The Front Row with JASON ELLIOTT Feb. 12, 2011

Superstitions.

In sports, they can get interesting sometimes.

Whether a lucky pregame meal or other routine, if it works, most stick with it.

THAT SAME idea could be said for fans of their favorite sports teams.

In the past three years, I've worn the same Matt Hasselbeck jersey to each Seahawks game I've attended at Qwest Field. In those five games, the Seahawks have won all five.

He may not have played in a couple of those games, but as long as the team continues winning, why change it?

Despite their bad records in the past three years, the Seahawks always found a way to win those games that I've attended in person, while the other results have been up and down for Mariners games in that same span.

Then again, I'm not sure that it makes a difference when it comes to baseball.

WHILE NEVER believing much in superstitions when it comes to sports, there's maybe some truth behind the idea of a lucky charm.

In the past three years, I've heard of at least two basketball teams that have used the song "Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey as a rallying cry to play their way into the state tournament.

After Kellogg played its way into the state 3A girls basketball championship game last season and Wallace to a fourth-place win over Clark Fork in 2008, it seemed to bring some success for those schools.

With the state tournament season beginning next week, some of those other rallying cries will make their way toward the Boise area.

When the Idaho Vandals took down the 17th-ranked Utah State Aggies on Wednesday at the Cowan Spectrum in Moscow, some of those die-hard Vandal fans stormed the court.

Three of them just happened to be from the Kellogg area, completely covered in black and gold body paint.

Since a couple of them, as well as many of their fellow Vandal fans, began the practice of painting last Saturday night, the team hasn’t lost.

Entering Wednesday’s game, the Vandals were 1-20 against teams ranked in the Top 25, with that win coming against No. 25 Portland on Dec. 6, 2009, in Moscow.

While wins against Hawaii and Utah State won’t be enough to qualify them for the NCAA tournament, it appears that some luck has begun to get them back on the right path.

AS POSTSEASON tournaments for most area schools continue, there is a lot of different things that can keep a team from accomplishing their goals.

With a little luck — some could also go far.

Others will just be washing away the stain of a season lost a long time ago.

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d’Alene Press. He can be reached by telephone at 664-876, Ext. 2020 or via e-mail at [email protected].