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We rank 'em. You react. That's how the Daily List rolls.5/14/2007 01:16:00 PM Best Traditions in Sports
By John Rolfe, SI.com
The NHL's handshake line is a monument to good sportsmanship.Tim Smith/Getty Images
Change is forever the norm in the world of sports, so a great tradition can be comforting as well as stirring. Each sport or major event has its rituals that allow us to pause, honor, or simply savor something -- like the sight of the Masters winner donning an ugly green jacket, or the sound of My Old Kentucky Home as the field for the Kentucky Derby makes its way to the starting gate. Sometimes a tradition is just a good idea that wasn't broke and didn't need fixing -- like the manual scoreboard in the Green Monster.
History matters in all sports, and traditions can bring the past back to life for a few moments, or remind you what's really great about sports in the first place.
Here are my five favorites:
5. The handshake line: It's always heartening to see good sportsmanship on display. The NHL allows you to marvel at how 40 players who have been beating each other's remaining teeth out for four playoff games or more will line up after the final horn of the series and, despite all their previous intensity and animosity, exchange handshakes instead of punches.
4. Olympic closing ceremony: The handshake line writ large. In a world so full of strife and conflict, it's good for the soul to see hundreds of the planet's best athletes break national ranks and jovially mingle after weeks of pressure and deathly-serious competition.
3. Thanksgiving football: As any tailgater worth his salt-shaker knows, pigskin was made to go with gluttony, and no day is made for gluttony like Thanksgiving. With the Lions so often in the dumper, the annual game in Detroit is usually a turkey that is done by halftime, but there are two other courses on the menu now. And in the realm of good, clean fun, it's hard to beat a game of backyard touch football before settling in front of the TV to scratch, belch contentedly and give thanks for the NFL.
2. Retired numbers: Ever since the Maple Leafs (Ace Bailey's 6 in 1934) and Yankees (Lou Gehrig's 4 in 1939) ushered in the tradition, retirement ceremonies have given teams and fans one more chance to appreciate and honor their legends by placing their numerical identities, if not their accomplishments, out of reach of other players. And those numbers on the outfield wall or hanging from the rafters are a real nice source of pride and reflection that you can be savor any time you're at the game.
1. Stanley Cup on the road: How cool is it that a major pro league allows its historic championship trophy to spend a day with each member of the winning team? The tales of the Cup's travels during the past 80 years or more are legion and legend -- at the beach, in strip clubs and bars, visiting nursing homes and players' high schools, and even floating in Mario Lemieux's swimming pool. The concept makes the old punchbowl truly the people's trophy.
OK, that's my top five. Let's have yours. Which traditions do you enjoy most?posted by SI.com | View comments |
Comments:
I think signing "Take me out to the Ballgame" during the 7th inning stretch should be number one.How about college rowers handing over the shirts to the winning team after a race? Throwing the winning coxswain in the water is a pretty good tradition too.To me, it's always will be the singing of Back Home Again In Indiana before the start of the Indianapolis 500Ralphie at University of Colorado home football games.Octopi on the ice . . .Oh Yeah, definitely any tradition from the sport of college rowing should be ranked 1-5!Joe,while it is quite noble of you to recognize that deaf people should be given the opportunity to participate in sporting events ( I know he meant sing ) the drinking of milk by the winner of the Indy 500 has to rank up there. By the way , any sport that has a coxswain in it can't help you with the ladies. Just ask Rob Lowe in "Oxford Blues".Drinking milk after winning the Indy 500!The exchange of national team jerseys after international soccer matches.how about the old "I'm going to Disney World" lineCutting down the nets after winning the NCAA Basketball TournementWhat's more traditional that the presentation of the green jacket to the Masters winner.CHIEF OSCEOLA ON RENEGADE, PLANTING A FLAMING SPEAR AT MIDFIELD PRIOR TO KICKOFF.Another one from the NHL--the playoff beard.Black shoes in the NBA playoffs...I loved it when the Bulls would do that.It may be team specific, but there is only one "SCRIPT OHIO".How about NASCAR NOT racing on Mother's Day?Engraving the players' names of the winning team on the Stanley Cup.Luther Vandross and "One Shining Moment." Maybe that is because I am a Kansas fan and that is what I look forward to in early April.Nothing more stirring than hearing a national anthem (not just US)during the medal ceremony at the OlympicsI remember the 50,000+ at Tiger Stadium calling out "We Want the Bird" until Mark Fidrych came out to wave his cap...too bad it only lasted a short time.How about when a wrestler puts his shoes in the center of the mat after his last match like Rulon Gardner did.There is nothing bigger in sports than the national anthem at Arrowhead and hearing a sold out stadium full of Chiefs fans shout "Chiefs" instead of "brave" during the line "home of the brave."As usual a US-centric list, I love the way its always "in all of sports".
