Ritual – Down the Line Fist Bump

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Title: Down the Line Fist Bump

General Information about Item:

  • Genre: Customary
    • Subgenre:   Ritual, Tradition
  • Language: English
  • Country of origin: USA

Informant Data: Will Kaufman ’20 is a 19-year-old male caucasian light-weight rower from Boulder, CO. He is the middle child between two sisters. He started rowing his freshman fall upon entering Dartmouth. As a walk-on rower, he came in knowing nothing about the sport.

Contextual Data: 

Social Context: Like most, race-day rituals, this Down the Line Fist Bump is primarily taught inside the boats. The rowers line up before readying up for the race, and before they begin competing, they send a fist bump from the stern to the bow (front to back), in order to motivate each rower and encourage them.

Cultural Context: Like most of the folklore of the D150 Team, this piece focuses on fostering team unity and bolstering motivation. It unites both new and experienced rowers who are in the same boat with the same sending of the fist bump continuously from front to back. In addition, it encourages newer rowers like Will, who may be nervous about their early competitions.

Item: This item is a customary piece of folklore that helps build team unity and motivates/encourages the rowers to try their best. It is customary because it is a single practiced ritual that happens every race in the same way that involves the same people in every boat. It is folklore because it is performed by all the members of this folkgroup in their respective boats and celebrates their commonalities (in this case, them being in the same boat).

Associated media:

 

Transcript (4:04 – 5:15):

WK: “When we’re all lined up ready to go, we typically just, like, start from stern to bow, um just send back a fist bump. So, uh, like, I don’t know, stroke will be uh just, turn around and fist bump seventh seat, and seventh seat fist bumps sixth seat and just send it down to bow. Just to kinda get everyone hyped up and ready to go… and uh I don’t know, just ‘hey, we’re all in this together, let’s go row.'”

BC: “So for something like that, right, like, when you first kinda encountered that, what was that like? Did you just kinda, sit down and did someone tell you, ‘hey, we’re gonna do this,’ or did you just know to do it instinctually?”

WK: “Uh… I mean, I knew to receive the fist bump instinctually, but uh… I forget who it was, probably… who was it…. it might have been Jason Auh, who was a ’17, or someone else. But, like I, uh, took the fist bump and was like, ‘Oh yeah, cool, ready to go,” but then he told me to send it back, and that kinda clicked in my head, ‘Oh, hey it’s a whole boat thing.’ So it’s just like everyone is like getting together and like focusing before the race starts.”

BC: “Right, right.”

WK: “So after the first time, it was pretty clear. Okay, fist bump forward, fist bump back.”

Collector’s Comments:

  • Sending “The Fist Bump” is interesting to study because it as simple as it seems, it still provides motivation for each of the rowers, both inexperienced and experienced. This unifying gesture shows the usages/importance of folklore to folk groups, especially when it comes to differentiation of their groups v. others.

Collector’s Name: Brian Chekal

Alumni Legends – Josh Konieczny

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Title: Legend of Josh Konieczny

General Information about Item:

  • Genre: Oral
    • Subgenre:   Folk Narrative, Legend
  • Language: English
  • Country of origin: USA

Informant Data: Wyatt Smith ’19 is a 20-year-old male caucasian light-weight rower from Hong Kong. He is a long-time rower, having rowed competitively before Dartmouth, and was recruited to Dartmouth’s D150 Lightweight Rowing team.

Contextual Data: 

Social Context: Another legend, similar to that of Ian Accomando, is that of Josh Konieczny, who was also a star rower for D150. The D150 Light-Weight Crew team revolves around competition, mainly in the form of races against other college teams. In addition, it is a highly demanding sport that requires near daily practices and continual weight-cutting and exercise. As such, many rowers rely on legends to remind them of past glory and to motivate them to continue with the sport. The legend of Josh Konieczny is told to rowers as they discuss past achievements and compete at races in order to provide motivation.

Cultural Context: Similarly, the legend of Josh Konieczny is passed down verbally from one generation to the next and is an effective way to create a sense of common knowledge and unity within the team. Every team member hears this legend and because the hero is someone that also was on D150, he is easy to relate to.

Item: This item is an oral piece of folklore that focuses on the passing down of a Folk Narrative, specifically a legend, that is suppose to help motivate rowers to live up to the glory of past rowers, and continue their legacy by devoting themselves to the sport. It is shared by every member of the D150 team and is retold whenever rowers need motivation.

