Consent Forms Digital Signatures (George Altirs)
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Stepping on the Field (George Altirs)
Title: Stepping on the Field
General Information about Item:
Genre: Customary Lore, Superstition
Country of Origin: Israel
Informant: OY
Date Collected: 10-28-21
Informant Data:
OY is a player on Dartmouth Men’s Soccer team in the Class of 2022 at Dartmouth. He was born in Israel and lived there until he was 10 years old. He played on a recreational soccer team there. He then moved to Boston when he was 10 with his family. He went to Brookline High School, but he played on a separate professional youth team called New England Revolution. His younger brother and sister also play soccer.
Contextual Data:
Social Context: One day, OY was watching the professional team Maccabi Haifa in Israel at the age of 9 (2009). He saw that a player ran onto the field with a little stutter step, where he stepped onto the field with his right foot and hopped on it again before stepping onto his left. That player scored the winning goal in the game, and OY admired him. OY started doing the same thing, believing that it will make him play well like that player. He had been doing that ever since when he steps out onto a soccer field, and he still does it in his Dartmouth games. I noticed that OY does this before games, and I asked him about it, which is where I collected this piece of folklore.
Cultural Context: In Israel, soccer is the most popular sport, in contrast to the US. OY used to play soccer in the streets and in school with his friends. Oftentimes in soccer, children see professional players doing things, and they want to be like them. This is the case with OY and other kids in Israel during that time. They saw that a player was doing something, and they did the same thing. They then will keep that ritual or superstition going for the rest of their life.
Item:
When OY runs on to the soccer field for the first time before a game, he always steps over the sideline with his right foot first, then hops again on his right foot before stepping on his left. He needs to do this so that he can play well.
Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):
Transcript:
“When I was younger, I saw this player step onto the field in a certain way, and I really liked the way that player played. I really wanted to be like him, which is why I started to do this routine when stepping on the field and believing in the superstition.”
Informant’s Comments:
This is something that I’ve done for almost my whole life. At this point, it’s just something that I do to make me feel comfortable. I know that it probably doesn’t affect my performance, but I just feel weird if I don’t do it.
Collector’s Comments:
I know, firsthand (as a soccer player), that this is something that happens a lot in soccer. Children always love imitating the routines and mannerisms of their favorite professional players and let these routines adapt for themselves over the years as they get older.
Collector’s Name:
George Altirs
Dartmouth College
Russian 13: Slavic Folklore
Professors Gronas and Apresjan
21F
Serving Routine (George Altirs)
Title: Serving Routine
General Information about Item:
Genre: Customary Lore, Magic Superstitions
Language: English
Country of Origin: Germany
Informant: DP
Date Collected: 11-6-21
Informant Data:
DP was born and raised in Munich, Germany. He is in the class of 2023 at Dartmouth College, and he plays on the varsity tennis team. He has played Tennis since he was 12 years old in 2011. He didn’t play on a high school team in Germany as they didn’t have one. His high school was called “Institut für Lernsysteme.”
Contextual Data:
Social Context: DP once had a Tennis coach when he was 16 that he really looked up to. Once during practice, DP was serving the ball poorly. His coach pulled him aside and told him to take a few breaths and focus clearly on the serves. He told him about something that a lot of professional tennis players in Germany do before their serves. They bounced the ball three times with their right hand and three times with their left hand. DP tried this method before his serves, and he served the ball well for the rest of practice. Now, before every serve, DP focuses as hard as he can, takes a few breaths, and bounced the ball three times in each hand. He doesn’t know which player started this pre-serve routine, but he knows that it has been going on for a long time in German tennis. I learned about this routine when I called DP to ask him about his pre-match rituals.
Cultural Context: Serving in tennis is almost all about focus. If any little thing throws off the person’s focus, then the serve will be bad, and the player will lose the point. If a player is serving bad, they will lose the match. This is why a players routines are so important.
