Word of Wilcat superstition
by
Kaeli Pettersen, Staff Reporter
I started with the obvious, Head Coach Blaine Bennett. “We don’t really have any rituals, more routines,” Bennett said. “Before every game we take a knee in the locker room and say a prayer, and after the game we circle up on the field and pray again.”
This routine is something that is very important to the guys, and that Bennett seems to take very seriously. As far as the other guys on the team.
“There are definitely guy’s that you can talk to that do stuff like that” Bennett said.
Senior quarterback Cole Morgan responded to my question jokingly, saying “Oh like guy’s who wear the same jock straps every game? No, no I don’t do that.” He did however let us in on a little secret about what he does before every game.
“I make sure that my hands and hair are washed,” Morgan said. “When I get frustrated I run my hands through my hair, and if there is stuff in my hair I can’t grip the ball right.”
Morgan used to rock longer hair, and he has done this ritual ever since.
Junior wide receiver Chris Smith had many different rituals and routines that he was more than willing to share.
“I usually do a quick prayer of my own after we do one as a team,” Smith said. “I also have an armband that I usually wear.”
When asked about how frequent, he cleaned said armband, he responded with “Oh, I wash it all the time.” I guess my hope is that one of the players will not wash an article of their clothing because of some superstition is not going to pan out. Shoot. He also told me about a song that he listens to before every game, which is not “We will rock you” or, “Party in the USA,” Instead, Smith listens to “Bite Down” by Gorilla Zoe. Everyone go out and legally download it to see what you think.
Finally, I spoke with senior kicker Garrett Rolsma. “ I guess the one thing that I do is that I always put my right shoe on first, then the left one,” Rolsma said. “I also always make sure that I get a few good kicks into the net before I kick, and that they are hitting the net the way that I want them to.”
He also said that he has to shower before every game as a way to help him wake up so that he is alert and ready when he hits the field to kick the crap out of the ball.
The moral of the story; Central’s football players are not going to any huge lengths to do the same thing before or after any given game. They don’t need black cats, or stinky jock straps to go 10-0. They are just THAT good.