Title: Battle of the Shoes

General Information about Item:

• Verbal/Customary Lore
• Place of origin: Los Angeles, California
• Informant: Wesley Banks
• Date Collected: October 30, 2021

Informant Data:

Wesley Banks is a 21-year-old male. He was born in Los Angeles, California, and moved to Dallas, Texas during his childhood. He grew up playing football in Texas, and he went on to play Division 3 football at Occidental College in Los Angeles. Wesley is in his fourth season with the Occidental football team.

Contextual Data:

Occidental Football has an ongoing rivalry with Whittier College that dates back to 1939. This rivalry is known as the “Battle of the Shoes” or the “Shoes Game”. The rivalry began when Occidental Football players stole 1940 Whittier graduate Myron Claxton’s cleats the night before the game was meant to be played. This forced Claxton to play the whole game in his work boots. Despite this Whittier won the game, and Claxton retrieved his cleats. After this game, Claxton’s stolen cleats were bronzed and turned into a trophy that Occidental and Whittier compete for every year.

Item:

Throughout the week leading up to this rivalry game, senior football players on Occidental’s team attempt to steal cleats from younger players’ lockers. The thefts are blamed on a mysterious ghost named “Hector”, the man who supposedly stole Myron Claxton’s cleats in 1939. As the week of practice comes to an end, an alumnus of the team that is “old enough that most people on the team don’t know who he is,” enters the locker room dressed in football pads and work boots. He is meant to play the role of Hector, and he gives the players a speech to remind them of the meaning of the rivalry and motivate them to perform well. Both the stealing of cleats and the motivational speech serve to remind players on Occidental’s team of the history behind the rivalry with Whittier. This tradition outdates Wesley’s time at Occidental, and the origin is unknown.

Informant’s Comments: “If you’re a freshman you have no idea who this Hector guy is, but he gives this motivational speech and you learn the history of this rivalry.”

Collector’s Name: Donald Carty

Tags/Keywords:

• Verbal/customary Lore
• Rivalry
• Locker Room Traditions
• Football