Associated media:

Transcript (8:59 – 9:46):

BC: “In regarding the legends for example, right, who are some legends that, um, you guys talk about? Like what did they do and why are they important? And why do you guys keep talking about them?”

WS: “Um… it’s, I think, we all think it’s really important to remember the guys who came before us. Um, especially because a few years ago ten… five, ten, fifteen years ago, we were one of the best teams in the country…

BC: “Right.”

WS: “… and we had some amazing, great rowers on our team. So it’s important – we see it as important – to remember the past rowers who came before us to motivate us to work harder and to remember who were… you know we have this kind of… we have to uphold this legacy that they left us…”

BC: “Right, right.”

WS: “… and to remember them. So some guys that I can name are Josh Sans, Ian Accomando, um, Josh Konieczny…”

Transcript (10:07 – 10:31):

WS: “… Josh Konieczny was in the Olympic boat that came fifth at the last Olympics, um…”
BC: “Right.”
WS: “… and so having him on the world stage, and knowing that he was once in our shoes…
literally in our shoes, and uh…, we’re wearing his kit, um…, is… is really motivational and makes
you work harder. Like you can be this good if you work this hard.”
Collector’s Comments:

  • Similar to the legend of Ian Accomando, this Alumni Legend also claims to be historical and portrays an actual person or event. Josh Konieczny is a former Olympian who prominently won fifth at the last Olympics, so it’s easy to see this legend using his image and heightening it to build motivation in current rowers.

Collector’s Name: Brian Chekal

Alumni Legends – Ian Accomando

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Title: Legend of Ian Accomando

General Information about Item:

  • Genre: Oral
    • Subgenre:   Folk Narrative, Legend
  • Language: English
  • Country of origin: USA

Informant Data: Wyatt Smith ’19 is a 20-year-old male caucasian light-weight rower from Hong Kong. He is a long-time rower, having rowed competitively before Dartmouth, and was recruited to Dartmouth’s D150 Lightweight Rowing team.

Contextual Data: 

Social Context: The D150 Light-Weight Crew team revolves around competition, mainly in the form of races against other college teams. In addition, it is a highly demanding sport that requires near daily practices and continual weight-cutting and exercise. As such, many rowers rely on legends to remind them of past glory and to motivate them to continue with the sport. The legend of Ian Accomando is told to rowers as they discuss past achievements and compete at races in order to provide motivation.

Cultural Context: The legend of Ian Accomando is passed down verbally from one generation to the next and is an effective way to create a sense of common knowledge and unity within the team. Every team member hears this legend and because the hero is someone that also was on D150, he is easy to relate to.

Item: This item is an oral piece of folklore that focuses on the passing down of a Folk Narrative, specifically a legend, that is suppose to help motivate rowers to live up to the glory of past rowers, and continue their legacy by devoting themselves to the sport. It is shared by every member of the D150 team and is retold whenever rowers need motivation.

Associated media:

Transcript (8:59 – 10:06):

BC: “In regarding the legends for example, right, who are some legends that, um, you guys talk about? Like what did they do and why are they important? And why do you guys keep talking about them?”

WS: “Um… it’s, I think, we all think it’s really important to remember the guys who came before us. Um, especially because a few years ago ten… five, ten, fifteen years ago, we were one of the best teams in the country…

BC: “Right.”

WS: “… and we had some amazing, great rowers on our team. So it’s important – we see it as important – to remember the past rowers who came before us to motivate us to work harder and to remember who were… you know we have this kind of… we have to uphold this legacy that they left us…”

BC: “Right, right.”

WS: “… and to remember them. So some guys that I can name are Josh Sans, Ian Accomando, um, Josh Konieczny. And Ian Accomando is now a coach at Harvard and we see him now and then, but he was known to be just this amazing rower who would go and party hard, but he would show up regardless of how tired he was…”

BC: “Uh-huh.”

WS: “… or how busy he was…”

BC: “Right.”

WS: “… and he’d show up and be the best on the team and work harder than anyone else. So it’s showing that you can balance your life, and you can show up and work really hard.”

Collector’s Comments:

  • These Alumni Legends are interesting because much like the typical legends we see in Folk Narratives, they claim to be historical and are meant to portray an actual person or event. Ian Accomando is an actual person who was on the D150 team, and continues to see the team as a coach at Harvard, so it’s easy to see this legend using his image and heightening it to build motivation in current rowers.

