College Sports Traditions

Picking Up Butch, Silent Night, and Hundreds of Others

By (author) Stan Beck, Jack Wilkinson

Not available to order

Publication date:

19 September 2013

Length of book:

436 pages

Publisher

Scarecrow Press

ISBN-13: 9780810891210

Every year since 1961, football and basketball players at Middlebury College in Vermont pick up their wheelchair-bound fan, Butch, and bring him to the stadium sidelines to watch their games. At John Brown University, the volleyball team distributes candy to fans before each match. For years, fans attending a University of Maryland football game rubbed the bronze statue of their terrapin mascot, Testudo. Traditions like these are visible statements of school loyalty, and they are part of why college sports are unforgettable.

College Sports Traditions: Picking Up Butch, Silent Night, and Hundreds of Others details not only the well-known traditions of major universities, but also the obscure customs of smaller schools. Approximately 1,200 traditions are captured, covering almost every college sport. It depicts such traditions as The Ohio State University’s “Script Ohio,” University of Kansas’s “Waving the Wheat,” Linfield College’s “End Zone Couches,” and even a list of traditions that involve streaking. The wide variety of traditions covered in this book are grouped thematically, including:

  • Before the game
  • During the game
  • After a score
  • After the game
  • Mascot traditions
  • Preseason traditions
  • Traditions probably not university sanctioned
  • Rivalries
  • Yells, cheers, and chants

From the crazy and eccentric to the touching and meaningful, these traditions connect fans and athletes across generations. The first of its kind, this comprehensive volume encompasses hundreds of universities and colleges throughout the U.S. Featuring 75 photos that bring many of these events to life,
College Sports Traditions will be an entertaining read for every sports fan.
Some books are really good, some are fun, and a very few are both—this is one of those. From Virginia Tech football’s entrance 'Enter Sandman' music to burning couches after a loss or win at West Virginia, traditions are a major aspect of college sports. In 22 chapters spanning pre- and post-game traditions, to music, to mascots and trophies, the authors list some 1,200 traditional practices at colleges across America, both large and small institutions. A few examples range from the well-known band at Stanford or rolling Toomer’s Corner at Auburn to the less familiar super fan rewards at Boston College, to streaking at Bucknell lacrosse matches, to ugly sweater Mondays at Albion College. Readers find the good, bad, and downright ugly of American college sports—and not just football and basketball. Included are a list of sources and an index. . . . The authors include an array of and interesting insights into college sports traditions. This work is recommended for all libraries.