Oddest/Coolest/Neatest Sports Traditions

[EarlJam]

One of them has to be the Seventh Inning Stretch and singing of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame."

When did all of this begin? I mean, it's not a rule rule but IS an unwritten "rule."

Is there a ballpark that does not participate? And if so, should all who enter it be taken out and flogged?

-EJ

[blazindw]

One of them has to be the Seventh Inning Stretch and singing of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame."

When did all of this begin? I mean, it's not a rule rule but IS an unwritten "rule."

Is there a ballpark that does not participate? And if so, should all who enter it be taken out and flogged?

-EJ

I think the Yankees still do "God Bless America" during the 7th Inning Stretch.

Among the coolest, I gotta throw out the tossing of the octopus at Detroit Red Wings games. For the oddest (and also cool), the haka performed by the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team before each match.

[ugadevil]

The University of Hawaii football team doing that tribal/rain dance during their warm-up routine is rather bizarre.

[Lord Ash]

Just watch a hockey goalie before a game, and you'll see more strange traditions than you ever knew existed.

[ugadevil]

During the practice rounds at The Masters, the players have a tradition on No. 16, the Par 3 over the water. Usually one or two players gets up near the water and tries to skip it across and get it on the green. The crowd yells at them to skip it as they're leaving the tee. Maybe they do this everywhere, but I thought it was pretty sweet at Augusta.

I'd just put the Masters in its own category for neatest sports tradition.

[throatybeard]

The NYY and a lot of everyone else have only been doing God Bless America since 9/11.

[rockymtn devil]

Script Ohio

http://youtube.com/watch?v=rPNnIFH6_RU

[hc5duke]

New Zealand All Blacks doing the Haka
Deep in the Heart of Texas at Astros games (IIRC 7th inning after TMOTTBG)

[Lavabe]

New Zealand All Blacks doing the Haka

Neatest Sports Traditions, in no particular order:
1. The New Zealand All-Blacks doing the Haka (my favorite was when Jonah Lomu was playing).
2. Liverpool/Anfield/Kop: Anytime the fans sing "You'll Never Walk Alone."
3. Churchill Downs on Derby Day: "My Old Kentucky Home"
4. Indy: "Ladies and Gentlemen, start your engines."
5. The First Tee Shot at the Masters.
6. Opening Day for the St. Louis Cardinals.
7. Opening Ceremonies at most Olympics, quickly followed by...
8. The end of the marathon at any Olympics.
9. The final handshake between teams, followed by the raising of the Stanley Cup.
and of course...
10. The tents of K-ville, followed by the chant of GTHC,GTH (led by Ozzie).

Cheers,
Lavabe

[OZZIE4DUKE]

Neatest Sports Traditions

10. The tents of K-ville, followed by the chant of GTHC,GTH (led by Ozzie).

Cheers,
Lavabe

Shouldn't that be #1?

I have been known to visit K'ville to teach them/coach them/lead them in the cheer. In fact, I did it last year!

[OZZIE4DUKE]

One of them has to be the Seventh Inning Stretch and singing of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame."

When did all of this begin? I mean, it's not a rule rule but IS an unwritten "rule."

Is there a ballpark that does not participate? And if so, should all who enter it be taken out and flogged?

-EJ

Wikipedia lists several origins. The one I've always heard has to do with then President Howard Taft standing to stretch while at a game.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seventh-inning_stretch

I think every major league, and probably minor league team encourages the 7th inning stretch. It's a great opportunity to sell more food and drink.

[blazindw]

Script Ohio

http://youtube.com/watch?v=rPNnIFH6_RU

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO (sorry, I hate Ohio State as much as I do UNC)

Might I add that "tradition" was started by the University of Michigan's band way back when? They ended up adopting it as their own.

[Lavabe]

1990 World Cup Italy
Pavarotti singing Nessun Dorma.

I was abroad at the time, but his performance of it became the signature tune for the BBC coverage of the Cup that year.

Youtube it.

Wow.

Cheers,
Lavabe

[rockymtn devil]

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO (sorry, I hate Ohio State as much as I do UNC)

Might I add that "tradition" was started by the University of Michigan's band way back when? They ended up adopting it as their own.

