Tag Archives: Football ritual

Kicking the Lamppost for Good Luck

Age: 58

1. Kicking the same lamppost going to and leaving from a football game at the Coliseum for good luck. 

2. This participant went to the University of Southern California and graduated in 1995. While at USC, the participant remembers the football game days very fondly, including all of the odd good luck rituals that students would perform in order to ensure a win over the visiting team. One such ritual that she remembers is how students would kick a lamppost while exiting campus (through the Exposition Blvd exit) and walking towards the Coliseum, and would have to kick the same one they initially kicked while walking back onto campus. The participant admitted that she didn’t really understand where or when this tradition came from, but she remembers all of her friends – and the students around them – would go out of their way to kick the lampposts for good luck at the game. She admitted that she thought it was hilarious that students at USC today continued the tradition – probably with the same lack of knowledge of the traditions’ origins.

3. Interviewer’s Interpretation: While I myself also do not know specifically where this game-day tradition originated, I can attest to the fact that USC students (myself included) still participate in the ritual to this very day. It could be possible that – much like the idea of a lucky shirt or some other lucky totem/item – one student or a group of students just so happened to kick the lamppost one day on their way to the game, and after winning that game, believed that they had to maintain the exact same routine they went through that day to ensure that they would continue to win games at the Coliseum. Since USC is a school with such a large football culture, it is no surprise that this game-day tradition would therefore spread amongst the students who wanted more than nothing to crush their opponents and uphold their school image through their sense of school spirit.  

Fanbases and their crazy superstitions

AGE

23

Date of performance

4/30/25

Language

English

Nationality

American

Occupation

PHD Student

Primary Language

Aramaic

Residence

San Diego, CA

Superstition: Every time I watch my favorite NFL team; I have to wear my pajama pants with my Lamar Jackson jersey

Context + Text: The informant is my brother. He is a fan of the Baltimore Ravens, an NFL team, and has been a fan for over 10 years now. When he was younger, he always believed that he had to wear his special jersey in order for his team to win. Now that he has gotten a bunch of Ravens gear over the years, he has increased his superstition. He has a new rule that he must wear his Ravens pajama pants and his Lamar Jackson jersey, the QB of the team. “You know I never took this superstition that seriously until we lost a super important game to a really bad team”. The situation took place in the playoffs when the Ravens were projected to win by more than 10 points but ended up losing the game. “Since then, I have taken it super seriously, I can’t have my team lose badly like this again”. Unfortunately for my brother, his superstition does not always work, as his team has failed to make a championship in over 12 years. However, they have gotten closer every year, and he believes that his actions have played a role in that.

Analysis: Sports superstitions have been around for decades, whether it be from the fans or the actual players themselves. Many famous athletes have discussed how they wear the same pair of underwear every game they play, because it makes them feel lucky and more “in the zone”. These superstitions are based on how the player performs or how the fan believes his team performed for that game and believe replicating the exact situation will lead to the same result. For the fans, these superstitions help them feel like play a true role in the team’s performance. “Every time I wear this jersey we win”, is something every sports fan has heard, and is it important to note the “we” from the fan, even though he is not on the team he believes he won because of his actions. Superstitions aren’t always negative and sometimes can be used to bring a sense of community as seen here. 

If I stand like this my sportsbet will hit!

AGE

20

Date of performance

5/1/25

Language

English

Nationality

American

Occupation

Student

Primary Language

Aramaic

Residence

San Diego, CA

Superstition: Where I sit, stand, or how I move affects all sports bet I have. 

Context + Text: The individual is my brother, and he used to be an avid sport better. He used to watch any professional league, from any professional country, as long as he could put a bet on it. He always believed it made games more interesting, and funny enough he developed his own superstition for how he would watch these games. “Sometimes, the team I had money on would be getting killed, so I’d get up to make myself a sandwich, and instantly my team begins to score like they’ve never scored before”. He continued to say he believed that because he got up and made a sandwich, he was changing the luck for his team. “I would literally just sit with my sandwich and not move, and it’s crazy how it works because my bet would get closer to cashing”. According to the individual, he claims that when similar situations like this have happened and he did not stay in the same spot, his team would start losing again. He has continued to hold this superstition for years, and it has led to many funny stories with the individual having his shirt half off standing on the arm of a couch because “his team was playing better”. 

