Tommy Gaertner

Folklore
Portrait of a Folkgroup: Paper 1

When someone thinks of folklore, or a folk group, they typically think of a group of people,

perhaps one which existed years ago, that shares certain qualities or characteristics which categorizes

them into a certain folk group. By definition, however, a folk group participates in activities that take

place within a community of people who share an identity. Called a folk group, this community may

share traditions, values, beliefs, and worldviews. (Louisiana Voices, An Educator's Guide to

Exploring our Communities and Traditions, Defining Terms) With that being the case, I would like

to make an argument that college sports fans, in particular college students who frequent their colleges

football and basketball games, are a perfect example of a modern folk group.

Avid college basketball and football fans, who frequently attend their colleges games share

several qualities, traditions and customs which are required for a folk group to exist. The first of these

examples that we will exam occurs even before game-time; tailgating and camping out ahead of games.

Several fans (some will say the crazy, die-hard ones) will wait hours, sometimes even days outside of the

stadium or arena the game is being housed at in order to get a preferred seat, welcome the team to the

game, and begin to create an atmosphere which will hopefully give their team an edge over the

opponent. During these pre-game tailgates or camping outages, several activities or performed

including: preparation and consumption of food and beverage, individualized rituals unique to each fan

or group of fans, singing of fight songs, and most of all, pure celebration and partying before the real

game begins. There are no shortages of activities at these pre-game parties, but everyone who is able to

certainly partakes in the fun and action.

At any college basketball or football game you go to, you will almost certainly hear the students

and fans sing together in a school “fight song”. A fight song can be heard throughout a game for many

reasons. They may play it to pump up the crowd and players just before tip-off of kick-off. The song

might be played when the home team isn’t doing super well and needs some excitement and energy to
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Folklore
Portrait of a Folkgroup: Paper 1

get going. It’s especially common to hear the song played after a victory, with fans and players both

joining in together. This particular setting is unique in a sense that it not only brings together the fans

and the players, but also briefly separates the players (entertainers) from their game (performance) and

allows them to associate with the crowd for a short while. Although these fight songs are sung by choirs

of fans cheering for victory, it is respected and time-honored tradition which occurs not only in the

United States, but in several areas throughout the world as well. ("Fight song." Wikipedia)

If there is one thing that fans like to do to show not only their support to a preferred team, but

also to show to any exoteric groups or individuals that they are apart of a group or fanhood, is to dress

up in a resembling or group manner. In some of the bigger games a team has, they will sometimes have

a “white-out”, or a “black-out” which is when all the home fans wear the same colored shirts, jerseys,

tops, etc. that match their team colors in order to create an even bigger element of unison and group

dynamic. Aside from these “black-out” events, fans of just about any team will coordinate and plan with

each other what they will wear in order to have some sort of resemblance whether that be in color,

body painting and art, and sometimes in even in elaborate suits or costumes. Even for those fans who

do not regularly associate with some of the more consistently attending fans, souvenir shops stocked

with team apparel and paraphernalia for sale can provide a temporary sense of belonging to this group.

Traditions come in many forms and there is no shortage of traditions in the world of college

sports fans. Because a lot of these traditions and activities being done throughout schools and

institutions today were also performed several years ago, it adds importance to what is being done and

also helps establish (if not already) a sense of grouping. One tradition which is a very big deal at Stanford

University involves a mock burial or “berial”. This takes place before their rivalry game against the

University of Cal and students perform a burial of a bear which is the mascot for Cal. This is supposed to

signify Stanford defeating and killing their victory. Another well-known tradition at the University of
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Folklore
Portrait of a Folkgroup: Paper 1

Southern California involves students wrapping their beloved statue, “Tommy Trojan” in the week

before their rivalry game against UCLA to prevent any opposing fan from harming, destructing or

defacing this statue. The University of New Hampshire indulges in a tradition which may be in poor taste

for some of the visiting fans. Whenever the opposing team scores their first goal, fans will throw a dead

fish onto the ice to show their appreciation. (Americas Top 25 College Sports Fan Traditions.” Thrillist,)

Whether the traditions are taking place during the game or leading up to it, it is another common form

that these sports fans share with other folk-groups.

As mentioned during the introduction, many people would probably not categorize college

sports fans, or just sports fans in general as a folk group, but by identifying some characteristics that are

common in a folk group which these fans also participate in such as customs, traditions, beliefs, goals

and desires, proves that this group can in fact be labeled a folk group. Another thing to take into

consideration while making the argument to label this group as a folk group, is that whether they are

doing something before the game, during, or after, they are doing something with a shared enjoyment

which makes them all a part of the “college sports fan” folk group. (“Subcultures and Sociology.”) In

relation to folklore or folk groups, it’s important to have an understanding of what constitutes as a folk

group because it will allow someone to recognize a group as such when initially it was assumed they are

not one.
Tommy Gaertner
Folklore
Portrait of a Folkgroup: Paper 1

Works Cited:

 Louisiana Voices, An Educator's Guide to Exploring our Communities and Traditions,

Defining Terms, http://www.louisianavoices.org/Unit1/edu_unit1.html

 “Subcultures and Sociology.” Grinnell College, http://haenfler.sites.grinnell.edu/subcultural-

theory-and-theorists/fandom-and-participatory-culture/

 Meltzer, Matt. “Americas Top 25 College Sports Fan Traditions.” Thrillist, Thrillist, 11 Apr.

2014, https://www.thrillist.com/travel/nation/sports-traditions-america-s-top-25-college-

sports-fan-traditions

 Wikipedia contributors. "Fight song." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free

Encyclopedia, 17 Feb. 2018. Web. 1 Mar. 2018

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fight_song#United_States