Sports Ritual-Houston, Texas

Ritual, Performer’s Analysis: Before every Astros baseball game, me and the other batboys would spit out gum, drop kick it from the dugout onto the field for good luck. It was for good luck, and the winner

For the Rockets games, as a pre-game ritual, all the ballboys woud huddle up on the court and chant  “THIS IS OUR HOUSE, NOBODY’S WINNING IN HERE!”. The ritual was started by all of the ushers at Toyota Center, and the ballboy’s adapted their own form of it.

Collector’s Analysis: Rituals as we have discussed in class are very common. Often times sports teams use perform a certain ritual to bring good luck or good health during the games. Ironically, in Sam’s first year as ballboy for the Houston Astros the team went to the World Series, with the gum kicking their lucky charm. Perhaps the Astros’ success explains why Sam and the other ballboys continued the ritual before every game for the following two years, even if the team did not do as well.