Shock in the world of sport!
Canadians today are shocked – horrified!
Why?
Because hockey phenom Sidney Crosby dared to actually touch the Prince of Wales trophy.
Superstition, being the clear driver of success in professional sport, tells the hockey player that they must not touch either the Prince of Wales trophy or the Clarence Campbell trophy. They must save their trophy-lust for the grand prize — The Stanley Cup.
Mr. Crosby, however, is not the first player to touch one of these trophies. He is the fifth (since they became the conference championship trophies in 1967 — I bet they touched the Prince of Wales when he was awarded to the league champs):
Touch 1: Mario Lemieux, 1991.
Touch 2: Steve Yzerman, 1997.
Touch 3: Scott Stevens, 2000.
Touch 4: Scott Stevens, 2003.
On reviewing that list, I am forced to believe that hockey players are the stupid kind of superstitious. I mean — if you do something, and you succeed … sure, do it again.
But let’s look percentages:
100% of people who touched the trophy went on to win the Stanley Cup.
47.5% of people who did not touch it went on to win the Stanley Cup.
If you are going to be superstitious about it, you ought to fondle the trophy, boys.
(Number of trophy-touchers taken from ESPN)
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