It is almost game time and the guys on the men’s lacrosse team are ready to hear some music to get pumped up.
Some players choose Jay-Z. Others choose 2Pac or Notorious B.I.G. Some players even turn up “Tik Tok” by Ke$ha.
There are no limits to the range of pre-game music, and nothing the players won’t admit to listening to, senior Mario Ventiquattro said.
“I like to mix it up and get excited before the game,” he said.
Maybe it isn’t the strangest pre-game ritual, but it’s definitely different. Besides stretching and listening to music, the players admitted to following other strict habits and rituals.
“For certain away games, I’ll wear the same pair of khakis and the same polo shirt,” senior midfielder James Green said.
The men say that whatever they wore for game day, if they win, they will wear it over and over again until they lose a game.
And what happens then?
The socks are the first thing to go, Green said.
“We wore blacks this week and we lost,” he said. “So we’ll probably never wear black socks again.”
The players also said they take showers before and after the game. The seniors said the showers before the game make them feel better and help them loosen up and get ready for the game.
Last comes the uniform, and most importantly, the shorts from high school. Ventiquattro wears his high school lacrosse shorts under his Ohio State game shorts every game.
“It’s just something I have been doing since my freshman year,” he said.
