Practicing Sports
There are rules of being a fan of any sport. Just like adhering to a religion, you have some people that are more committed to the cause. Zealots. Crazy. Freaks. Seems like there are a lot of different names for fans or religious folks. In order to practice the religion of a sport you must know the rules, when to clap, what is actually a good play, what is a bad play, when to stop talking, and so on.
Understanding the basics is fundamental across the field, pitch, court, or surface. Just like if you didn’t know the rules of a Catholic mass, things could get embarrassing. These practices are important to keeping a teams livelihood. Think of a universal tradition for schools – the fight song. It ties everyone together. A band strikes up the fight song and fans sing along causing unison. A body of one. Powerful stuff! Gets my heart pumping.
There are two reasons that sporting tradition is on my mind.
1) One of bother’s didn’t wear his teams gear or color to the first football game of the year. For some reason, it got me all fired up. I feel like that should be a universal law. You rep for your team. You wear their gear to their game.
2) The below video….
new MUSS tradition: SPLASH MOUNTAIN 💦 after the first touchdown, use our water bottles to fill up @ stadium to throw water in celebration 😎 pic.twitter.com/IYMq45IWpg
— The MUSS (@TheMUSS) August 30, 2017
Traditions
First off, my brother. I will keep it quick. I see no reason that you shouldn’t wear your team’s gear to your team’s game. To push back and fight against it is silly. Be apart of the group! Then again, getting upset about my brother is probably more silly. Everyone worships in their own way I guess.
Second of all, the above video. New traditions aren’t just conjured up, they are born from something real, something authentic. Not a student government writing a bunch of ideas up on a white board and choosing the least worst idea. I am not convinced that this “new tradition” was the least worst idea. Ripping off another schools idea would be better than a stupid “original idea”. Here are some better basic traditions to follow:
- Seniors get front row of the student section
- Students come to the game on-time
- All students sing the school fight song
- Everyone yells and watches the game
If you can’t do those basic things, how can you add anything else? A cutie water toss? The truth is you don’t need to be clever, you just need to be consistent.
Three examples: Duke, Utah State, and FSU
The Cameron Crazies – They all are wearing the school colors. Everyone buys in. No one is too cool to do it. Nothing that fancy.
Utah State – Not a premier program, but again the fans buy in. They buy in all the way.
FSU – Call the Tomahawk Chop whatever you want, but that is a staple of College Football.
These student bodies believe in the cause and they act consistently over and over.
For 18 mins of traditions, watch this.
