I found this article to be very interesting. I have a lot of background when dealing with sports and rituals. Firstly, this article caught my eye because my dad played baseball in Detroit, where this author did. Not only is my entire family a big “baseball family,” but my boyfriends family is the same way. I’ve grown up watching baseball a lot so this article was easy to understand in regards to the baseball players “rituals.” Not only that, I also danced since I was a young child so I know what it is like to warm up before a recital or competition. On my high school dance team we did certain things before dancing at any football game, competition or performance. We didn’t do it as a sign of “good luck,” but instead it just became part of our Friday night ritual or something we all knew we were going to do before going out on stage. I also noticed that many girls on the team would listen to their iPods before performing to get pumped up or practice the dance in their heads. I can’t remember one exact thing I did every morning or day that I was going to perform, but I’m sure that I did something to that extent. I also thought it was funny how the baseball players that Gmelch described in this article had some crazy rituals, especially the guy who puts a cheese sandwich in his back pocket. Overall this article was entertaining and engaging!
The article titled Baseball Magic by George Gmelch, was very interesting to me. I have had boyfriends in the past and friends that played baseball in high school and some in college; I have been to countless baseball games in my life. My dad is also a big baseball fan and used to coach before I was born; we always watched baseball games on television, both college and pro because we didn't have a favorite team we just loved the sport. I have definitely noticed that baseball players do rituals or routines before their games, before pitching, and before hitting. I have seen baseball players kiss their bat before hitting, tap the top or side of their helmet, and wear "special or lucky" articles of clothing (including: gloves, socks or undergarments). I found it interesting how the article pointed out what specific players do, and some of the things they do as rituals or routines seem very bizarre to me. One baseball player kept a cheese sandwich in the back of his pants pocket while playing, and another wore a turtleneck shirt in 80 degree weather; though I suppose these routines and rituals worked for these successful baseball players! As some one else posted, I also danced for 16 years and there were routines and rituals we would do before competing or performing. For one, we would all get in a prayer circle and then conclude with some form of a chant, we would listen to a specific playlist of songs (which were different every competition season), each competitions season we had a different saying we would say to each dancer before performing, and we would all have a "silly" dance or move we would do before we went on stage. I can relate to these routines and rituals that some people may think to be odd, but it worked every time for us so we continued to do it hoping it would continue to give us luck. This is what many baseball players do, and though it may be something that is all in the head (psychological), it works for many athletes of many sports all around the world.
I found this article to be very entertaining and interesting. I love baseball and it was fascinating to learn about the magic, routines, and rituals that the baseball players engage in. Baseball is very much a mental sport, and baseball players will do almost anything to make sure they stay on their game. Some of the smallest things the hitters do are tugging on their caps, touching their uniforms, and swinging, tapping, or bouncing the bat on the plate. I didn't really think about it, but after reading this article I realized that I engaged in the same type rituals. I danced for 10 years and before every performance I would spray the bottom of my jazz shoes so it would not be to slippery. I would also pray and do a pump up dance with my friends. I thought they were just fun things to do, but they are some of the same things that these baseball players do before a game. At first, I did not really know what taboos were but now I have a better understanding from reading this article. I thought it was interesting that the players engage in taboos out of the public eye and off the field. It was funny how a particular player had pancakes one morning and lost that game. So from now on he does not eat pancakes the morning of game day. Many of these things go on behind the scenes but some occur on the field. This stuff may seem strange, but believe it or not this goes on with many athletes from varieties of sports.
This article made a lot of sense to me because I played softball and volleyball through middle and high school. While volleyball was my "main" sport and softball was just my off season sport, I feel that I had more routines in softball than in volleyball. I think this is mainly because in volleyball there is not much time for a routine, besides before the game or before you serve, the rest of the game is all impulse. But with softball, even though I was a fielder, I still would do the same things before games and the same things before I went up to hit. In volleyball, I would have to bounce the ball four times and spin it in my hand, take a deep breath, and then serve. I think this came from learning how to serve over-handed. I started playing in the seventh grade and we used under-hand serves, but then in eighth grade when being taught how to serve over-handed, it was as if when I bounced it this many times, I always had a good serve. Just like the article states however, I knew that I did these certain things to give me more confidence in my performance and ensure success.
I really enjoyed this article, because I am able to relate to it. I played both softball and volleyball growing up and in high school, and I myself used rituals to help calm the nerves and gain a sense of control. For volleyball, I would rotate and bounce the ball a certain number of times before I would serve, and in softball when I was on deck, and in the batter's box, I had a certain routine I would do. The rituals don't just apply to sports though, they can apply to all aspects of life, because like the article said, if someone feels more in control, that increases their confidence, and therefore should increase their performance in whatever they may do.
