Today is Friday, December 13, 2013.

For some people this means nothing more than the fact that yesterday was the 12th and tomorrow is the 14^th.

For others it means that there will soon be less than 10 shopping days left until Christmas.

For the superstitious among us today means all of the things above in addition to it being an unlucky day all the way around.

While many may think that the Friday the 13^th craze started with a certain movie character named Freddy the roots of Friday the 13^th actually run much deeper than late 20^th Century cinema.

Since the 19^th Century Friday the 13th has been considered an unlucky day in Western and Eastern superstition.

Friday and the number 13 were considered unlucky by some on their own so it was only logical that both occurring at the same time would be even unluckier.

In fact fear of Friday the 13^th even has a name; friggatriskaidekaphobia (Frigga being the name of the Norse goddess for whom Friday is named in English and triskaidekaphobia meaning fear of the number thirteen).

Personally I have never feared Friday the 13^th although I do fear not finishing my Christmas shopping in time.

But the arrival of Friday the 13^th made me think about sports and the superstitious rituals that many players seem to follow.

There are players who will eat the same pregame meal because they feel that to eat anything else would risk certain disaster on the field.

Hitters on a hot streak in baseball are notorious for continuing whatever