I know a lot of you lot are very superstitious and all that, but can the ones here who aren't have the freedom to post what they think will happen in the game without it getting deleted? I think we can all agree and understand that predictions have nothing what so ever to do with the outcome of the match. It's just nice to see when people make predictions, people can actually discuss them as where on here it's just delete, then basically no posts until the actual game.
While having a number of superstitions myself (the latest: always sit in Gigi's seat at the stadium and if Gigi has a problem with it, remind him he has no interest in Napoli not winning), I don't have a problem with predictions being made in game threads. Not a superstition I am influenced by or involved in maintaining. However, should someone try to offer me a pizza on game day, I will have you banned from this site. (And on a serious note, someone made a prediction in the Napoli-Udinese thread and we still won, so maybe we can archive this one and start allowing predictions? Maybe 2008 has changed the karma of certain rituals?)
I did delete the prediction before the match started so maybe that's the reason we won?!? I am terrible with predictions in particular. It's the reason I don't gamble or play many fantasy sports. Having said that I predict we will become a top 30 European side within five years. It may seem like a no-brainer to some but it says a great deal about DeLa and the organization he's put together.
I don't see the point in making game predictions. Why do you care if people see what you think is going to happen? Predict them to yourself if your right, great... I just don't see why you need other people to see how right or how wrong you are. There are sites like Goal.com and Beteagle.com that have professionals posting thier opinions and predictions. If I want to see a prediction I'll go there. I'm not going to stop anyone from making the predictions, but I don't care what thier opinion is either.
That explains it! One thing that I am coming to appreciate is the fact that different superstitions carry different weight, and don't always apply on all scenarios. For example, I always wear the same shoes, sox, jeans and shirt at the stadium (though the jacket is interchangeable) - since Napoli-Juve. However, the true weight of this outfit remains to be seen because for Napoli-Lazio, I purposely wore a different shirt to change things up, so then the question is did it bring good luck because we avoided a defeat at the 94th, or would we have won with my good luck shirt? I did wear the good luck shirt on a couple of occasions where we tied (Reggina, Torino), so maybe the shirt itself isn't too important...hmmm. And I wore my entire good luck outfit for Milan-Napoli, which we watched at my house on TV, but the result...well, you know. So I guess any luck associated with that outfit only applies to home games, apparently... Then there is Fabio's presence at the San Paolo, which is so powerful that it trumps any and all other supersitious rituals applied by anyone anywhere. Napoli has only lost 3 home games in the last few years, and coincidentally those are the only 3 home games Fabio has missed (vs. Cagliari and Genoa this year, vs. Chieti in C1). Had Fabio not been at the San Paolo for the match against Reggina, would Lavezzi have scored the equalizer in the 90th, or Hamsik the equalizer vs. Lazio in the 94th? Highly doubtful, and the scientific evidence is there to prove it. Another very powerful (negative) superstitious ritual (i.e., something that seems to be bring very bad luck) is me eating pizza on game day. Ate pizza at halftime at the San Paolo for Napoli-Cagliari. Score was 0-0, it became 0-2. Ate pizza up until opening kickoff of Inter-Napoli, we lost. Ate pizza during Palermo-Napoli. We lost. Now the question is, were I to eat pizza at San Paolo while Fabio is present, would Napoli lose? That's a battle of the superstitions right there, but I would assess that Fabio's presence is much more powerful than the bad karma associated with me eating pizza. Then there are the occasional and inevitable "newbies" that are thrown your way. The Slovakia flag. Donatella swears that the flag shall be hers the entire rest of the season, regardless of whose it is (mine) or whose idea it was to get it (Annalisa). I shall forever strive to sit in Gigi's seat whenever possible, and take the Agnano exit to Armando's house instead of the usual Fuorigrotta exit after Saturday's unexpectedly positive result. But then again, maybe those rituals are worthless, since this was Napoli's second 3-1 win on a Saturday night out of two home games played at home on Saturday night, so maybe that was the good luck omen. So how about if I sit in Gigi's seat while wearing my outfit, eating pizza on a Saturday night and Fabio is present? Oh, and the Slovakia flag is clutched safely by Donatella? Take away Anna's luck horn from that equation, and what happens? What if we also forget the Caffe' Borghetti that day? In the end, these things are just that: equations. There is no one single superstitious ritual that alone will make the difference. It's all a matter of adding up everything going for you with everything going against you. So I will never know to what extent the Agnano exit made the difference, or the Slovakia flag, though being the second time I sat in Gigi's seat, there is a little more evidence to judge that factor (sat in it while it was 1-2 Lazio, so for the time I sat in that seat it was 1-0 Napoli, and sat there all of Napoli-Udinese). And the equation consideration is the reason why I have yet to wear my Napoli cap to the stadium, even though my (romanista) cousin and his (laziale) girlfriend gave it to me for Christmas for that expressed purpose. I wore it the first time during Milan-Napoli. Ahem. Second time while watching Napoli-Lazio of Coppa Italia on TV. Groan. OK, so maybe the hat brings bad luck. Maybe it brings good luck as long as it is worn at the stadium. Haven't dared introducing it into the equation just yet in order to more clearly understand what influence other variables have first. Once the impact of the Agnano exit, of the Slovakia flag, of Donatella's new lucky horn are made clear, then and only then can I introduce another variable in there. To do so now would only confuse things far too much. As far as making predictions, I personally don't give much weight to it one way or another, but if others do that's cool. I'm too busy keeping track of all the factors I can control to overlook everyone else's thing. But rest assured that if Fabio is at San Paolo, you guys can make all the predictions you want. Unless I ate pizza that day, in which case the "pizza + prediction" thing might outweigh Fabio's presence. But only if that day a black cat crossed Donatella's path on the way to the stadium.
Oh!!!! And the Lavezzi scarf!!!! Brought it to the stadium twice. Napoli-Lazio (2 goals by Hamsik) and Napoli-Udinese (2 goals by Lavezzi). So apparently the scarf brings good luck, particularly in having a Napoli player score twice. Maybe if I had spent more time in Gigi's seat during Napoli-Lazio, Lavezzi would have scored there too?