What about the Boxing Day Cricket Test in Melbourne where over 80,000 show up, Anzac Day aussie rules football between Essendon and Collingwood remembering the war veterans.Singing of both alma maters by both teams at the end of the Army-Navy game. Stirring reminder that no matter what happens on the field, everyone there is on the same team.How about the bowl of stew and the olive branch wreaths for the winners of the Boston Marathon?Everything about the Masters... the green jacket, the Champions Dinner, the old guys first drive...the "patrons" who are not spectators..."My Old Kentucky Home" at the DerbyDotting the "i" @ Ohio State, and Harry Carson starting the Gatorade dunk on Parcells.It's a new tradition, but I like when the NHL players use pink sticks and now MLB players use pink bats on Breast Cancer Awarness Day.
Also, TBDBITL performing Script Ohio.Hot Dogs. Any sporting event, but primarily Baseball.The oldest tradition in all sports. When an amateur wrestler retires, he leaves his shoes in the middle of the mat as a symbol of retirement. The standing ovation lasts for minutes.Roll Call at Yankee Stadium is a great new one.NHL playoff beards.
Soccer teams exchanging team pennants and (after the game) jerseys.streaking the entire length of the pitch (field) after scoring your first Try (touchdown) in college rugby.Nothing better than seeing Team Canada's Junior Hockey team lined up on the blue line after the gold medal game with their arms around each other's shoulders, singing 'O Canada.'
They do it at other levels for Canada as well, but it started at the Juniors.The 24-hours with the Cup tradition in the NHLwhy are people talking about golf here...i thought it was about traditions in sports?? hmmm, can someone clear me up on that one??how about the champaigne shower after each F-1 grand prix, as well as the crew cheering when their pilot wins the race (personally i think its more interesting that than some milk from Indy but then again, americans think that nascar is very interesting...wow i can drive in a circle, look at me!!)So many traditions come from hockey. I always liked it when fans would toss their hats onto the ice after a player scored a hat trick.Ring girls in boxing in bikini's.Rock Chalk Chant in Allen Fieldhouse, nothing will give you bigger chillsObscure to many I'm sure, but an old one! The painting of the canoe in the infield pond at historic Saratoga Racecourse. Following completion of the annual Travers Stakes, the oldest stakes race in the country, the canoe is painted the colors of the winners silks. This year will be the 138th running (compared to this past Derby 133.) of the Grade 1 Stakes Race, affectionately referred to as the Mid-Summer Derby. Will we see a Triple Crown winner at the Travers this year???I know he's more of an icon than a tradition, but when Michael Buffer says "LETS' GET READY TO RUMBLE", we are always pumped up when watching a boxing xhampionship fight.Kentucky Derby has some of the best traditions, which preludes the race, among them are the mint julep, the burgoo dish, the marching band and the way oversized and multicolored hats.Getting knighted in cricket..The Wriggley faithful throwing the opposing hitter's home run back on the field is the best thing around.The sausage race at Milwaukee Brewers games!Actually golf is a sport and racing is not. The green jacket is number one or the pie to the face when a player accomplishes something good.from da boy vince
5.Yankees spending $500 billion every year for nothing.
4.fan appreciation day
3.da boy Vince
2.theme songs for every MLB player
1.cheerleaders
you know!How about how every player on the Stanley Cup winning team takes a lap around the ice with the cup? Other sports trophy presentations pale in comparison.Heck I got the top Five for Wisconsin:
5> "OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" chant - student section O at Badger games
4> Tailgating - Packers & Brewers games
3> The sausage race - Brewers
2> "Ride the Bike" - local kids giving players bike rides back from the practice field - Packers
1> Wearing a big hunk of cheese on your head - Appropriate headwear for all functions...these are going to sound weird from a guy that doesn't like hockey all that much: the tradition of the winning team not touching the conference champion trophy when they advance to the stanley cup is awesome. it shows what really matters to them.
the national anthem before a chicago blackhawks game. the crowd cheering throughout gives you chills.tailgating at a iowa hawkeye home football game is the stuff of legends. only place i have ever seen it outdone was at a packers game. michigan, florida, ohio state, texas can't even imagine what tailgating is supposed to be. an iowa game is the only place you will see a fan haze the crap out of a visiting fan only to offer them a brat, a beer, and a chair to hang out with them. class.Recent Posts
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