Analysis: This superstition is similar to that of fans wearing jerseys or pants to ‘make’ their team win, but it is a lot more hectic and uncommon. The idea that sports bettors believe the angle at which they watch the game truly determines the outcome is absurd, but can we really classify it as absurd if so, many sports bettors have adopted this ‘strategy’? While it may seem ridiculous to those around them, there has been a community built on weird sport betting scenarios. Some of the funniest examples include not watching the game for my team to win, only watching on my phone or tv (no laptops), and even having to stand in obscure places to make the game more thrilling. While many argue that these superstitions are only adding thrill for the individual, and therefore they believe that they are more involved in the game, I have seen it work for numerous individuals and am getting close to trying out these superstitious rituals. 

Birthday Football Game

Text: “For my birthday, my dad and I used to go to the first UT Austin football game of every season.”

Context:

Informant is a freshman at the University of Southern California studying mechanical engineering, originally from Austin, Texas from Chinese descent.

“My dad really likes UT football and my birthday always fell around the time of the first game of the year. I haven’t really heard other people doing this. I mean, I’m sure people did it, but I haven’t heard. It’s fun, I like it, it’s good time with my dad. When I go, I remember the previous years.”

Analysis: This is an example of the ritualization of individual life cycles. Ritualizing individual life cycle is a way in which we derive our identity and symbolize the identity we are trying to project. For the informant, this ritual integrates football, her hometown, and family as a part of her identity. The when is clearly defined as the ritual occurs at a scheduled time each year and commemorates a very specific event of her birth alongside her father who also symbolizes her birth somewhat.

The Aggie Bonfire

Nationality: Iranian-American
Age: 62
Occupation: Pediatric Anesthesiologist
Residence: Palo Alto, CA
Performance Date: April 21st, 2021
Primary Language: English
Language: Farsi

Main description:

RA: “The biggest tradition I remember from going to A&M is the Aggie bonfire. I’m pretty sure I went every year. That was… such an event. A&M was always known for being a very spirited school, but the bonfire was the biggest sort of school spirit celebration we had, and it’s the only one I can really remember going to. We had the bonfire the night before a football game usually, not one our of rivals but one we knew that we would win against. It’s a really old tradition, by now they’ve probably done it for at least a hundred years. I think the bonfire started out small, and I don’t think anyone knows why, other than as a way to support the football team. But by the time I was at A&M it had grown a lot, and there were even multiple bonfires. There was one main one that students would plan, but there were also lots of smaller ones that people would have with their friends. There was also usually an alumni fire. At the bonfires we cheer and drink and burn effigies of the other team’s mascot. There also, um, more exciting things that happen, that I can’t talk with my son about. (I had my first hook-up there). But the fires got even bigger after I left, and I think it became an official school tradition. There was a board that organized it and you had apply to be an organizer on it. When I was there anyone could volunteer. Makes sense, because at that point the fires were so big you needed to think about architecture and physics of the whole thing to make sure it lights up and stays standing. Eventually in the ‘90s there was a tragedy and the bonfire collapsed. I don’t remember how many people died, but the school had to ban the bonfires for a long time. People would try to throw little, secret ones sometimes, but there weren’t any big bonfires for a long time. At some point an Alumnus group got together and started throwing the bonfires again, but they’re kept a lot smaller and I think they have actual engineers help to design the bonfires.”

Informant’s interpretation:

AB: “Why were the bonfires so important to you and to the school?”

RA: “I was never a very spirited person, but my friends and I always went to the bonfires. It was fun to be together with everyone yelling and dancing around a fire. Going to the bonfire was apart of being an Aggie.”

Personal interpretation:

School spirit traditions are important at many schools, not just as a way of building excitement and attention for sporting events, usually football, but they also serve as an important community building tool. The informant primarily attended for social reasons, and indeed it appears that the bonfire is an important part of school social life.