Title: Yelling Gibberish

General Information about Item:

• Customary Lore, Sports ritual
• Language: English
• Country of Origin: United States
• Informant: Max Jones
• Date Collected: 5-29-2020

Informant Data:

• Max was born in Austin, Texas on September 9, 2000. He is currently a sophomore at Dartmouth College. He is a member of the Men’s Swim and Dive team. Max has two younger brothers. Max’s father and his 3 sons are big basketball fans- specifically Lebron James fans.

Contextual Data:

• Cultural Context: Max became a Lebron fan when his father got him a Lebron James folder in the fifth grade. Lebron James is one of the best basketball players in the world. He is a three-time NBA Finals champion. Lebron is currently on the Los Angeles Lakers. Many times fans try to distract basketball players during games in order to decrease their performance. During games, when a player is shooting a free-throw, you can see all the fans behind the hoop waving stuff, trying to distract the shooter. This action is what started Max’s ritual.
• Social Context: This folklore was collected over the phone during the Covid-19 pandemic. Before attending college, Max and his family would watch most of Lebron’s games together. They would gather to eat dinner while watching the games. This was a way of family bonding as well as a way to support Lebron.

Item:

• This ritual took place during Lebron’s games. Every time the opposing team would shoot the ball Max and his dad would yell some gibberish. They would yell words like “Bazoonga” and “Rahabada”. They’re mentality was that it would jinx the player from making the shot. The act of actually yelling something aloud, makes Max and his father feel like they are distracting the shooter. They only do this during games that involve Lebron James.

Transcript:

• “My dad and I are pretty big Lebron James fans. During my high school years, we would watch most of his (Lebron’s) games together. We would watch the games while eating dinner and he would even let me stay up late on weekdays for it. I’m not sure how this ritual of yelling at the TV really began, but it would just keep us engaged in the game and made us share some laughs.”

Informant’s Comments:

• “I know that this ritual is silly, but there is no harm in doing it and it was funny.”

Collector’s Comments:

• This is definitely relatable. Whenever I’m playing or watching sports, there’s always someone who will yell when someone is shooting or trying to score.

Collector’s Name: Dylan Chan

Tags/Keywords:

• Customary Lore
• Lebron James
• NBA

Title: The Terrible Towel

General Information about Item:

• Customary Lore, Sports Ritual
• Language: English
• Country of Origin: United States
• Informant: Joseph Moll
• Date Collected: 05-29-2020

Informant Data:

• Joseph was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on March 31, 2000. He is currently a ‘22 on the Dartmouth Men’s Swim and Dive team. His whole family has lived in Pennsylvania for three generations. He is the oldest of 4 sons, who all play sports. His mom and dad both played sports when they were younger as well; his dad played volleyball and his mom played basketball. 

Contextual Data:

• Cultural Context: The “terrible towel” is a known rally towel associated with the Steelers. Thousands of fans own one of these towels and they can be seen at every Steelers home game. The ritual began during the 1979 NFL season. During this season, the Steelers ended up winning the Super Bowl and the ritual became part of Joe’s family.
• Social Context: This folklore was collected over the phone during the Covid-19 pandemic. Joe’s family has lived in Pennsylvania for 3 generations now. As a result, they are all passionate Pittsburgh Steelers fans. When Joe’s grandfather was younger, he watched the Steelers games every week and he passed down a ritual to Joe. Now, Joe and his brothers perform this ritual every season.

Item:

• This ritual involves keeping the “terrible towel” on his TV throughout the whole season. During games, he would take the towel off the TV and put it on his head. Every time the game went in the Steelers’ favor, like scoring a touchdown or catching an interception, Joe would swing the towel around- a distinct feature of Pittsburgh Steelers fans.

Transcript:

• “This ritual was started by my grandfather, but my brothers and I have carried it on. We keep our (terrible) towel on our TV for the whole football season, but during games we wear it on our heads. Whenever something good happens during the game, we take it off our head and swing it around in the air. My grandfather started doing this during the 1979 season when the Steelers won the Super Bowl so it has been done ever since.”

Informant’s Comments:

• The informant had no additional comments.

Collector’s Comments:

• Steelers fans are known to be very committed fans. This generalization lines up with Joe’s ritual.

Collector’s Name: Dylan Chan

Tags/Keywords:

• Customary Lore
• Pittsburgh Steelers
• Football