Which means that many or most<\/em>\u00a0fans around the country will be doing a bunch of weird rituals and\/or superstitions, all to help their team win.\u00a0 (Or<\/em>\u00a0avoid jinxing<\/a>\u00a0their team, thus causing it to lose.) \u00a0All of which may sound a bit weird to the more rational among us. \u00a0(Which doesn’t necessarily<\/em> exclude the aforementioned college football fans.)<\/p>\n In fact, it may all have started with Moses, back at the battle of Rephidim, noted above.\u00a0 There’s more on that later, but first consider “Super”stitions: Fans engage in odd rituals<\/a>:<\/p>\n [M]any sports enthusiasts have something they do in attempt to increase their team\u2019s odds of\u00a0winning.\u00a0 It\u2019s possible that these wacky fan behaviors are related to the superstitious actions some athletes take in attempt to improve their luck … like growing beards or eating certain foods because they think the behavior is lucky.\u00a0 Adopting their own rituals is a way that fans can feel like they\u2019re part of a team… \u00a0\u201cIt all comes down to fan identification,\u201d [Dr. Joshua Shuart<\/a>] said. \u201cThey really feel that they\u2019re part of the\u00a0team<\/strong>.\u201d (E.A.)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n But what’s all this about Moses being the first guy who said “It’s only weird if it doesn’t work<\/a>?”<\/p>\n For that we have to go back to Exodus 17<\/a>, about 3,500 years ago.\u00a0 Like Pearl Harbor, the dreaded Amalekites<\/a> launched a sneak attack on the Children of Israel, as they emerged from “the Exodus<\/a>, at Rephidim<\/a> near Mount Sinai<\/a>.”\u00a0\u00a0 Verses 8 to 16 tell of Israel pulling off \u00a0an \u201cupset of the season.\u201d\u00a0 In essence they beat a hated arch-rival, thanks to Moses:<\/p>\n Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. <\/span>\u00a0Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed; and whenever he lowered his hand, Am\u2032alek prevailed<\/strong>. <\/span>\u00a0But Moses\u2019 hands grew weary; so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat upon it, and Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side; so his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n As noted elsewhere: \u00a0“That sounds a lot like a modern-day football fan, watching his favorite team on TV.” \u00a0Sometimes he moves around the room, sometimes he stands, sometimes he sits.\u00a0 Other times he’ll mute the sound on the TV, sometimes he’ll tell his wife to leave the room – because she may be jinxing his team<\/em> – but he’s \u201calways trying to \u2018help his team win.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n So imagine Moses \u2013 today \u2013 watching the \u201cbattle\u201d from a stadium seat, or on his TV set at home. \u00a0For whatever reason, he holds his arms up, and his team scores a touchdown.\u00a0 But then his arms get tired. \u00a0He lets his arms down for a moment and \u2013 lo and behold! \u2013 the other<\/em> team scores a touchdown.\u00a0\u00a0 So to help his team win \u2013 or avoid \u201cjinxing\u201d his team \u2013 Moses got his buddies Aaron and Hur to hold<\/em> his arms up \u201cfor the rest of the game.\u201d<\/p>\n That makes Moses the prototype of the modern-day football fan who does all kinds of strange things to help his team win.\u00a0 But here\u2019s how one \u201cskeptic\u201d explained the phenomenon:<\/p>\n It\u2019s a natural tendency for people to make connections between events.\u00a0 \u201cWhen I do this, that happens\u2026\u201d\u00a0 Primitive people developed superstitions in similar ways.\u00a0 One year, the crops were bad.\u00a0 The next year, they put a basket of dead birds in the middle of the field, and everything turned out great.\u00a0 Therefore, placing a basket of dead birds in the field ensures a good crop\u2026\u00a0\u00a0 Like the primitive farmers, we continue to make assumptions of causation<\/strong> [which] leads us to think that prayer works (you pray for your sports team to win\u2026)\u00a0\u00a0 [But we should] not jump to conclusions.\u00a0 We should make multiple observations.\u00a0 We should try different sequences in various combinations\u2026\u00a0 Even with all that, we might never be sure about the real causes.\u00a0 But we can rule some out, and … increase our confidence in others.