Item:
If DP takes a deep breath, and bounces the ball 3 times in each hand, then I won’t serve the ball poorly.
Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):
Transcript:
“My coach taught me this routine, and I have stuck to it ever since. I know that if I don’t do exactly this before I serve, then my serves for that match will be bad.”
Informant’s Comments:
I know that it sounds weird that I have to bounce a ball a certain number of times in each hand. I have been doing this for so long, and it just feels like something that I must do at this point in my career. It has become second nature.
Collector’s Comments:
I notice that the role of three is at play here. This is like how this number is often present in fairy tales. It is interesting that three is the number of times he needs to bounce the ball.
Collector’s Name:
George Altirs
Dartmouth College
Russian 13: Slavic Folklore
Professors Gronas and Apresjan
21F
“Centuries” Pre-Game (George Altirs)
Title: “Centuries” Pre-Game
General Information about Item:
Genre: Customary Lore, Magic Superstition
Country of Origin: United States
Informant: JM
Date Collected: 10-28-21
Informant Data:
JM is a student in the class of 2022 at Dartmouth College. He is on the baseball team. He was born and raised in in Charlotte, NC, and he played high school baseball for the Providence Day School. He plays as a pitcher for the baseball team at Dartmouth.
Contextual Data:
Social Context: JM’s high school baseball team was very good in his senior year of high school (2018). He was one of the best players on the team coming into the season, but by the end of the season, he was even better. The song that his team would always walk out to when they came on the field before games was “Centuries” by Fallout Boy. That year, he played better than he ever had before, especially when he was hitting. He doesn’t know who chose this song and it had been the tradition to play this song before games since he had been at the school. Now he needs to listen to this song before every game because he believes it will make him play better. I collected this piece of folklore in person from JM when I asked him about his pre-game rituals.
Cultural Context: Most sports team at a competitive high school or college level have walk out songs that are supposed to get them excited before games. This high school walkout song stuck with JM and he brought this ritual over to Dartmouth.
Item:
Before JM walks out onto the field, the last song that he has to listen to is “Centuries” by Fallout Boy in order for him to play well.
Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):
Transcript:
“My senior year of high school, this was my team’s walkout song, and I played really well that year. So ever since then, I listen to that song in my headphones before I go out onto the field.”
Informant’s Comments:
I truly believe that this song contributes to making me play well this year. It really gets me in the zone to play my games. Whoever came up with the idea to listen to this before games knew what he was doing.
Collector’s Comments:
It is interesting that he was able to bring something came from his high school back to Dartmouth College. He was able to convert a ritual that he had with his whole team in high school to a personal superstition and ritual he believes in.
Collector’s Name:
George Altirs
Dartmouth College
Russian 13: Slavic Folklore
Professors Gronas and Apresjan
21F
Blades of Grass (George Altirs)
Title: Blades of Grass
General Information about Item:
Genre: Customary Lore, Magic Superstition
Country of Origin: United States
Informant: GS
Date Collected: 11-1-21
Informant Data:
GS is a male Dartmouth student-athlete on the soccer team in the class of the 2022. He was born and raised in Dallas, Texas. He has been playing soccer for as long as he can remember. Back home in Texas, he played on the Dallas Texans Academy soccer team. He plays for Dartmouth as an outside defender.
Contextual Data:
Social Context: GS’s family is historically not a big soccer family. GS has 3 brothers that all played soccer, but they were the first generation in his family to ever play the sport. GS’s younger brother, Cullen, plays soccer at the University of Pennsylvania. His parents were originally not very familiar with the sport, but they began to enjoy watching the sport more and more as their children grew up. GS’s father grew up in Texas playing football, and so did GS’s grandfather. The context in which GS got this superstition is when his father told him a tradition that his high school football team did before all their games to give them good luck. GS learned this before his first game in his first year at Dartmouth College (2018). He did the ritual that his father told him about, and he played really well. Now, he does it GS before every game. GS informed me about this superstition/ritual when at our apartment when I asked him if he has learned about any soccer superstitions throughout the years.
