blog #10

Eckstein, D., & McNeal, S. (2007). Heart is his first language. Sporting News, 231(13), 26-27. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Blog #10

Hi everyone,

This is my last blog and it has been a great journey. It has been great at the beginning with my sources, but now it seems I am dehydrated when it comes to my research. Sporting News has an interesting article that I will be talking about.

This article does a great job talking about the world series baseball player and looking at some of his rituals that got him to where he is at today. It talks about a pregame ritual dinner that he does every time he has a game as well as the emotions and drive he puts into the game of baseball.

There isn’t a lot of information I could take from this article, but I really enjoyed the sporty writing style. It made the article fun to read and enjoy. It also has a professional feel to it that makes me want to implicate it into my research.

Thanks

Travis

Blog #9

Farber, M. (2007). Beating the Red Wings. Sports Illustrated, 106(10), 40-43. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Blog #9

Hi again,

Since I have chosen my last two blogs to go outside the box, I am going back in. This next article deals with the red wings, NHL, and pregame rituals. This is going to help get me back on track in the world of professional sports.

This article is about the red wings and on the ritual side has some interesting information. The coach before the big game says “Stanley cup” four times and taps specific players on the helmet to help with the win. They also have a pre game ritual where if a game goes bad then nobody can talk about it, they simply have to move on or put money into the negative plastic bin placed in the locker room.

I wish that this article would have had more information regarding my topic but it is starting to get tough with the 9^th source in my research. My sources and patience are starting to run dry…

Travis

Blog #8

Fischer, G. J. (1997). Abstention from sex and other pre-game rituals used by college male varsity athletes. Journal of Sport Behavior, 20(2), 176. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Abstention from sex and other pre-game rituals used by college male varsity athletes.

Blog #8

Haha. Im sorry but this next article is going to be fun and quite funny. It deals with pre game ritual sex and whether it helps or hurts someone before playing in a game. I will be very curious to see what the results are. Lets get one thing straight, from everyone that I have known through the years, sex is suppose to hurt your athletic performance and take away your energy. I am curious to see the results…

This research starts off by getting different universities and athletes to participate in the study. Everyone was asked a series of questions and the two main sports were baseball and football with the most representatives. It was found that sex was not suppose to be done before a game to preserve energy and “you legs.” It is not proven that this actual happens but is a believed urban myth that I as a player believe till this day. I feel like this is almost a backwards pre-game ritual. It’s the idea that you are not doing something to be successful when usually it is the other way around.

The researcher did an absolutely great job with this study and its results. I recommend this article to anyone who has serious pre game questions about sex. I have yet to come across someone in England who has mentioned this as a positive. Only time will tell

Travis

Blog #7

Meyers, R. J. (2001). Literature and Sport as Ritual and Fantasy. Papers on Language & Literature, 37(4), 337. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Blog #7

Hello,

I have been getting quite lucky when it comes to my research. Not only am I finding information that I need but I am able to look at different articles and genres relating to ritual and sport. For this upcoming article I wanted to research something outside the box and I found it within this article. This article deals with ritual and sport combined with fantasy. I feel like the more places I cover the better my research can become.

“The beginning of the article talks about the idea of sport and how it compares to other things like art. It goes into more detail stating that people love sports due to their drama and the observation of team and individual success.”

This is a very interesting quote that I found to be unlike anything I have read before. "Game, my ass. Some game. If you get on the side where all the hotshots are, then it's a game, all right--I'll admit that. But if you get on the other side, where there aren't any hot-shots, then what's the game about it? Nothing. No game." He is talking about picking sides for a sport and the unevenness that may go along with it.

To be honest, I think I bit off a lot more than I could chew with this article. It has an interesting message and applies to my study in a small way. I will stay away from information like this in the future and try to apply it more directly instead of indirectly haha.

Travis

Blog #6

Goodger, J. (1986). Ritual Solidarity and Sport. Acta Sociologica (Taylor & Francis Ltd), 29(3), 219-224. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Ritual Solidarity and Sport.

Blog #6

Hi,

For my next bit of research I decided to look at an article not dealing with professional sports but more about an indepth look of ritual and sport. I felt a more informational approach towards the rituals and why they are what they are would help me to define rituals and help improve my ongoing research project. I feel that by doing so will help the audience gain a better understanding of the situation.

“ A ritual is a form of expression and is constantly evolved due to the cultural context of which that person knows or is raised with. This may be weakened by individualism and diversity. The sport and the team is responsible for some of the rituals due to the identity put at place by the team. It is a process of growth and most importantly expression that these rituals exist and continue to grow.”

After lookin at the article I feel that there are sections that I could use and some that I will not. There is certain spots where I feel that the ideas of the article are too complex and would not benefit my research in a way that I see fit. But, there are brilliant sections that break down rituals and its more specific nature of where they come from that I will simply cherish within my research.

Travis

Blog #5

J.M. (1997). Preoccupations. Sports Illustrated, 87(19), 84. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Preoccupations.

Blog #5

Hello,

After looking at the NFL players in my last blog I was very curious to look in depth for studies in the NBA. It will be fun to see if they relate to different sports or Japanese rugby like in my previous blogs. This article is also from sports illustrated and deals with pregame rituals and famous basketball players.

“Oakley's teammate Patrick Ewing requires that his shoes and socks be lined up in front of his locker in the same manner every night. The Knicks center ices both knees and insists on having the ice in a particular kind of resealable bag. As game time approaches, he sits in his locker and dribbles a ball, using the same cadence, over and over again. "Once, I thought it would be funny to knock the ball away," reports a teammate who wishes not to be identified. "Believe me, Patrick wasn't amused."”

“Magic guard Derek Harper has for several years followed an elaborate routine that begins several hours before a game, a regimen that he firmly believes has enabled him to continue playing at age 36. Harper's preparation includes a whirlpool, a body massage, a nap, a spin on a stationary bike, the application of heat packs, and stretching. He brings his own nutritional supplements, herbs and a special (and secret) mixture of fluids to the arena and puts it in his own water bottle, which he entrusts to a ball boy.”

For this post I wanted to display the funny stories and information that is within my research. It is quite interesting to see the variety and preciseness of all the pregame rituals within sport. This research also looks at another 5 players and the funny pregame rituals. I feel like the ones displayed here have a chance to be quite similar to my England basketball players. I guess we’ll have to just wait and find out.

Travis