Superstition.

Since organized sports were implemented into modern day society, superstition has lingered over athletes, fans and team management. There is no end to the lengths individuals will go to ensure the cosmos will align in their teams' favor. But do these antics truly have any effect on the outcome of sporting events?

Earlier this year, a devout Red Sox fan trying to curse the New York Yankees was caught burying a David Ortiz jersey at the construction site of the new Yankee Stadium.

In 2006, my grandfather wore the same “lucky” WSU hat to all but one Oak Harbor High School football game en route to its eventual state championship. The one game he forgot the hat was the only loss of the season, thanks to the opponents' successful Hail Mary pass in the final seconds.

Olympic high jumper Aarik Wilson admitted to placing a four-leaf clover into each of his shoes prior to the Olympic trials last year in Eugene, Ore, where he finished first. In previous trials, without the clovers, he finished 12th.

Perhaps the most well-known of these is the “Madden Curse,” which states that the NFL player selected for the main cover photo of "Madden NFL" will suffer some sort if injury or calamity the following season. 2001: Eddie George goes from leading his team to a Super Bowl to bobbling a textbook pass that would be intercepted and returned for a game-ending touchdown in the Titans' divisional playoff game.

2002: Daunte Culpepper makes waves in his debut season as the Minnesota Vikings quarterback, leading his team deep into the playoffs. The next season the Vikings finished well below .500 and Culpepper suffers a serious knee injury. 2003: Marshall Faulk goes from two Super Bowl appearances in three years to his first sub-1,000-yard rushing year in four years, in addition to suffering a debilitating ankle injury.

2004: Michael Vick goes from the brink of reviving the Falcons franchise, to suffering a right fibula injury in his first preseason game one day after Madden NFL hits shelves. Vick would appear in only five games that season.

2005: In his previous season, Ray Lewis recorded a career-high six interceptions and led his team to the playoffs for the third time in four years. In 2006, Lewis recorded a season without a single interception for the first time in his career, in addition to suffering a torn right hamstring. 2006: Donovan McNabb scoffed the curse after being selected for the Madden cover following five straight playoff appearances, including a Super Bowl bid. McNabb suffered a sports hernia in the Eagles' first game of the season that affected his performance all year and eventually led to season-ending surgery.

2007: Shaun Alexander ... I’m not even going to touch this one. 2008: Vince Young made the cover as a rookie, and went on to suffer a quadriceps injury that caused him to miss his first football game in a time frame spanning his middle school, high school, college and professional career.

2009: Brett Favre. After being the first ever retired player to be named to the cover of Madden NFL, many fans believed this to be the end of the Madden Curse as the cycle would surely be broken. It was not to be, as controversy surrounded Favre as he came out of retirement and was traded to the New York Jets for a conditional draft pick – destroying one of the greatest relationships between a player and a team in NFL history.

In 1926 the Red Sox sold Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees, inciting what is known as the “Bambino Curse.” Prior to the sale, the Sox team was one of the most successful clubs in baseball. After the trade, Boston would not win a title for the next 86 years, while New York would go on to win 26 in the same time period.

Perhaps the most relevant current superstition is that of the Red Skins' election curse. Since 1937 it would appear the outcome of every presidential election has been determined by the score of the Washington Redskins' final home game of the year. Each year the Redskins have won the game, the incumbent political party has retained power, while each time they have lost, the out-of-power party has moved back into the White House. The pattern continued this past week when the Steelers defeated Washington in their final home game of the year, and Democratic nominee Barack Obama was elected into the White House.

Whether or not the universe has some divine plan that determines the outcome of all earthly sporting events remains to be seen. What can be observed are the tangible statistics – and the numbers don’t lie. Perhaps we should be putting four-leaf clovers into the cleats of our women's soccer team, checking the new construction at Martin Stadium for a Jake Locker jersey, or making sure to bring that personal lucky charm to the next home basketball game.