The Pseudo-Science Of Luck In Sports

Luck has long been associated with sports. It is often a lucky pass or a lucky shot that wins a game, but how does luck actually happen? It's been said that you can make your own luck, but that isn't luck, that is a skill. Luck can't be quantified or planned. Luck can't be counted on or deployed at will. However, I've learned a thing or two about luck over my life as a sports fan. After 43 years on the planet and after years of study, I finally learned how luck works.

To understand luck and how it relates to sports, we need to agree on some rules. I know that it may feel wrong to place regulations on something as elusive as luck. Still, I don't believe that luck is elusive, and I think that luck has to follow the rules just like air, water, and gravity. The most important rule of luck is that it ONLY occurs in odd numbers. Once you understand that, the rest is simple.

For example, if my favorite basketball team is the Denver Nuggets and they are playing against a superior team, they need luck. Knowing that luck requires an odd number component, I would need to wear my lucky hat, but not my lucky shirt, which would cancel out the luck of the hat. If Sally is watching the game and is wearing her lucky pants, she would cancel out the luck of my hat unless I was wearing my lucky shirt. Because I wasn't wearing my lucky shirt, hopefully, John is watching with his lucky socks. The problem is that even though John was wearing his lucky shorts, he was watching with his friend Mike, who is just a lucky guy, which has the canceled out John's lucky socks.

As someone who understands the rules of luck, I am cognizant that I may need to take my hat off or on depending on other fans who are wearing their lucky items, or watching with their lucky friends.

This brings me to the second rule of sports luck: Luck does not exist if you are not watching. Some people believe that by not watching, they contribute to a team's luck or lack of luck. That type of thought is insane. The only thing you are or are not adding to is the overall number of people watching the game, which could influence luck if it made for an even number. Still, if you're not watching the game and you're wearing your lucky jersey, you are merely wasting laundry detergent.

As I begin to watch the NBA Playoffs, cheering for my Denver Nuggets, I will be taking my hat on and off, hoping to keep the number of lucky items in our favor. Hopefully, the Nuggets won't need my help, but they often do, and I'm right there fighting with them. When they eventually win the NBA Finals, you'll know why. As the cameras show the Nuggets hoist the championship trophy and give each other celebratory hugs and champagne showers, it's odd numbers of fans like me that are the real heroes. The fans, lucky or not, are why sports exist, and it's good to have sports back.