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Happy Friday the 13th!

Friday the 13th is a day of superstition and unluckiness, supposedly.  It's had an entire awesome horror film series dedicated to it!  So on this day of woe and uncertainty, how about we delve into the notion of superstitious athletes?  Perhaps the most famous & talked about act of superstition is that of Hall of Fame baseball player, Wade Boggs.  Boggs absolutely HAD to eat chicken before every single game.  If he didn't? He would request to be taken out of the lineup.  Not to mention, for night games, he had to go into the batting cages at precisely 5:17 pm before every game and took his pre-game sprints at exactly 7:17 pm.  Then when he went up to bat, he would draw the Hebrew word for "life" in the dirt.  He's not the only one though, from Tiger Woods wearing red every Sunday, which is the color of luck in Thailand to Michael Jordan wearing his college shorts under his NBA shorts during every game, a lot of players have their superstitions that they think help enhance their games.  NBA player, Caron Butler drinks a liter of Mountain Dew before every game and then another at halftime.  His former teammate, Jason Terry wears the shorts of his next opposition to bed the night before.  Former MLB pitcher, Mark Fidrych would yell at the baseball on the mound and if one was being hit too often, then he had to replace it with another one.  Former NHL player, Bruce Gardiner would dip his hockey stick in the toilet if he was in a slump and at times, would dip the whole blade inside to show the stick he was in charge.  Weird as hell?  Sure.  But these athletes have made it to the top of sports pinnacle, so they must be doing something right!

And This Happened...

Dwight Howard shoots a record-breaking 39 free throws in one game - In a victory with his Orlando Magic against the Golden State Warriors, Dwight Howard was sent to the foul line 39 times.  His 39 attempts broke a record held by Wilt Chamberlain since 1962.  The strategy was a bit of a success for Golden State, despite the fact that they lost, Dwight only manged to make 21 of his free throws.  This hack-a-Dwight method will probably continue to go on, but maybe at not such a high rate, until Dwight proves he can consistently nail his shots from the charity stripe.

The Chicago Cubs are reportedly shopping Matt Garza - Since taking over as president of baseball operations for the Cubs, Theo Epstein has vowed to revamp the team and build from the ground up.  His promises have held true, including a trade of Carlos Zambrano.  Now, he's reportedly in talks with multiple teams about dealing Matt Garza after 1 year with the club.  Garza, who had a solid first year in Cubbie blue with a 3.32 ERA & 197 Ks, could possibly be sent to the Detroit Tigers.  The Cubs have also supposedly heard interest from the San Diego Padres & New York Yankees as well.  Epstein is asking for the world in return, which could throw a snag in negotiations.  Many prospects, some top tier, will need to come to Chicago for Garza to be traded.  Stay tuned.

Bud Selig gets extension as MLB commissioner - Bug Selig, who has been commissioner of the MLB since 1992, will continue to do so until at least the year 2014.  He has had a number of notable occurrences as commissioner, including the run of steroids in the late 90s, the tie in the 2002 all-star game which led to the ruling of whichever league wins said game, will get home-field-advantage in the World Series.  Despite this, the owners adore him and almost unanimously voted to extend his tenure.  Selig, the former owner of the Milwaukee Brewers, has implanted the Wild Card system, adding 2 extra teams in each league to the playoffs, as well as limited instant replay in close calls during games.  He will look to try and add another Wild Card team to each league in the coming years and continue to make his mark on the world of Major League Baseball.

The NHL all-star teams have been announced - The Vancouver Canucks, who are the best team in the NHL, led the way for the West with 4 all-stars named.  Daniel & Henrik Sedin, along with Alexander Edler and rookie Cody Hodgson will represent the Canucks.  The most players named in the East and in the entire NHL were from the host city of the game, the Ottawa Senators, who will be sending 5 players to the game.  Jason Spezza, Daniel Alfredsson, Milan Michalek, Erik Karlsson, & rookie Colin Greening will be able to play in front of their home team fans as all-stars.  Other notable teams are the New York Rangers with 3 (Henrik Lundqvist, Dan Girardi, & Marian Gaborik) and the Chicago Blackhawks with 3 as well (Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, & Marian Hossa) Hossa, who was drafted by Ottawa in 1997, will get to return to his former home.  Former defensive teammates on the 2010 Stanley Cup winning Chicago Blackhawks team, Dustin Byfuglien (Winnipeg Jets) & Brian Campbell (Florida Panthers) were named to the teams as well.  All-star games may be a bit of a joke, but the recognition of being added to the team is something these players and the rest of the ones I didn't mention will always have associated with them.