Collector’s Name: Brian Chekal

Ritual – Sprints Night

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Title: Sprints Night

General Information about Item:

  • Genre: Customary
    • Subgenre:   Ritual, Ceremony
  • Language: English
  • Country of origin: USA

Informant Data: Wyatt Smith ’19 is a 20-year-old male caucasian light-weight rower from Hong Kong. He is a long-time rower, having rowed competitively before Dartmouth, and was recruited to Dartmouth’s D150 Lightweight Rowing team.

Contextual Data: 

Social Context: Races are incredibly competitive for lightweight rowing, mainly because the team competes directly with other college teams and because all the weekly practices/weight cutting is in preparation for these races. To relieve the pressure, and celebrate the completion of a season, rowers all join together to observe Sprints Night.

Cultural Context: Sprints Night is a regular ritual that occurs every year after the New England Championships to celebrate the ending of another successful season and to build team unity. It is observed by all members of D150 and is passed down from each generation to the next.

Item: This item is a customary piece of folklore that focuses on the passing down of a ritual that is suppose to help build team unity and celebrate the conclusion of another successful racing season. It is customary because it is a single practiced ritual that happens every year in the same way that involves many different people within the folk group. It is folklore because it is performed by all the members of this folkgroup and celebrates their commonalities.

Associated media:

Transcript (8:49 – 8:58):

WS: “We have a thing called Sprints Night which is after our New England Championships, where we have a sort of, like a big team party, get-together.”

BC: “And that also happens like every single year after the last championships…”

WS: “Every year, yeah.”

Collector’s Comments:

  • Sprints Night is very similar to Freshmen Fun Night in that the sharing and passing down of this ritual focuses on all members of the folk group. All members of D150 crew participate in this ritual and it helps remind them of who they are and why they are similar to each other (celebrating the end of their common season). This also reinforces the ritual itself because a stronger more unified team is more likely to want to participate in these pan-folk group rituals and to preserve them.

Collector’s Name: Brian Chekal

Ritual – Freshmen Fun Night

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Title: Freshmen Fun Night

General Information about Item:

  • Genre: Customary
    • Subgenre:   Ritual, Ceremony
  • Language: English
  • Country of origin: USA

Informant Data: Wyatt Smith ’19 is a 20-year-old male caucasian light-weight rower from Hong Kong. He is a long-time rower, having rowed competitively before Dartmouth, and was recruited to Dartmouth’s D150 Lightweight Rowing team.

Contextual Data: 

Social Context: Races are incredibly competitive for lightweight rowing, mainly because the team competes directly with other college teams and because all the weekly practices/weight cutting is in preparation for these races. As such, to combat the pressure, rowers observe certain rituals outside of pure racing that build team unity and provide motivation to help them prepare for team cohesion during races. Freshmen Fun Night is an end-of-the-term ritual that takes place to initiate new rowers and incorporate them into the team.

Cultural Context: Freshmen Fun Night is a ritualistic ceremony that occurs every year and in the same way. It focuses on building team unity and reinforcing the commonalities between the rowers by not only initiating new rowers and incorporating them into the team formally, but also by identifying more experienced rowers who act as the ritual’s performers.

Item: This item is a customary piece of folklore that focuses on the passing down of a ritual that is suppose to help build team unity and ultimately bring later success at a race. It is customary because it is a single practiced ritual that happens every year in the same way that involves many different people within the folk group. It is folklore because it is performed by all the members of this folkgroup and celebrates their commonalities.

Associated media:

Transcript (8:00 – 8:48):

WS: “We have an event, uh, in the spring, between the Cornell, end of, right after, the Cornell race… between the Cornell race and the New England Championships where we have – it’s called Freshmen Fun Night…”

BC: “Right.”

WS: “… and it’s sort of a… initi… I’m gonna say initiation but not in the negative term. It’s a way for the freshmen to be initiated into the team – not through any means of harassment or any negative means but really a positive um…”

BC: “Like a ceremony.”

WS: “Yeah, a ceremony if you will, where the freshmen really become lightweight rowers…”

BC: “Right.”

WS: “… and that is very ritualistic and it’s done the same way every year. Um… and it involves talking about past rowers on the team and like past ‘legends’ on the team.”

Collector’s Comments:

  • The sharing and passing down of this ritual is interesting because it focuses on all members of the folk group. All members of D150 crew participate in this ritual and it helps remind them of who they are and why they are similar to each other. This also reinforces the ritual itself because a stronger more unified team is more likely to want to participate in these pan-folk group rituals and to preserve them.

