Savage Words: I never go to bed at 9:22, 0:57 or 11:38

Here’s to hoping you made it through Friday the 13th last week. If you’re reading this, I’m guessing things went OK.

Friday the 13th occurs at least once a year, and it can happen up to three times in a single year. Many people fear the day, and most certainly avoid walking under a ladder or crossing paths with a black cat.

For me, Friday the 13th has never bothered me. However, the number 13 is something I avoid any chance I can. The fear of 13 is called Triskaidekaphobia, and although I wouldn’t say I suffer from it, I most certainly have it, as I go through my days dodging the number.

The reason Friday the 13th doesn’t bother is because it’s something I can’t avoid. There’s a 13th day in every month, just like there’s a 13th hour in every day and a 13th second in every minute. Nothing I can do about that.

But when I can avoid the number, I do. For example, I never go to bed at 9:22, or 10:57 or 11:38. Add those numbers up individually, and they equal 13.

When I go to the store and give the clerk $2 when something costs $1.87, I always leave a penny on the counter. No way am I putting 13 cents in my pocket.

In my house, it’s 13 steps to my downstairs retreat. I always skip the final step to make sure I safely arrive on a 12-count.

When I worked in the NBA, I traveled with the teams I worked for. The hotel rooms I stayed in around the country are countless, but I never stayed in a room 409, 805, or 724. You get the idea…those digits individually add up to 13.

I actually traded rooms with a player one time when I worked for the Seattle SuperSonics. He thought I was crazy, but also knew of my trepidation towards 13. So, he switched, and the biggest thing I learned from that trip is that the players rooms are WAY nicer. He never made the offer again.

It’s stupid, I know. But at 54 years of age, I doubt I’ll overcome it now. It likely all started for me because I grew up in an automobile racing family. In that sport, the number 13 is taboo.

At the Indianapolis 500, the No. 13 has only been run four times in the 107-year history of the event. In 2003, Greg Ray entered the 500 with the No. 13, which was the first time the number was entered in 87 years. Only one time has a 13 won a NASCAR race, and that was in 1963.

When I was a little kid, a Sprint Car driver from St. Paul named Jack Shostag came to the Knoxville Nationals with a green car (another racing superstition) with a black cat painted on the front. He was also number 13.

After Shostag entered the pit area at Knoxville, a long line of Sprint Car haulers and trailers lined behind the pit entrance refusing to follow him in for the night’s races. Someone finally did after a long, uneasy time.

That always left an impression on me.

When I first started my professional career in sports, I was the Director of Public Relations for the Sioux Falls Skyforce. My first week on the job was head coach Flip Saunders’ last. He went on to coach the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves, but before he left for the Twin Cities, he and I talked about my 13 phobia. Not sure why, but we did.

Before he left, he told me he wrote the number “13” on 13 different sticky notes and placed them around my office. I found 12 of them, but could not find the last. We lost eight in a row, and although it was probably because we were giving up 120 points per game, I was convinced it was because I couldn’t find Saunders’ trivial sticky note. I finally did, stuck under my keyboard. We won that night.

As Halloween approaches and a recent Friday the 13th is behind us, I had this same discussion with some friends at a local watering hole. I filled them in on my aversion to 13.

I told my buddy that I never get out of bed at 9:22 a.m., and that instead, I would lay there until 9:23 before starting my day.

He, too, thought it was weird. But that’s not what troubled him the most.

“What the hell are you doing in bed still at 9:22,” he said.

Everyone’s got their quirks.