Rituals for professional sports
teams can be anywhere from entertaining to dangerous. A ritual is something one
does in accordance with social customs or the normal protocol. I
chose this to study the rituals for professional sports teams mainly focusing
on soccer because of my love for the game. I love sports in general, but
especially soccer. I LOVE SOCCER. I have been playing any type of sport ever since I could
walk, but I started soccer when I was ten years old. When I turned twelve I
made a commitment and quit all of the other sports I was involved in just so I
could focus on soccer. After many stressful months of time consuming
tournaments and college showcases, all the while making life long memories with
my teammates who I consider family, I fulfilled my dream of playing Division 1 soccer
on Marshall University’s Women’s soccer team.
Soccer is the one sport that I have always loved, it’s my escape when I
need time to myself, it’s where I go when I need to take my anger or
frustration out on something, it’s what I play when I want to feel relaxed, and
it’s where I’ve met all of my life long best friends that are more like family.
Through my topic I wanted to tie in my love of the game with other people who
love the game just as much and see through their eyes how they view the game
and how they show their dedication through their rituals. To show this I began
researching fan bases as a whole and with the World Cup coming up this summer,
many more research opportunities were created, making soccer rituals in general
that much more exciting interesting. Sports easily fascinate and interest me,
this is why I thoroughly enjoyed researching my topic. I already knew a lot
about professional soccer specifically, but not as much about other sports or
the extent of the fan base of sports today. The artistic aspect of soccer
rituals was also something that fascinated me throughout learning about soccer
fan bases in general. Without the artistic side of fans dressing up, painting
all over themselves, and wearing ridiculous outfits much longer than just the
90 minute game period, the entertainment couldn’t compare.
Consequently, my topic proves to be
artistic because of the multiple cultural differences all over the world
involving soccer and their fan bases. Fans of any team are usually very
artistic and creative with the way they look or portray themselves while
supporting their team, whether it be a ‘silly’ superstition, or a tradition passed
down from generation to generation. We see this more in other countries who
still pass traditions down through their families as well as their love for the
game. For this reason, it could even be considered literary in the form of how
fans chant, as well as the phrases on the signs that are made. Fans’ being
labeled artistic is just another example of the beauty of the game. Their
passion for the game is just another way of proclaiming their love for the
game. Likewise, with the World Cup taking place this summer the fans will be in
larger numbers because of how the world cup is advertised and how much more
popular it has become over the years. Soccer is moving up the charts.
The World Cup is officially the
biggest tournament event held for soccer in the world today. It involves eight
groups (A through H) and each group consists of four teams. The World Cup will
take place this coming summer and most of my research will be solely focused on
four teams: Ghana, Portugal, Germany, and United States National team. I chose
these four for multiple reasons. First, this is the group that the United
States Men’s National team is in and second, sports broadcasters have predicted
this group to be the “death bracket.” This phrase simply means that this will
be the hardest bracketed group out of all eight groups, each with four teams
representing their countries in the World Cup. Portugal, Germany, and the U.S.
are all possible predicted winners of the World Cup 2014, and having all three
placed in the same bracket will make the tournament that much more exciting! I
can’t even imagine how crazy the fans will be during these games, all three
teams being nominated to possibly win while also they are already popular teams
in general. Germany is an all around solid team, the U.S. is popular during the
world cup because of where we are from and Portugal especially because they
have one of the best labeled players in the world today on their team,
Cristiano Ronaldo.
I am certainly a fan of the United
States Men’s National team as well as the U.S. Women’s National team. I will
support any United States team/participant in any even or game and me being
myself and loving all sports anyway makes it easy. Throughout the World Cup I
will be supporting the U.S. Men’s National team for as far as they make it in
the tournament this year. I have my favorite players that I love on the team, I
have my favorite lucky jersey that I will wear during all their games, and I
will probably do what I do for every U.S. National team game and host a get
together at my house just for the game! I wouldn’t go so far as to say I’m
superstitious of how my team will do if I didn’t do all these things, but I
will agree that I would be self conscious and not feel as comfortable watching,
and if they lost I may feel as though I let my team down by changing up my
routine. Although, I will say that as a fan I have never experienced any type
of superstitions personally, nor have I followed any traditions for supporting
my team. With becoming a fan comes dedication and commitment. Bandwagons do not
exist, and with supporting your team, you are just as much a part of the team
as the players actually on the team. “Examination of idiosyncratic sports
rituals engaged in by viewers of televised sports revealed complex patterns of
negotiation and participation in the televised events,” which to me makes
sense. But does this affect the rituals of fan bases in general? To a fan, a
ritual is considered the closest way to be on the field or court with their
supported team since they can’t literally be on the playing surface with them. This
seems to be their way (fans) of putting all they have into the game.
