidence of that working. One of the biggest comebacks in Cowboys history. You remember when Danny White got benched in the 84 season?

[Craig]

No, I blocked that out.

[George]

Well, he came back the Sunday night against the Saints and they were down 25, I do believe, in the fourth quarter. And he brought them back, of course. And I had turned my Cowboys hat inside out.

[Craig]

See, Gordon, more evidence.

[George]

Boom. That one worked.

[Gordon]

Okay, this ought to give you a little bit of insight as to the thinking as to why good luck and bad luck existing. So the rabbit's foot answer. I have it here, hot off the AP wire, explaining why rabbit's feet are bad. Luck originated in ancient Roman times as a cure for ailments like gout.

[Craig]

Okay, keep talking.

[Gordon]

I mean, does this not sound antiquated to you? In 77 AD, Pliny the Elder claimed that carrying around a hare's foot cut off from the animal alive could cure gout.

[Craig]

Interesting.

[Gordon]

And so then he did that in 77 A.D. and here, almost 2,000 years later, people are still carrying around rabbit's.

[George]

Feet, rubbing a rabbit's foot, watching their favorite team kick a 55 yard field goal. Yeah.

[Gordon]

Hoping they don't get gout. Dumb, dumb, dumb.

[Craig]

No, at Least there's something behind that. There's something solid behind that.

[Gordon]

One guy just wrote it down as a joke to crack up his stupid ro.

[George]

I was about to say we should make an effort just to let some of this stuff go. But then what if something bad happens?

[Craig]

Right?

[George]

What if the Cowboys lose again because something that you're not, or whatever your favorite team is because you're not sitting in the right spot in your living room?

[Craig]

So, to Gordo's point earlier, do we really have to let it go? I guess if in your case, it's causing you a lot of distress throughout the day and taking a lot of mental and physical energy and you're focusing on the bad luck or the superstition to the point where you're ignoring things in life that you need to get done. Yes. You need to let it go.

[George]

Yeah.

[Craig]

But I think for most people, it takes a very small amount of energy each day. You think about it a few seconds here or there. I think you're okay holding on to your superstitions if that's the case.

[Gordon]

Sure. But just don't believe them. Just know that it's kind of no big deal. I just do it. But just as long as you're not really invested in the idea that this is making a difference cosmically in the world.

[George]

Right. And in some ways, does it help you deal with the stress? You're stressed anyway.

[Gordon]

Sure.

[George]

You're watching your favorite player.

[Gordon]

That's how it changes you.

[George]

Well, let me sit here and I'll feel better at least about myself sitting here. And then. Yeah. If something good happens, then you have verification that that helped your team win somehow.

[Craig]

And I would say hold on to your superstitions if you're superstitious, because over the course of our existence here on Earth, there are a lot of things that we did not believe in that one day were proved to be fact.

[Gordon]

Like what?

[Craig]

Lots of things.

[Gordon]

Okay.

[George]

Finley Fascination.

[Craig]

There was a time where we didn't believe that what we saw in the sky was anything other than a dome with holes poked in it. And we later proved that no, there are actually planets out there.

[Gordon]

I think we're back around to the dome with holes poked in it to get the Internet.

[Craig]

Some scary people believe that, but things like that. There are millions of examples of things that we didn't think were real, and then they've been proven real. And so just hold on to your superstitions because what if one day they are proven to be real, that it works?

[Gordon]

That's horrible logic. And I only heard one example and it was holes poked in the dome sky.

[George]

Pick up that penny. Look out for that black cat. Don't walk under that ladder. Make sure you're sitting in the right seat.

[Gordon]

How about not take unnecessary risk and have a healthy diet that will bring you a lot more good luck?

[George]

Yeah, that's. That's way too much of a process.

[Gordon]

Pounding down a cheeseburger. But I have a wheat penny in my pocket.

[George]

Yeah, you're probably right about that.

[Craig]

All right, that is episode 14 of the Musers the Podcast. And don't forget our special Cowboys edition of the the Podcast is available for you every Thursday morning. That's when that drops with George and Bob and special guest stars occasionally talking about the Cowboys game from the weekend before and looking ahead to the next Cowboys game. That's a bonus Cowboys edition of the Muser's the Podcast each week here, wherever you get your Muser's podcasts on Spotify or Apple or wherever Jesus demands it. Thanks to our producer, Peter Welpton. Thanks to all of you for listening. And remember, it's very bad luck to miss a single episode of the Musers the Podcast. That is true, despite what Gordo says.

[George]

That's right.

[Craig]

That is bad luck. So we will see you next week for episode 15 of the Musers the Podcast.

[Gordon]

Yes, it is also extremely unlucky if you do not follow the Musers the Podcast wherever you're listening to it currently, whatever, podcast app or whatever. So make sure you press follow. You can also email the [e-mail] they love to hear from you, the Musers the Podcast is a tired head production.

[George]

Dude, did you order the new iPhone 17 Pro? Got it from Verizon, the best 5G network in America. I never looked so good.

[Gordon]

You look the same.

[George]

But with this camera, everything looks better. Especially me.

[Gordon]

You haven't changed your hair in 15 years. Selfies check, please.

[Kelly Clarkson]

New and existing customers can get the new iPhone 17 Pro, designed to be the most powerful iPhone ever, with eligible phone trade in an unlimited ultimate, any condition guaranteed. Best 5G tours Root Metrics data United States 1H 2025 All Rights Reserve, trade and additional terms apply for all offers. See verizon.com for details.