Mike Abou-Mechrek
Riderville.com

Superstitions are for children.

There are more than a few guys in the locker room that have them, and I guess I see why they think they need them, but I am a numbers guy. I derive at every one of my decisions through calculated analysis of the datum that I indescrimanently collect; and on game day everything that I did was a calculated decision…they just all needed to be done in a specific order and/or at a certain time starting at 4 hours before game time.

I didn’t need to be the first in to the locker room, Scott Schultz more time than not turned the lights on, but I liked to be there before the majority of the guys.

What I did need before game time was to contrast between ice and hot tubs-2 times each, ending in the hot, get my ankles taped by Trevor, then do a stability ball/balance warm up culminating in 2 sets of 6, and 7 (just a coincident that 67 was my number) of standing on the ball squats followed by a round of BSing with the guys over a cup of coffee or two.

As the B-ing was going on I would dress myself to the waist in a very mythodical manner and head out of the locker room without a shirt on. Earlier on in my career I got into the habit on a hot day in Edmonton-and we won, later in my career, as the adipose tissue multiplied, I would literally stepped outside with two feet and then returned my aged fat to the locker room to get a shirt on.

From there I went into the same stretching routine and warm up with former Rider (and Bomber) teammate Marc Parenteau and as soon as we did our silly little, yet scientifically proven to increase our odds of winning, hand shake it was game time…which meant no more touching the boundary lines. (I know, I know- science is a fickle thing)

As soon as equipment guru Gordon G Gilroy squeezed me into my shoulder pads, told me he loved me, I would vomit and be the third last one out of the locker room so that when it was time to “bring ‘em out” I was ready to go “get crunk.”

See what I mean- no superstitions, just calculated sequences of events that lead to the highest probability of a victory...and yes, I did say vomit. It was horrible. It must have begun when I was nervous before a game in university but as the years went on I got so worried that I wouldn’t vomit that I’d vomit (fickle indeed).

I am by no means an investigative journalist but I can guarantee there are more than a few guys on Piffles Drive, whether they’ll admit it or not, who will be trying to remember exactly what they’ve done for the past 3 weeks so they can do it again next week.

As any coach will tell you there are some big plays that contribute to wins and losses but the game is just a formality- it is won and lost during the preparation.

(I look forward to your feedback at Mike.Abou-Mechrek@InvestorsGroup.com)