That's only kind of true. The Michigan band's version was a set piece. Given that the truly impressive part of Script Ohio is that the band spells it out in the march, what the Michigan band did was a primitive precursor.

[blazindw]

That's only kind of true. The Michigan band's version was a set piece. Given that the truly impressive part of Script Ohio is that the band spells it out in the march, what the Michigan band did was a primitive precursor.

I'm referring to the Dotting of the I, which is actually the tradition that most Buckeye fans view as the most important. That was started by Michigan.

[hurleyfor3]

One of them has to be the Seventh Inning Stretch and singing of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame."

When did all of this begin? I mean, it's not a rule rule but IS an unwritten "rule."

Is there a ballpark that does not participate? And if so, should all who enter it be taken out and flogged?

-EJ

It's downplayed at White Sox games. In Chicago, making a really big deal out of the seventh inning stretch is considered a Wrigley Field thing.

[Bostondevil]

I was at Fenway yesterday with the entire brood (courtesy of Make-A-Wish) and of course, we sang 'Sweet Caroline' in the middle of the 8th inning. I used to think it was lame, I embrace it now.

Oh, Oh, Oh,
So good, so good, so good.

I'm not sure anybody knows why we do this but it's a Fenway thing.

Number 4 son continued his Red Sox good luck ways (we met Kevin Youkilis before the game), the Sox win in the end when he comes, but his magic makes them work for it. I myself have only witnessed 2 Red Sox losses in 20 years of going to Fenway. (At most I go twice a year, usually just once.)

[Turk]

The seventh-inning stretch is weird. Do they still sing "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" in Baltimore? First time I heard that I remember thinking "Wait a minute... I'm sober enough to know I'm in Baltimore and not WV... WTF?!?" and no one ever could give me a good story as to why. That was pre-google, of course, and it turns out it's all Mark Belanger's fault. (Now I have another reason for not liking him... If he was just a little bit more terrible as a hitter, we would be calling .200 "the Belanger line"...)

http://www.pressboxonline.com/story.cfm?id=2189

And here's more than you ever wanted to know about the TMOTTBG song:

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08175/891968-388.stm

I also think the baseball "rally caps" are cute, where one wears his / her baseball cap inside out / upside down / bill pointed toward the sky, etc, in an attempt to spark a late-inning desperation rally...

In hockey, the throwing of the octopi in Detroit cracks me up, as well as throwing hats on the ice when someone on the home team scores a hat trick... (a good way to get rid of all the rally caps that were ruined in the summer) . The "playoff beards" are also neat - any excuse not to shave is good with me...

But here's the one I hate hate HATE with all my Grinchiness: THE WAVE.

I've hissed at my kids, "I don't care if you get arrested for drugs or drop out of school, but if I ever ever EVER catch you doing the wave, I will dope-slap you so hard your teeth will rattle..."

(Ahem... I may or may not be making that last part up...)

[TillyGalore]

The seventh-inning stretch is weird. Do they still sing "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" in Baltimore? First time I heard that I remember thinking "Wait a minute... I'm sober enough to know I'm in Baltimore and not WV... WTF?!?" and no one ever could give me a good story as to why. That was pre-google, of course, and it turns out it's all Mark Belanger's fault. (Now I have another reason for not liking him... If he was just a little bit more terrible as a hitter, we would be calling .200 "the Belanger line"...)

http://www.pressboxonline.com/story.cfm?id=2189

As a somewhat life long O's fan (didn't even know the existed the first 10 or so years) I love that the O's play "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" in the 7th inning. It's unique, no one else does it.

But here's the one I hate hate HATE with all my Grinchiness: THE WAVE.

I thought I was alone in this. Was at the Durham Bulls a few weeks ago and my BF tried to get me to participate. The wave is so 1980's and should be left there.

[throatybeard]

1990 World Cup Italy
Pavarotti singing Nessun Dorma.

I was abroad at the time, but his performance of it became the signature tune for the BBC coverage of the Cup that year.

Youtube it.

Wow.

Cheers,
Lavabe

Old hankyhand really outdid himself that year in an Indian summery way. He was about 55 at the time and he sounded better than he had in a good ten years. I wish he'd retired right after the WC, or maybe right after the 1994 one. That would have given him time to still to the joint opening night with Placido in 1993 and the Met I Lombardi with Flanigan in 1994.