This article was an enjoyable read. I found myself looking up the players on wikipedia and doing research on them as I heard more of the wacky things they would do. For such a high stress game, I can see ritual as a calming thing for them, especially since a lot of the game of baseball is not in their control. Sports were never something that I did in high school or college. I could only guess what the games actually put the players under. I could not handle that much stress. I want to know more about what the players thought about their rituals. Did they actually believe there was something behind them at a deeper level or was or more of a therapeutic action?
I found this article true when it comes to a lot of sports or even everyday life. I remember when I was in track and cross country there seemed to always be a standard position or seat that we sat in when traveling to events and want shoes we ran in. When I won a medal I wanted to wear my nike's and only traded into others if we did not do well overall. This article reminds me of many sports movies I watched like "Hoosiers" guys did not bath for a while or always wanted a certain guy to lead out onto the court. The magic routines in this article dealt with the dugout and not touching bats that certain pitches used as because they hit home runs in was a good illustration I thought of as superstition but magic will do. The article touches on our drive to succeed and not changing things normally inanimate objects to change our winning streak. The ideas are not isolated to the U.S. as mentioned in the article because guys from the Dominican Republic used artifacts or symbols of a religious background. We do the same here in the United States as you can view during the Super Bowl this weekend--certain hair cuts or jewelry worn, or the looks to heaven for thanks and bowing to one's knee in thanks. I article made we realize how many things people think about before getting in front of people to perform in sports and how doing these activities releases stress or complete ownership of their performance, whether it be good or bad. These rituals bond us as human beings and allows freedom of expression.
This article was very fascinating to me. I do fencing and before every tournament, i would have to do a series of things. One of the things that I would do is shave before going to the tournament. I feel like its good luck. I too have a specific type of meal I eat before hand. It is always a foot long sub from subway and sweet tea. I see a lot of people's taboos during football season. For instance, my family was watching a USC game and then another person came into the room and Carolina started to play worse. People were getting mad and joking that he had to leave even though he had absolutely no effect on the game whatsoever.
I thought this article was very entertaining. I had never really thought about stretching as a ritual prior to reading this, but I do remember having a warm-up routine anytime I competed. In high school I played soccer and did swimming with some sort of ritual before each game or swim meet. I would always stretch my body from the top to the bottom. One time I followed a coaches stretching drill at a soccer camp, which was different from the one I did on my own, and tore my MCL. After that I always did my own drill to prevent any injuries from happening. I would start at my shoulders, stretch my upper body, upper legs, and finish with my calves before doing any drills. During swim meets I did the same thing with warm-ups. I can also relate to the players eating certain foods before games to some extent because I would never eat a lot on the days I had a meet or game because I felt that it slowed me down, which led to me being less effective on the pitch or in the water.
I found this article really interesting. Many people who play sports have these types of rituals...some you can watch as the game unfolds and some are more pre-game. I think a lot of sports fans also have rituals they feel help their favorite win.
This was a pretty good article. It made me think back to when I played baseball as a kid. I remember during one of my games, my mom gave me gum before I went up to bat and I got a hit(I really sucked at batting). Everytime after that I would always ask her for gum right before I went up to bat. Once she didn't have any gum and I was terrified to go bat. I ended up winning us the game and I stopped asking my mom for gum.
This was a pretty interesting article. I've always heard about the strange routines that baseball players go through and I've seen some of the odd ones when I catch a game on television, but I never realized that it went as deep as it did. It also sort of surprises me that so many people, even profession athletes, still believe in superstitions to the depth that they do, especially living in such a technological age.
A lot of times, the term “ritual” has a religious connotation, so it was interesting to see it applied to other areas. I’ve always heard about superstition in sports, but I never thought about the pregame rituals as being “magic.” I just assumed that they did things to calm their nerves, not because they believed their actions would change the outcome of the game. As he pointed out, the outcome is determined by chance. It surprised me to see that time was such an important factor. The author mentioned Wade Boggs leaving at 1:47 for each night game. I also thought it was interesting that he compared rituals of his baseball team to “primitive” rituals that he studied in class. It makes me wonder what people from other cultures think about these rituals.
This article on "Baseball Magic" was an easy read because it was interesting and I could picture all of the rituals, taboos, and fetishes the author was talking about. I've ridden horses since I was seven years old and every time I groom and tack up my horse I start from the same side and the same task. When I get on my horse I do the same warm-up routine every time. When I used to compete, right before my class I would sit on my horse beside and mentally go over the course in my head while looking at course in front of me. I did not do any of these things on purpose but after reading this article and looking back I see that I did have a certain routine/ritual that I followed every time. I think some people, like I did, have routines/rituals and are unaware of them.
