Serious question about supersition

Submitted by OHbornUMfan on

I have a bit of a dilemma, and I would like your input. 

I am a moderately superstitious fan, and I try to help the team (or at least not hinder them) as I am able.  While it is arguably very selfish and arrogant to behave as though my actions affect cicumstances and events played out by others hundreds of miles away, it would be more selfish to act recklessly if there was even a chance that my actions could be to the detriment of the Wolverines. 

So - I've got a Michigan Wheaties box given to me by a Longhorn alum/fan.  I haven't opened the box, I've just included it in the shrine for the past two years.  Maybe this is not the thing to do.  Should I open the box from the bottom, eat the Wheaties (symbolically giving strength to the team), and display the empty box?  Should I continue as I have been, knowing that storms come and go, but the strong remain by being true to themselves?  Should I trash/burn the whole package, so the that team can emerge invigorated from the offseason like a phoenix from the ashes?  Should I turn myself in to an insane asylum?

I value you input.

mds315

July 15th, 2010 at 7:57 AM ^

first off, it may not be safe to eat. from the wikianswer for can cereal last two years.

"Most likely not, but it depends on how it has been stored. The only chance of it being safe for sure, is if you had it stored in a non-humid environment, in an air tight, and bug proof, container."

So I guess it depends on how much it means to you/how cool it looks.  But I think you should eliminate eating it.

Maybe put it away for this season and see if that helps. 

lbpeley

July 15th, 2010 at 8:03 AM ^

Eat it, dump it, remove it from the shrine to some other area. You gotta change something. If that thing's arrival coincided with the start of the team's monumental struggles you gotta do something different with it. I've finally found someone to blame for all this.

His Dudeness

July 15th, 2010 at 8:54 AM ^

It's not the Wheaties, man. It's me. I have been a student here since Fall 2008. My first game (as a student) was Sat. Aug 30th 2008. I will be graduating next summer. I am without fail the losing-est student in the history of the program. Watch out 2011. BCS NC!!

Baldbill

July 15th, 2010 at 9:53 AM ^

I am also pretty uptight about the whole watching a game and what am I doing. It has gotten in the way a couple of times. Sometimes in close games I just can't take it, I put it on DVR and will only watch it once it is over and they have won. If they lose then I delete it and never watch it. I get worked up about the way I am sitting or standing, if I am chewing gum or not...needless to say my wife just leaves the room so as not to witness my shenanigans. Kids stay to make fun of me.

flemgoblue

July 15th, 2010 at 10:20 AM ^

I once made my mom stay in the bathroom during a close game because we had made a first down. She was allowed to exit the bathroom once we scored. Luckily, she's a sports fan as well (Sparty convert once she was in the Big House for a game my freshman year), so she complied without any complaints. I just needed to give her wine glass to her.

OHbornUMfan

July 15th, 2010 at 10:33 AM ^

I believe it was the '05 'Sconsin game during which I looked at my wife and saw that she was not ardently rooting for Michigan; she was reading a catalogue.  Because of this, 'Sconsin was driving.  I snatched away the catalogue and threw it into an under-stair coat closet. 

Turnover, touchdown Michigan.

We went on to lose, which made me realize I should've thrown it out of the house altogether, or burned it, or something.  I felt horrible that my half-measures brought sadness to so many.

preed1

July 15th, 2010 at 10:10 AM ^

Eat one wheatie before each game.  If they win, you eat how many they win by.  If they lose you eat how much they lose by.  And of course msu and osu you double the amount of wheaties

Steve in PA

July 15th, 2010 at 10:25 AM ^

There's no other way.  Your Longhorn buddy cursed the Wheaties.  Personally I'd burn it with a picture of every team's mascot or team picture that we play this year.

OHbornUMfan

July 15th, 2010 at 11:13 AM ^

It is a well-researched, well-written piece that explains a lot of the issues our team has faced.  At times, it seems that logic and reason fall short of explaining every last detail.  While "D.D." explains giving up 8 trillion points to Purdue in the last two years, it doesn't explain a missed PAT and the bounce of an onside kick.  And while I'm almost certain that stepping on a crack won't actually break my mother's back, I love my mother, so why take unnecessary chances?