Collector’s Name: Brian Chekal

Ritual – Breaking it Down

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Title: Breaking it Down

General Information about Item:

  • Genre: Customary
    • Subgenre:   Ritual
  • Language: English
  • Country of origin: USA

Informant Data: Wyatt Smith ’19 is a 20-year-old male caucasian light-weight rower from Hong Kong. He is a long-time rower, having rowed competitively before Dartmouth, and was recruited to Dartmouth’s D150 Lightweight Rowing team.

Contextual Data: 

Social Context: Races are incredibly competitive for lightweight rowing, mainly because the team competes directly with other college teams and because all the weekly practices/weight cutting is in preparation for these races. As such, rowers observe certain rituals outside of pure racing that build team unity and provide motivation to help them prepare for team cohesion during races.

Cultural Context: The practice of “breaking it down” after practice is something that the D150 team does after every practice. It makes them feel like a single unit and builds motivation for the rest of the day/season.

Item: This item is a piece of customary folklore that focuses on the passing down of a ritual that is supposed to help bring later success at a race. It is customary because it is a single ritual that happens after every practice. It is folklore because it is performed by all the members of this folkgroup and celebrates their commonalities.

Associated media:

Transcript (7:02 – 7:33):

WS: “As a team, one ritual that we do that I forgot to mention is after every row we do something called “Breaking it Down”. We, um, we just start; its like a clap… a slow clap but it gets faster and faster and faster and we break it down, and it’s something that we do after every practice and it’s a team thing that we know we have to do.”

BC: “Is that mainly just to build team unity?”

WS: “Yeah, it’s… it’s a feeling of like coming together and it’s like completing the day… and uh everyone does it… and it’s motivational almost.”

Collector’s Comments:

  • The sharing and passing down of this ritual is interesting because it focuses on all members of the folk group. All members of D150 crew participate in this ritual and it helps remind them of who they are and why they are similar to each other. This also reinforces the ritual itself because a stronger more unified team is more likely to want to participate in these pan-folk group rituals.

Collector’s Name: Brian Chekal

Ritual – Testing the Emergency Light

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Title: Testing the Emergency Light

General Information about Item:

  • Genre: Customary
    • Subgenre:   Ritual, Superstition
  • Language: English
  • Country of origin: USA

Informant Data: Wyatt Smith ’19 is a 20-year-old male caucasian light-weight rower from Hong Kong. He is a long-time rower, having rowed competitively before Dartmouth, and was recruited to Dartmouth’s D150 Lightweight Rowing team.

Contextual Data: 

Social Context: Races are incredibly competitive for lightweight rowing, mainly because the team competes directly with other college teams and because all the weekly practices/weight cutting is in preparation for these races. As such, rowers observe rituals before or after races to bring good luck.

Cultural Context: The practice of testing the emergency light after practice is something that Wyatt created that helps him feel ready and prepared for the day. After observing him, several younger rowers started copying his ritual to also bring good luck.

Item: This item is a piece of customary folklore that focuses on the passing down of a ritual that is suppose to help bring later success in a race. It is customary because it combines the ritual itself as well as the underlying superstition about bringing success.

Associated media:

Transcript (5:15 – 5:40):

WS: “After every practice I have a ritual that I do where there is this… like um… it’s like an emergency light that sits on the wall, and in case the power goes out the light will turn on, and it has a little red test button. And after every single practice, I press that test button and it flickers the light. And I don’t know, it’s just some weird thing I do, but I do it, and if I didn’t do it, it would be not a good day.”

Transcript (6:37 – 6:48):

WS: “Actually, some guys have started doing it [the emergency light testing] too since I’ve been doing it.”

BC: “Oh really?”

WS: “Yeah, and it’s not weird at all. Everyone has their own little quirks. Um, so now that I’ve started doing it, I’ve done it for around a year or so, some guys have started doing it too.”

Collector’s Comments:

  • The sharing and passing down of this ritual is interesting because it shows that certain traditions or rituals can be individual in origin but diffused and shared among a certain folk over time. It is interesting also that we can study folklore genesis in modern settings like these because it allows us to consider overall folklore parallels like monogenesis v polygenesis ideas.