I found this article to be very interesting. I have a lot of background when dealing with sports and rituals. Firstly, this article caught my eye because my dad played baseball in Detroit, where this author did. Not only is my entire family a big “baseball family,” but my boyfriends family is the same way. I’ve grown up watching baseball a lot so this article was easy to understand in regards to the baseball players “rituals.” Not only that, I also danced since I was a young child so I know what it is like to warm up before a recital or competition. On my high school dance team we did certain things before dancing at any football game, competition or performance. We didn’t do it as a sign of “good luck,” but instead it just became part of our Friday night ritual or something we all knew we were going to do before going out on stage. I also noticed that many girls on the team would listen to their iPods before performing to get pumped up or practice the dance in their heads. I can’t remember one exact thing I did every morning or day that I was going to perform, but I’m sure that I did something to that extent. I also thought it was funny how the baseball players that Gmelch described in this article had some crazy rituals, especially the guy who puts a cheese sandwich in his back pocket. Overall this article was entertaining and engaging!
ReplyDeleteThe article titled Baseball Magic by George Gmelch, was very interesting to me. I have had boyfriends in the past and friends that played baseball in high school and some in college; I have been to countless baseball games in my life. My dad is also a big baseball fan and used to coach before I was born; we always watched baseball games on television, both college and pro because we didn't have a favorite team we just loved the sport. I have definitely noticed that baseball players do rituals or routines before their games, before pitching, and before hitting. I have seen baseball players kiss their bat before hitting, tap the top or side of their helmet, and wear "special or lucky" articles of clothing (including: gloves, socks or undergarments). I found it interesting how the article pointed out what specific players do, and some of the things they do as rituals or routines seem very bizarre to me. One baseball player kept a cheese sandwich in the back of his pants pocket while playing, and another wore a turtleneck shirt in 80 degree weather; though I suppose these routines and rituals worked for these successful baseball players! As some one else posted, I also danced for 16 years and there were routines and rituals we would do before competing or performing. For one, we would all get in a prayer circle and then conclude with some form of a chant, we would listen to a specific playlist of songs (which were different every competition season), each competitions season we had a different saying we would say to each dancer before performing, and we would all have a "silly" dance or move we would do before we went on stage. I can relate to these routines and rituals that some people may think to be odd, but it worked every time for us so we continued to do it hoping it would continue to give us luck. This is what many baseball players do, and though it may be something that is all in the head (psychological), it works for many athletes of many sports all around the world.
ReplyDeleteI found this article to be very entertaining and interesting. I love baseball and it was fascinating to learn about the magic, routines, and rituals that the baseball players engage in. Baseball is very much a mental sport, and baseball players will do almost anything to make sure they stay on their game. Some of the smallest things the hitters do are tugging on their caps, touching their uniforms, and swinging, tapping, or bouncing the bat on the plate. I didn't really think about it, but after reading this article I realized that I engaged in the same type rituals. I danced for 10 years and before every performance I would spray the bottom of my jazz shoes so it would not be to slippery. I would also pray and do a pump up dance with my friends. I thought they were just fun things to do, but they are some of the same things that these baseball players do before a game. At first, I did not really know what taboos were but now I have a better understanding from reading this article. I thought it was interesting that the players engage in taboos out of the public eye and off the field. It was funny how a particular player had pancakes one morning and lost that game. So from now on he does not eat pancakes the morning of game day. Many of these things go on behind the scenes but some occur on the field. This stuff may seem strange, but believe it or not this goes on with many athletes from varieties of sports.
ReplyDeleteThis article made a lot of sense to me because I played softball and volleyball through middle and high school. While volleyball was my "main" sport and softball was just my off season sport, I feel that I had more routines in softball than in volleyball. I think this is mainly because in volleyball there is not much time for a routine, besides before the game or before you serve, the rest of the game is all impulse. But with softball, even though I was a fielder, I still would do the same things before games and the same things before I went up to hit. In volleyball, I would have to bounce the ball four times and spin it in my hand, take a deep breath, and then serve. I think this came from learning how to serve over-handed. I started playing in the seventh grade and we used under-hand serves, but then in eighth grade when being taught how to serve over-handed, it was as if when I bounced it this many times, I always had a good serve. Just like the article states however, I knew that I did these certain things to give me more confidence in my performance and ensure success.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this article, because I am able to relate to it. I played both softball and volleyball growing up and in high school, and I myself used rituals to help calm the nerves and gain a sense of control. For volleyball, I would rotate and bounce the ball a certain number of times before I would serve, and in softball when I was on deck, and in the batter's box, I had a certain routine I would do. The rituals don't just apply to sports though, they can apply to all aspects of life, because like the article said, if someone feels more in control, that increases their confidence, and therefore should increase their performance in whatever they may do.