Cultural Context: Here, GS applied a football tradition that originated a long time ago in Texas to his soccer games at Dartmouth. This shows how certain aspects of folklore can obtain variations and change throughout time.
Item:
Before every game, GS eats a blade of grass that he is about to play on for good luck. If he doesn’t do this he feels like he will play bad.
Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):
Transcript:
“I eat a blade of grass on the field I am about to play on, every time I play a game. This is for good luck.”
Informant’s Comments:
It’s definitely a weird thing that I do. My dad gave me confidence when he first told me about it. I liked that it was something that he used to do when he was younger, so I felt like I wanted to try it out and carry down the tradition. And it has worked pretty well for me.
Collector’s Comments:
I think it’s interesting that GS originally took a tradition that came from Texas high school football and transferred it over to the Dartmouth College soccer.
Collector’s Name:
George Altirs
Dartmouth College
Russian 13: Slavic Folklore
Professors Gronas and Apresjan
21F
Putting on My Spikes (George Altirs)
Putting on My Spikes (George Altirs)
Title: Putting on My Spikes
General Information about Item:
Genre: Customary Lore, Magic Superstition (If you do A, then B)
Country of Origin: United States
Informant: JM
Date Collected: 11-3-21
Informant Data:
JM is a male Dartmouth College student in the class of 2023. He is currently on the track & field team at Dartmouth. He was born and raised in Yonkers, New York. He has been running track since he was in 4th grade, which was in 2011. He took a brief hiatus from running while he was in middle school because his school didn’t have a track. He continued it in his sophomore year of high school, where he ran for the Rye Country Day School. JM runs the 200 meter and 400 meter events.
Contextual Data:
Social Context: Part of the reason this superstition exists is because of the break JM took from running between high school and elementary. He hadn’t competed in years, and he felt a bit uncomfortable when racing at first. One day before a race in sophomore year of high school, in 2017, he saw one of the senior captains on his team tie his shoes a certain way. When JM asked him about it, he told him he had seen other fast runners on his team in the past doing it this way. JM did this before his meet that day and won the race. Ever since then, he does it before every race, and he feels that he won’t do well if he doesn’t tie his shoes this way. The context in which this was collected is when I asked JM over FaceTime if there are many pre-meet rituals or superstitions he always does.
Cultural Context: Track runners often feel like they must focus a lot before meets, and a lot of them feel like if one little thing throws them off, then their whole race can be ruined. JM told me that most runners have a very specific routine before their races, and if they don’t stick by it exactly then they don’t feel comfortable. Especially for sprinters, the races go by so fast, so the runners have to be 100% locked in the entire time and can’t lose focus. For context, sprinters usually warm up in normal sneakers and switch into their spikes, which are the shoes they race in.
Item:
Before every race, JM puts on his spikes exactly 10 minutes before the race starts. He pulls both strings of the shoelace exactly 3 times. He then double knots the laces and pulls them really, really tight. If he doesn’t do this, he feels very uncomfortable and thinks he will lose the race.
Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):
Transcript:
“I need to put on my spikes 10 minutes before the race. First, I pull the strings of the shoelaces really tight, then double knot, and then pull the knots really tight.”
Informant’s Comments:
I’m not sure why this specific superstition is something that I’ve carried with me for so long. It feels weird because I remember so vividly the first time I tied my shoes this way. I remember how much I looked up to the person who taught me this. He was a great runner, and I really wanted to be like him. Everyone runner has a different pre-race routine that they like doing. It is just important that I stick to my own because it makes me feel good about my chances in the race.
Collector’s Comments:
I find it interesting that he must put on his spikes exactly 10 minutes before the race. I wonder why he can’t he put them on a bit earlier or later. I also find it is interesting that it’s
Collector’s Information:
George Altirs
Dartmouth College
Russian 13: Slavic Folklore
Professors Gronas and Apresjan
21F