Hey, you in the stands - superstitions can make your day By BOB GREENE, The Chicago Tribune It is possible to become entirely too wrapped up in the results of sports contests - the final scores. It is also possible to become much too serious about the societal ramifications of sports - what our fascination with games says about us as a people. Happily, there is a middle ground - although few people ever find it. There is a way to look at sports as a goofy, often silly diversion - something to make us smile, to take a break from the grim old world. Nick Newton of Austin, Texas and his buddy Bill Minutaglio are two men who fully understand this - men with perspective. They are entranced by sports - but not by the box scores, or the cultural symbolism of the contests. Instead, they have concentrated on a part of sports that is seldom discussed at length: Superstitions. We all know that the sports world is full of superstitions - athletes are among the quirkiest people on Earth. Newton and Minutaglio call the little universe of sports superstition "mojo," and define it this way: "Mojo is all about the innocence of sports before everything got all murky, monied and awkward, before sports got endlessly analyzed - as if every minute of every game, every match, every race got poked and prodded until all the mystery seeped out the holes." They have compiled their findings in a scholarly (well, sort of) treatise that they have titled "Locker Room Mojo." Their theories are interesting - but it's not their theories that make you grin. It's the specific findings - their examples of sports superstitions over the years. You may go about your day now. Good luck. ©2000 Chicago Tribune << BACK TO REVIEWS