Bears fan’s first trip to the Superdome involves New Orleans voodoo

Jeff Berckes of SB Nation’s page for the Chicago Bears, Windy City Gridiron, recently posted a piece about his first trip to the Superdome, the Week 9 contest between the NFC Championship contenders: the New Orleans Saints and the Los Angeles Rams.

Jeff caps the piece off with this pre-game prediction:

The last time New Orleans hosted the NFC Championship game, Drew Brees broke through to the upper echelon of passers by securing his first Super Bowl appearance and eventual victory. Now, Brees is near the end of his illustrious career with a chance to go out the ultimate winner. He’s been here before, he’s beat this team before. The stage is set for the storybook ending. I’m not about to doubt him now.

Prediction: Saints 31, Rams 27

There are tons of other great nuggets there about his pre-game experience with fans, and I suggest you take a look, but one tidbit really stood out:

Like all die-hard fans, there was a series of pre-game rituals that needed to be observed. Some had to do with wearing the right jersey or gear that hadn’t been marred by a bad game earlier in the year (no one was wearing duds from the opening week loss to the Bucs, for example). Most of the rituals involved some kind of beverage or, in one case, the game day cigar.

That couldn’t speak louder to me.

I wore my Steve Gleason jersey to the Week 1 game against the Buccaneers, and I have absolutely refused to wear it again. The Saints shirt I wore to the Week 2 game against the Cleveland Browns, I have worn to every home game I attended (all but the Steelers and Panthers, and including the divisional round matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles), so it is currently undefeated.

I haven’t worn it at home on the couch yet, but I did pull it out in the third quarter of the Cowboys game. Alas, it was too little too late.

As many of you might know, on a personal note, my wife and I just gave birth to our first born Monday, the 14th. In fact, my wife was in the hospital in Jackson, Mississippi Sunday the 13th to be induced the following morning while I was down in the Superdome for the game. Alas, I am taking this Sunday off and will be watching the game from the comfort of my home with our newborn son (who I think I will nickname “Lattimore” after Marshon’s two-interception game against the Eagles).

I will, of course, make sure to wear my lucky shirt for the entirety of the game.

But Saints fans - what is your pregame ritual? What do you do in the midst of a winning streak? Whether you are in the Dome or at home, what steps are you taking to help give the right bit of voodoo to the Saints to ensure the victory? Tell me in the comments. Send me presents.