Personally, this logic makes sense and although from a televised point of view
some rituals can’t be performed, there are many other rituals that are still
performed before or even after every game (Eastman 1). If a fan doesn’t perform
their pre-game ritual (or whenever it may be) they may feel as though they are
letting their team down, because by performing these rituals they are doing
their part as fans, in preparing for the game.
One fan seems like a tree within an
entire forest. When fans unite together there are multiple different things
that could happen both good and bad. Fans reactions depend on so many things,
such as where they are from, whether their teams are successful, and also
whether or not the fans are considered “die-hard” fans. Through my research I
learned about the fundamentals of understanding fan behavior. I learned how
this affects emotions experienced by fans and how important and meaningful
rituals truly are. I also learned that ritual theories vary, fans vary, as well
as opinions vary (Cottingham 1). Without fan bases what would sports really
consist of? They wouldn’t have funding, they wouldn’t have support, they
wouldn’t have the same adrenaline rush, and they most certainly would not have
the stadiums or arenas they that have now because that all comes from funding
which essentially all leads back to fan bases.
To put in perspective how much
funding goes into worldwide sports, here is an example of committees that
overlook funding through the events that the United States participate in:
Founded in 1894 and headquartered in Colorado Springs, the United States
Olympic Committee (USOC) is the National Olympic Committee (NOC) for the United
States. In addition, the USOC is one of the only four NOCs in the world that
also serve s the National Paralympic Committee for their country. The USOC is
responsible for supporting, entering and overseeing U.S. teams for the Olympic
Games, Paralympic Games, Youth Olympic Games, Pan American Games and Parapan
American Games and serves as the steward of he Olympic and Paralympic Movements
in the United States. The Olympic Movement is overseen by the International
Olympic Committee (IOC) and the IOC is supported by 35 International
Federations that govern each sport on a global level, National Olympic
Committees that oversee Olympic sports as a whole in each nation, and national
Federations that administer each sport at the national level (called National
Governing Bodies in the United States). About 27 percent of the USOC’s budget
for the four years leading up to the 2008 Beijing Summer Games came second from
a record $2 billion U.S. Olympic television deal with NBC signed during flush
times. The only government funds directed toward the USOC since it came into
its current existence under the Amateur Sports Act of 1978 came in the form of
a $10 million appropriation from Congress 1981 to stave off bankruptcy after
the United States boycotted the 1980 Summer Games in Moscow, and as much as $40
million in 2008 for Paralympic support for disabled veterans of the U.S. armed
forces through 2012 (Shipley, 1). As you can see from the statistics mentioned
and proven above, sports are not taken lightly in the world today especially
when it comes to financing situations. I would almost say that sports and the
funding from sports are what keep the currency going in our world today.
However, I love sports and I believe the statistics stated above, I also
believe that our world shouldn’t depend on something such as certain sports to
bring in the majority of the income throughout the world today. I believe that
it should be upheld by education, something along that line of importance.
Think what our world would be if we as a whole focused, and put the same amount
of effort into education as we did for sports and sports complexes and their preparation
funding. I feel as though we would accomplish so much more throughout this life
with an opportunity to better our education rather than relying on sports to
automatically provide all the funding and for what? To build more sports
arenas, and stadiums, etc. There is nothing wrong with playing sports or
supporting your favorite team but our world today has adapted and conformed too
much into the wrong subjects. Soccer rituals are just one form of many
examples.
In addition, with soccer fan bases
and their rituals, sometimes even because of the superstitious theories or the
religious aspect of rituals within sports, sports fans instantly become that
much more exciting. Nevertheless I also learned through my research that “The
realm of sports is one widely known for the numerous exhibitions of both
superstition and religious ritual (Maranise 1).” This statement would make
anyone who appreciates and loves sports stop and ponder this for a second. Is
that all a sport is, something widely known for superstition and religious
rituals? That’s what we as researchers and readers have to discover. There are
always both positive and negative effects to all situations, but in particular
religious rituals because of how diverse our world is today when it comes to
religion.