Collector’s Name: Brian Chekal

Trail Magic

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Title: Trail Magic

General Information about Item:

  • Customary Folklore, Traditions, Rituals
  • Language: English
  • Country of origin: United States
  • Informant: John T. Brady ’19
  • Date of Collection: 10-31-17

Informant Data:

  • John Brady is Dartmouth student in the class of 2019. John is from the suburbs of Chicago, IL. He grew up north of the city in a nice suburban town which he described as very “bubbly.” John was part of a boy scout group growing up in the Chicago area. Every summer for about one week, John and his fellow boy scouts went backpacking. They backpacked all over the United States. His scout troop went to New Mexico, California, Wyoming, Wisconsin, and other places. One of his earliest backpacking trips was actually a section of the Appalachian Trail in North Carolina and Tennessee. The trail started out of Hot Springs, NC. His early experience with the Appalachian Trail sparked an interest for John to conquer the entirety of it.

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: There are many “trail angels” that perform “trail magic” along the AT. They are thought of as very generous people and the hikers are very appreciative of the help they provide. These “trail angels” are prominent on the Appalachian Trail, but I do not think that they are limited to the AT. Other trails I believe have similar people.
  • Social Context: Trail Magic usually takes place between one person known as the “trail angel” and the hiker that pass by the tent. Trail angels cook for the hikers as a way of supporting the community and giving back. Trail angels may also share conversations with the hikers as they pass by while also cooking for them.
  • Overall Context: John Brady’s early experience hiking a portion of the Appalachian Trail encouraged him to later attempt to complete the whole thing. With his boy scout troop, he hiked a 40-mile section of the Appalachian Trail (AT), but he knew that the trail consisted of over 2,000 miles. He said that he saw some “weird looking Hippie dudes” as he described them, and thought that he may want to hike the entire trail between high school and college. John said that people are on the trail because they are in between things in life. “You are either in between school, love, or jobs,” John said. For him, he was in between graduating from high school and starting his new life at Dartmouth in Hanover, NH. John hiked the Appalachian Trail from March 5th until July 29th. Starting on March 5th was early in the season, but not too early where it would be uncomfortably cold. He also started early to avoid the large crowds that start the AT between mid-March and mid-April. It took John 149 days, or just under five months, to complete the AT. John’s preparation consisted of “googling” and asking knowledgeable backpackers about how they prepared for the trail. John did not spend a lot of time physically training for the journey but instead made sure he had a good plan of attack for the first month of the trail, which is most important according to him. Some people try to get ahead and complete many miles quickly but end up hurting themselves. John made sure that he set a pace that would allow him the most success. John starting hiking the AT with a lifelong friend of his that was also in his boy scout group. His friend was from the same hometown in Chicago, IL. His friend hiked for about three or four days before he got sick with a stomach illness and had to stop hiking. He hiked with many different groups of hikers going Northbound. The most prominent person that John hiked with was a man with the trail name “Werewolf.” Werewolf was from Tennessee. He was a grocery store manager and recently divorced from a long time wife. John and Werewolf got along very well given that Werewolf was around 40 years old. He also hiked with a mechanic named “Macgyver” from one of the southern states. He also hiked with two brothers named “Link” and oddly enough “Folklore.” the brothers were twins and were known on the trail as the “Arkansas twins.”

 

Item: Trail Magic

Trail magic is a unique part of the Appalachian Trail experience. Those who perform trail magic are known as “trail angels.” These angels typically set up tents to cook for hikers in various places along the AT. Trail magic is any form of generosity to the hiking community without any expectation of compensation. Hikers are very appreciative of Trail Magic.

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Informants Comments:

“Various groups and individuals along the trail will set up and provide for hikers. One guy in particular who exemplifies what trail magic truly was for was a guy named “Fresh Ground.” “Fresh Ground” was a man who had hiked part of the Appalachian Trail a few years prior and decided that the hiking wasn’t for him, so he set up what is known as the Fresh Ground LeapFrog Cafe. And I was fortunate enough to be in the section of hikers, I was hiking that portion of the trail at the right time and he would drive to somewhere where the AT crosses a road he would set up a minivan. He would put up a tent, pull out some propane burners and sit there for a week with a tarp over his head and cook for hikers. He was donation based. I think he put a lot of his own money into it. We would have hot dogs, eggs, pancakes, pasta for dinner. He was able to do this a little out of other hikers providing funds, but mostly out of his own pocket and completely out of his own desire to give to the AT hiker community and to make others happy. We all appreciated to what he set up.”

Collector’s Name: Colton French 

 

Ritual – Greek Yogurt and Cinnamon

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Title: Eating Greek Yogurt and Cinnamon

General Information about Item:

  • Genre: Customary
    • Subgenre:   Superstition, Ritual
  • Language: English
  • Country of origin: USA

Informant Data: Wyatt Smith ’19 is a 20-year-old male caucasian light-weight rower from Hong Kong. He is a long-time rower, having rowed competitively before Dartmouth, and was recruited to Dartmouth’s D150 Lightweight Rowing team.

