The Top Seven Fan Traditions in Pro Sports

There is a reason why there isn’t as much interest when teams like the Rays and the Rockies make the World Series.  They haven’t had nearly the time to come up with traditions. 

Not just team tradition either, the best traditions are the ones that were spontaneously made up by the fans and became a staple of that team’s home games.  Sometimes you can literally hear them being created—the “Yoook!” for Kevin Youkilis is a recent example. 

We’re going to limit it to professional sports only for this list simply because if I did college, I would inevitably miss 75 percent of the good ones.  Also, the tradition itself had to come from the fans, it can’t be something that the franchise encourages or puts on, so no Sausage race, no Take me Out to the Ballgame, no old-school Bulls intro (which would win if it were included), and no “everybody clap your hands” (which would be a surefire top three on a “worst of” list).

7. LeBron Chalk Toss

There are certain traditions that start with players, and this one continues to grow. If the Cavs make the finals then this one could take off even more, with LeBron James throwing chalk into the air prior to tip-off. 

Fans now toss their own chalk into the air along with him.  It looks like a pretty good time. 

Even though he has taken it to another level, it must be said that there are at minimum two inspirations for this—Michael Jordan used to do the exact same thing, to the point where late Bulls announcer Johnny “Red” Kerr grabbed an umbrella once to shield himself from the raining of the chalk. There is also a little bit of the HHH water trick in LeBron’s interpretation if you watch carefully.  Speaking of which, the list is not complete without the obligatory wrestling entry...

6. Wrestling Fan Sing-Alongs

That’s the bottom line, because Stone Cold said so.  If you smell…what the Rock is cookin’. 

A solid 95% of wrestling crowds will be saying this along with the guys.  The best wrestling sing-alongs, though, were the classic “Asshole!” for Vince McMahon, and the “You Suck!” along with Kurt Angle’s music. 

There were also classics that were not repeated often, like the “Slut!” chant directed at Stephanie McMahon after she passed out and married HHH.

5. Bleacher roll call

It’s not often that players on the field acknowledge the fans.  Curtain calls and good pitching outings can merit a nice tip of the cap. 

At Yankee Stadium, the bleacher fans manage to pull off getting every Yanks position player to wave at them during the opening inning of every game.  This probably wasn’t a problem for Alfonso Soriano when he played in New York—that guy will miss entire pitches while he turns around to wave at fans in the Wrigley bleachers, and he does this all of the time.

4. Throwing hats

Anytime that a tradition becomes so big that it crosses over to other sports, it’s got to be a good one.  A mere split second goes by before the first hat is launched onto the ice after someone scores their third goal of the game. 

Occasionally, when a guy hits three bombs in a baseball game, you’ll see random hats scattered here and there on the field.  Great, great crossover appeal.

This spot could have also gone to the Wrigley tradition of throwing home runs back onto the field since they also copy it at Busch on occasion, but two reasons that got nixed: first, I have a problem allowing the Cubs to have a positive role in any list, and secondly, the tradition of bleacher fans throwing trash onto the field after bad calls or poor play is probably a more accurate tradition.

3. Booing everything

Visiting Philadelphia’s new stadium, you get the feeling that while there still is the passion for booing and acting rudely is still there, it doesn’t hold a candle to Veteran’s Stadium.  There was probably something about being in a complete dump next to a river leading to New Jersey that brought out the worst in people. 

During my visit there, they were merciless on Pat Burrell, and took the chance to boo at any opportunity that could be considered halfway borderline, but I didn’t feel the angry, hurling-batteries-at-JD-Drew vibe that could have been there before they built a sports complex with no surroundings.  Still, having the market covered on booing should be up there with being the birthplace of the country for Philly.

2. USA chants

Sure, most of the time these occur at wrestling events too, but not even bringing up the code to Contra can bring strangers closer quicker than a good USA chant.  Start it at a bar during the Olympics. 

Fire one up after the national anthem. The best place to start one randomly? 

Probably Chicago Blackhawks home games, where the crowd cheers insanely during the entire national anthem, getting louder and louder as the song progresses.  It’s enough to turn Nikolai Volkoff into Hacksaw Jim Duggan.

1. Octopus

It could be another billion years before someone tops throwing an octopus onto the ice.

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The Top Seven is written by Jason Major. His groomsmen threw an octupus during the ceremony of his wedding. Email him at [e-mail].