ReplyDeleteThis article was an enjoyable read. I found myself looking up the players on wikipedia and doing research on them as I heard more of the wacky things they would do. For such a high stress game, I can see ritual as a calming thing for them, especially since a lot of the game of baseball is not in their control. Sports were never something that I did in high school or college. I could only guess what the games actually put the players under. I could not handle that much stress. I want to know more about what the players thought about their rituals. Did they actually believe there was something behind them at a deeper level or was or more of a therapeutic action?
ReplyDeleteI found this article true when it comes to a lot of sports or even everyday life. I remember when I was in track and cross country there seemed to always be a standard position or seat that we sat in when traveling to events and want shoes we ran in. When I won a medal I wanted to wear my nike's and only traded into others if we did not do well overall. This article reminds me of many sports movies I watched like "Hoosiers" guys did not bath for a while or always wanted a certain guy to lead out onto the court. The magic routines in this article dealt with the dugout and not touching bats that certain pitches used as because they hit home runs in was a good illustration I thought of as superstition but magic will do. The article touches on our drive to succeed and not changing things normally inanimate objects to change our winning streak. The ideas are not isolated to the U.S. as mentioned in the article because guys from the Dominican Republic used artifacts or symbols of a religious background. We do the same here in the United States as you can view during the Super Bowl this weekend--certain hair cuts or jewelry worn, or the looks to heaven for thanks and bowing to one's knee in thanks. I article made we realize how many things people think about before getting in front of people to perform in sports and how doing these activities releases stress or complete ownership of their performance, whether it be good or bad. These rituals bond us as human beings and allows freedom of expression.
ReplyDeleteThis article was very fascinating to me. I do fencing and before every tournament, i would have to do a series of things. One of the things that I would do is shave before going to the tournament. I feel like its good luck. I too have a specific type of meal I eat before hand. It is always a foot long sub from subway and sweet tea. I see a lot of people's taboos during football season. For instance, my family was watching a USC game and then another person came into the room and Carolina started to play worse. People were getting mad and joking that he had to leave even though he had absolutely no effect on the game whatsoever.
ReplyDeleteI thought this article was very entertaining. I had never really thought about stretching as a ritual prior to reading this, but I do remember having a warm-up routine anytime I competed. In high school I played soccer and did swimming with some sort of ritual before each game or swim meet. I would always stretch my body from the top to the bottom. One time I followed a coaches stretching drill at a soccer camp, which was different from the one I did on my own, and tore my MCL. After that I always did my own drill to prevent any injuries from happening. I would start at my shoulders, stretch my upper body, upper legs, and finish with my calves before doing any drills. During swim meets I did the same thing with warm-ups. I can also relate to the players eating certain foods before games to some extent because I would never eat a lot on the days I had a meet or game because I felt that it slowed me down, which led to me being less effective on the pitch or in the water.
ReplyDeleteI found this article really interesting. Many people who play sports have these types of rituals...some you can watch as the game unfolds and some are more pre-game. I think a lot of sports fans also have rituals they feel help their favorite win.
ReplyDeleteThis was a pretty good article. It made me think back to when I played baseball as a kid. I remember during one of my games, my mom gave me gum before I went up to bat and I got a hit(I really sucked at batting). Everytime after that I would always ask her for gum right before I went up to bat. Once she didn't have any gum and I was terrified to go bat. I ended up winning us the game and I stopped asking my mom for gum.
ReplyDeleteThis was a pretty interesting article. I've always heard about the strange routines that baseball players go through and I've seen some of the odd ones when I catch a game on television, but I never realized that it went as deep as it did. It also sort of surprises me that so many people, even profession athletes, still believe in superstitions to the depth that they do, especially living in such a technological age.
ReplyDeleteA lot of times, the term “ritual” has a religious connotation, so it was interesting to see it applied to other areas. I’ve always heard about superstition in sports, but I never thought about the pregame rituals as being “magic.” I just assumed that they did things to calm their nerves, not because they believed their actions would change the outcome of the game. As he pointed out, the outcome is determined by chance. It surprised me to see that time was such an important factor. The author mentioned Wade Boggs leaving at 1:47 for each night game. I also thought it was interesting that he compared rituals of his baseball team to “primitive” rituals that he studied in class. It makes me wonder what people from other cultures think about these rituals.
ReplyDeleteThis article on "Baseball Magic" was an easy read because it was interesting and I could picture all of the rituals, taboos, and fetishes the author was talking about. I've ridden horses since I was seven years old and every time I groom and tack up my horse I start from the same side and the same task. When I get on my horse I do the same warm-up routine every time. When I used to compete, right before my class I would sit on my horse beside and mentally go over the course in my head while looking at course in front of me. I did not do any of these things on purpose but after reading this article and looking back I see that I did have a certain routine/ritual that I followed every time. I think some people, like I did, have routines/rituals and are unaware of them.
ReplyDelete