Contextual Data: 

Social Context: Lightweight rowing has a very strict weight cut off of 160 lbs, which means heavier rowers over 160lbs are barred from competition. The D150 team has an average weigh in of 155lbs. Due to the importance of falling under the 160lb limit, weight cutting is a central part of the D150 experience. To prepare new rowers and to remind more experienced ones, previous generations of D150 rowers have developed a series of eating rituals based on scientific readings and personal observations/superstitions. These are performed the days leading up to races and subsequently passed down to new rowers.

Cultural Context: The practice of eating greek yogurt and cinnamon before race weigh-ins has been handed down through a line of rowers throughout the years. This practice links generations and reminds them not only of their status as lightweight (sub -160lb) rowers, but also provides a unifying agent for rowers trying to lose weight.

Item: This item is a customary piece of folklore that focuses on passing down a belief that eating greek yogurt and cinnamon instead of a normal dinner before a race will help you lose weight. It is customary because although the belief itself is a superstition, its observation and practice in the days leading up to races is a ritual.

Associated media:

Transcript (2:41 – 3:23):

WS: “Through kind of experimenting with your weight-cutting people have learned how to really perfect, uh, what to do; and so, for example, I’ve.. I’ve really come to enjoy eating a bowl of um… instead of dinner uh Thursday night, I’ll have a bowl of greek yogurt, with um… some fruit and lots of nut butter, and lots of cinnamon. I’ve found that that helps me get to weight and helps me not hold a lot of water, but uh… lose some weight. Um… and still have energy. And so I’ve personally passed that recipe down to younger people, and I think I learned it from an older guy who just graduated…”

BC: “Right”

WS: “and he might have learned it from someone else.”

Collector’s Comments:

  • The passing down of this superstition, as well as the ritualistic observation of this special dinner in the days leading up to a race is analogous to the “traditional wisdom” aspect of proverbs because both rely on traditions, specifically past observations and recommendations, to espouse a specific idea.

Collector’s Name: Brian Chekal

 

Weight Cutting Tip Sheet

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Title: Weight Cutting Tip Sheet

General Information about Item:

  • Genre: Verbal, Customary
    • Subgenre:  Superstition, Ritual
  • Language: English
  • Country of origin: USA

Informant Data: Wyatt Smith ’19 is a 20-year-old male caucasian light-weight rower from Hong Kong. He is a long-time rower, having rowed competitively before Dartmouth, and was recruited to Dartmouth’s D150 Lightweight Rowing team.

Contextual Data: 

Social Context: Lightweight rowing has a very strict weight cut off of 160 lbs, which means heavier rowers over 160lbs are barred from competition. The D150 team has an average weigh in of 155lbs. Due to the importance of falling under the 160lb limit, weight cutting is a central part of the D150 experience. To prepare new rowers and to remind more experienced ones, previous generations of D150 rowers compiled a list of common practices and tips for losing weight quickly. This list is handed down and shared between D150 rowers whenever big races are approaching and signals that rowers should begin considering their weights more seriously in preparation.

Cultural Context: Almost like a physical or material bequest, this list has been handed down through a line of rowers throughout the years. This document links generations and reminds them not only of their status as lightweight (sub -160lb) rowers, but also provides a unifying agent for the team. It signals that rowers should start becoming more cognizant of their weights as well as allows the rowers to all bond together over the coming challenge of losing weight.

Item: This item is a verbal (although also written) piece of folklore that contains common tips and advice for losing weight. It is both verbal and customary because many of its recommendations are transmitted through conversation and are then implemented. They are not based completely on fact but rather on observations over time and superstitions. These beliefs are passed down from generation to generation and helps create team unity because it allows all the rowers to rely on the same tactics and methods for losing weight.

Associated media:

Transcript (0:53 – 1:13):

WS: “On our team, the… we have a word document that’s been passed down the team for maybe five or six years. Um, and it was created six years ago or something…”

BC: “Right”

WS: “and it kinda dictates what the steps that you should take, the recommended steps that you should take the days going up to your weigh in.”

Collector’s Comments:

  • Receiving this weight cutting tip sheet reminds rowers that weight-cutting season is here. Because weight-cutting is specific only to the D150 team, new rowers who receive this tip sheet are essentially becoming incorporated into the team. Therefore, this poly-modal folklore is akin to a Rite of Passage for many new rowers.

Collector’s Name: Brian Chekal