While researching I found what
turned out to be my favorite discovery. I leaned all about the weirdest
superstitions all over the world in all types of sports. These varieties of
superstitions and rituals are the exact reasons why sports are so exciting to
me, sports other than the one sport (soccer) that I already play and that I’ve
grown to love. I watched YouTube videos as visual representation that rituals
as well as traditions such as these do happen, and some happen quite often. All
of these rituals have names. They are well known especially in the soccer fan
sports world. To me, certain fan rituals are a way to simply keep the game
alive before or after it’s all over. Although, I will say that some of the
traditions are so absurd and could potentially be considered dangerous at times
(some of them certainly), that I can’t believe they are allowed to go on. “As far back as the 1880s and 90s, gangs of football supporters termed as
“roughs” are thought to have caused trouble, usually at local derby matches.
Understandable really given that transport restrictions made travelling to away
games pretty much a no-go area. In 1885,
one of the first ever reported instances of football violence came when Preston
North End’s “Invincibles” team defeated Aston Villa in a friendly
match. After the game, both sides were pelted with stones, sticks and fists as
they left the pitch. It was pointless, purposeless, and brainless. Three words
that have become almost synonymous with the concept of the football hooliganism (Jones 1).” We
have to take into account that during an event such as the World Cup with that
many fans in one place at one time, there wouldn’t ever be enough security to
keep all of them in line. This brings us back to the subject if they took away
the rituals where would all the funding go? Fans wouldn’t enjoy the games as
much and a great amount of the funding would go out the window.
To me soccer is more than a sport.
Soccer is a way of life. Without soccer, I wouldn’t know how to manage my time,
or keep a schedule, and I don’t think I would have ever learned the difference
between mental and physical toughness. Soccer has taught me so many different valuable
things over the years and through all the sweat, tears, and days upon days of
sleepless nights, it has all been worth it. I wouldn’t trade anything in my
life that has led me to where I am today, I believe that soccer has made me an
all-around better person. Without this sport I don’t know where or who I would
turn to when I become frustrated or aggravated. When I need to relax or take my
anger out on something I take my soccer ball and I mess around for a little bit
and it reminds me of how peaceful everything can be and that everything will be
okay. Soccer is my escape from reality to understand reality better. Without
soccer I don’t know who I would be or what the world would be or mean to me. I
would view so many things completely different. Soccer may not be the most
popular sport in America, but it is the most popular sport in the entire world.
There is a reason for that, in the world’s opinion it is the most exciting,
most important, most popularly supported sport in the entire world! The fans
throughout the sport just add to the sport being that much better and that much
more exciting. Personally, I always play better with a crowd. When I know that
someone is watching me specifically I play exceptionally better. Fans are the
bases of all sports, without fans sports would not be half of what they are or
what they are made out to be. Fans are just as much a part of the sport as they
are a part of their team that they support.
In conclusion, I can state that
after all of my research soccer rituals can be both entertaining and dangerous,
as well as entertaining and exciting! For sports lovers anyway. Imagine how
boring this life would be without any fans, or even without sports in general.
Rituals and fan bases of today play an important role in the life I live just
because of how involved my life is with sports. I have to readjust my whole
schedule around soccer. Because of this one simple sport and my love of the
game I have had the opportunity to travel all over the United States before I
even entered college. A lot of people don’t get that opportunity. While we were
traveling for soccer, we were visiting important landmarks and receiving
history lessons along the way. I experienced having to fly by myself, arrange
flights, learn time management, keep up with schoolwork so that all of this
traveling for soccer would be worth while with a Division 1 scholarship to pay
for school while still getting to do the one thing I love most, play soccer.
Without the fan bases who supported us and donated to us so that we could have
the money to make all these trips pretty much every weekend throughout the
year, none of this would have been possible. With soccer fan bases comes soccer
rituals and with soccer rituals comes support and with support comes a winning
season. This is why rituals for sports teams, in this case soccer specifically,
has evolved to be a way of life.
"ritual."
Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 1 May 2014.
Maranise, Anthony M. J. . Superstition
& Religious Ritual: An Examination of their Effects and Utilization in
Sport. Champaign, Illinois: Human Kinetics Publishers, Inc., 2013. Print.
Cottingham, Marci D. . Interaction
Ritual Theory and Sports Fans: Emotion, Symbols, and Solidarity. .
Champaign, Illinois: Human Kinetics Publishers, Inc., 2012. Print.
Eastman, Susan Tyler, and Karen E.
Riggs. Televised Sports and Ritual: Fan Experiences. Champaign,
Illinois: Human Kinetics Publishers, Inc., 1994. Print.
Jones, Neil. "Football
Violence & Top 10 Worst Football Riots." Soccerlens.com. N.p.,
5 Mar. 2009. Web. 1 May 2014. Print.
Shipley, Amy . "U.S. Olympic
Committee weighs the highly charged option of government funding for its
cash-strapped programs." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 14
Jan. 2010. Web. 1 May 2014.