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n See Faulty logic: Post hoc, ergo . . . Gotham Skeptic<\/a>.\u00a0 (Which apparently “no longer exists.”)<\/em><\/p>\n On the other hand, you could just as easily say that such superstitions<\/em> are a mass example of the\u00a0scientific method<\/a><\/em>: \u00a0“a body of\u00a0techniques<\/a> for investigating phenomena<\/a>, acquiring new knowledge<\/a>, or correcting and integrating previous knowledge.” \u00a0(What fool of a college football fan would keep doing things that ‘hurt” his team?<\/em>) See also Thesis, antithesis, synthesis<\/a>:<\/p>\n The thesis is an intellectual proposition. \u00a0The antithesis<\/a> is simply the negation of the thesis, a reaction to the proposition. \u00a0The synthesis solves the conflict between the thesis and antithesis by reconciling their common truths and forming a new thesis, starting the process over.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n But the bottom line is this: \u00a0“Athletes know it, fans know it, and even Bud Light knows it<\/a>. Superstitions are as big a part of the game as anything. \u00a0They were there when your parents and\/or grandparents first started watching, and they\u2019ll be here long after we\u2019re gone.”<\/p>\n On the other hand, there’s the “pessimist” who wrote\u00a0\u201cIt’s only weird if it doesn’t work:\u201d the NEW worst slogan in the world<\/a>. \u00a0Among other things, he said in essence that such fan practices are all part of some axis of evil<\/a>\u00a0responsible for all the bad things that have happened in the world since Day One. \u00a0(Which brings to mind Marty McFly’s “Lighten up, jerk<\/a><\/em>!”)<\/em><\/p>\n Then too he wrote that\u00a0such fan superstition is “ignorant, embarrassing, and frankly makes me a little pessimistic about humanity.\u00a0 Do you really<\/i> think that wearing that unwashed jersey will help your team win?” \u00a0To which I can only respond:<\/p>\n * \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 *<\/p>\n The original post had an upper image courtesy of Rephidim – Wikipedia<\/a>. The caption:\u00a0 “Moses<\/a> holding up his arms during the Battle of Rephidim, assisted by Hur<\/a> and Aaron<\/a>, in John Everett Millais<\/a>‘ Victory O Lord!<\/a> (1871).”<\/em><\/p>\n Another note: \u00a0The text of this post was gleaned from other posts in my first blog,\u00a0Dorscribe.com<\/a>, including On the readings for September 28<\/a><\/em>, Reflections on a loss<\/a><\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0\u201cGod\u2019s Favorite Team\u201d \u2013 Part I<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n The “Touchdown Jesus” image is courtesy of Word of Life Mural \/\/ Hesburgh Libraries \/\/ University of Notre Dame<\/a>.\u00a0 See also Notre Dame Stadium – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n The “crossed fingers” image is courtesy of \u00a0Why We’re So Superstitious | Psychology Today<\/a>. \u00a0That’s actually a pretty good – and non-biased – study of the phenomenon, which included this:<\/em><\/p>\n Sports fans, for all the ribbing they take, do have some decidedly positive mental health<\/a>\u00a0advantages over non-fans. \u00a0Evidence cited by [Kent State University researcher Shana] Wilson and her co-workers supports the idea that fans who strongly identify with a team, particularly a local one, are less lonely, feel happier, and feel better about themselves.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n See also Scientific method – Wikipedia<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n * \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 *<\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/stanfordflipside.com\/images\/133touchdownJesus-1024x768.jpg\")
The thing is, this business of “helping your team win” has been around a long, long<\/em><\/strong> time. \u00a0(Longer even than “Touchdown Jesus<\/a>,” seen at left, visible from Notre Dame stadium …<\/em>)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.psychologytoday.com\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/article-inline-half\/public\/blogs\/33760\/2014\/10\/161801-168440.jpg?itok=3wo-o903\")
Or in the case of Moses, his “team” starts winning<\/em> <\/strong>when he holds his arms up, but they start losing<\/em> <\/strong>if he lets his arms down…<\/p>\n“Hey pal, tell that to Moses!”<\/em><\/h1>\n