College sports traditions
December 4, 2017
By NOAH WOYAK
The Mirror reporter
Some of the most fun parts of college sports are not the games themselves, but the traditions each school follows. For athletes and viewers alike, the traditions are some of the most memorable parts of each game.
For example, Wisconsin football has its traditional “Jump Around.” After the third quarter of every football game, the song “Jump Around” by House of Pain is played and the fans in the stadium jump up and down. The jumping in the stadium is said to be so powerful it shakes the stadium and also registers on the Richter scale.
“I go to Badger games almost every year, and Jump Around is always a cool thing to experience,” said junior Nathan Roth.
Many other stadiums like to get their fans involved in their celebrations including Arkansas’s “Calling the Hogs” and Kansas’ “Rock, Chalk, Jayhawk” chant.
Bringing a live animal onto the field is another common tradition. It is practiced by schools such as Auburn, Yale, Georgia, and USC. One particularly interesting tradition involving an animal is Colorado’s “Ralphie’s Run” which involves the five student-athletes running a live buffalo, named Ralphie, around the field in a horseshoe pattern.
Some of the traditions in schools can be very strange. For example, before every Clemson game, players gather around a special rock nicknamed “Howard’s Rock” and rub it for good luck. Another example is the Stanford tradition of the “Bearial,” where before every game the football team plays against rival UC-Berkeley students take a small stuffed bear, similar to UC-Berkeley’s mascot Oski the Bear, and impale it through the White Memorial Fountain. This fountain is chosen due to its many different branches and points, and has gained itself the nickname “The Claw.” The stuffed bear stays impaled on The Claw until the end of the week.
If there’s one thing that these traditions are good at, it’s bringing everybody together to help rally their team and have some fun watching the game. They are some of the most bizarre and memorable things in college sports, and they definitely make the games more interesting.
NOAH WOYAK • Dec 14, 2017 at 2:10 PM
Thank you, Quinn, and God bless you!
Quinn Rowe • Dec 14, 2017 at 11:59 AM
Noah, I do agree with your statement that each school’s traditions enhance the sporting experience. My favorite college sporting tradition comes from the University of Iowa. It’s when the crowd at Kinnick Stadium waves to the children at the University of Iowa’s Children’s Hospital. It would be wonderful if SPASH embraced some of these sporting traditions.
Paige Schultz • Dec 14, 2017 at 11:58 AM
I completely agree with your point that the best thing about attending college games is not the game itself but the traditions of the game. The growing popularity of these traditions at universities is something that is prominent. I thought the case of the University of Colorado with students running around with a live buffalo was super interesting and something that I didn’t know about. I really enjoyed what your article was about and I thought it was super interesting!!
Boon • Dec 14, 2017 at 11:17 AM
We should keep the college sports traditions going. With all the activity of having students gather together is a great way to meet new people.
Deryk Wedde • Dec 14, 2017 at 11:04 AM
I agree with your point of view. Sometimes while watching the games it can get boring at times just with classic play. Special team traditions are a good way to make it more interesting.
Toby • Dec 14, 2017 at 11:02 AM
I find that it is pretty cool that if everyone in the whole stadium is jumping around for the third quarter song “Jump” can shake the stadium.