Soccer Rituals

Topic: Ritual

Source: Conformity and Conflict. James Spradley and David W. McCurdy (p. 310 – 319, 334 – 338)
 “TV3 - Crackòvia - Un contra un : Sergio García.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IladmhdqqwE

“Why were AC Milan wearing white shirts?” http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20120328170658AAEzGoy

“Galliani stresses AC Milan will not wear 'unlucky' black jersey again.” http://www.goal.com/en/news/10/italy/2012/03/09/2956421/galliani-stresses-ac-milan-will-not-wear-unlucky-black

“Catania Vs AC Milan 1-1 All Goals And Highlights (31.3.12).” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRsHmhdmpwM

“Catania vs. Milan.” http://espn.go.com/watchespn/index/_/source/espn3/#sport/soccer-futbol/type/replay/

“Nike Brazilian Soccer Commercial - Long Version.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqm5zavFlM0

Relation: A ritual is defined as “prescribed behaviors in which there is no empirical connection between the means (e.g., tapping home plate three times) and the desired end (e.g., getting a base hit),” (Spradley 312). As seen in professional baseball, many players adopt and discard rituals throughout the course of their careers. After a good performance, they will attempt to recreate the events that occurred prior the game. For example, some players believed that eating pancakes, eating chicken, chewing the same piece of gum, carrying a pebble, getting dressed a certain way, etc. are responsible for their good form.
There are several uncontrollable factors in baseball and life. “Routines are comforting; they bring order into a world in which players have little control,” (Spradley 312). Practicing pregame rituals gives players more confidence that luck is on their side. Many players are rather superstitious and believe that this can be the difference between victory and defeat.
Taboos are in fact the opposite. The term taboo “comes from the Polynesian term meaning prohibition,” (Spradley 314). Taboos are rituals and practices that players believe they should avoid if they want to maintain good form. These include but are not limited to crossing bats, having sex, and eating certain foods.
Many professional athletes also engage in fetishes. These charms are “material objects believed to embody supernatural power that can aid or protect the owner,” (Spradley 315). Fetishes much like rituals are expected to bring good luck to the beholder.

Description: It’s Saturday morning and I visit ESPN360.com to watch the much anticipated soccer match between AC Milan and Calcio Catania. As usual, the match officials lead both teams out of the player’s tunnel and onto the field. Both teams line up and wish each other luck. Catania, known as the “Rossazzuri,” is wearing their red- and blue-striped kit. Milan is dressed in the all white kit.

Commentary/Analysis: After reading the chapter titled “Baseball Magic,” I had hoped that I would see similar pregame rituals or fetishes. Unfortunately, I didn’t see any players touching the ground and blessing themselves as they subbed onto the field. Nor did I see players bearing lucky charms in their shin guards. Before, players used to wear gold chains, religious symbols, and earrings. I think this has been disallowed in recent years as a safety measure. I had also hoped to see a scene of the players’ dressing room and viewed a spectacle much like the one seen in the Nike commercial. The players sing on the bus to motivate themselves and pray for a great match and safety before going onto the pitch.
The most noticeable fetish I saw was the numbers on the players’ backs. Players and coaches often believe the certain numbers are reserved for certain positions. For example, the number 9 is given to a prolific goal-scorer, the number 10 is given to a playmaking midfielder, the numbers 2, 3, and 4 are given to rock-solid defenders, and the number 1 is given to a shot-stopping goalkeeper. El Shaarawy, the Milan forward, wears the number 92. I assume he chose this number because he was born in 1992.
Milan wore white for this match because they are the visiting team. But on March 28^th, Milan hosted Barcelona at the San Siro (Milan’s home stadium). During this match, they also wore white as opposed to their red- and black-striped home kit. Upon doing further research, the club believes this to be their lucky uniform. They have won more UEFA Champions League Finals while wearing their away kit than their home kit. In addition, when they wore an all black kit against Arsenal FC a few weeks ago, they were severely defeated at the Emirites Stadium. Shortly after the result, Milan’s CEO Adriano Galliani attributed the loss to the “unlucky” black jersey and promised that the team would never wear it again, (Galliani).
When I played soccer for my high school years ago, I had rituals that I believed were partly responsible for my good form. For example, I would drink 64 oz. of water the night before the game. I knew this would help me stay hydrated during the game and improve my performance. Before home games, I would rub my hands in the wet grass and rub the moisture into my hair and dry my hands on my jersey. I am unsure of the purpose of this ritual, but that did not prevent me from doing it before each home game.
During warm-up drills, I would do fancy passes and often fail at them. My teammates always asked me “Why do you try these things that you will never do in the game?” I would always respond “I am getting all the bad ones out now.” Somewhat opposite of the belief that bats have a set number of hits, I believed that I had a set number of bad kicks. This routine would ensure that I saved my best passes for the game where it really matters.

I do recall a taboo I had when playing soccer. I never looked at the crowd. It was my belief that I was on the pitch to play the game and any attention given to the crowd was taken away from the game. I believed that this would result in a crucial error as was the case for one of my friends. His girlfriend called to him from the stands. As he looked over to her, an opposing player took an unexpected long shot and scored.

There are also many other taboos that players practice. One of the major taboos is changing shoes before a game. As I recall, one of my teammates criticized another teammate for having practice shoes and game shoes. He believed that the player would not be able to transfer the experience acquired using the practice shoes to the game if he changed his shoes.