Readings for 2/25

The first article for this week titled "Locating the 'Nation': Football Game Day and American Dreams in Central Ohio by Danille Christenson Lindquist, studied the rituals and traditions associated with college football at Ohio State University in Columbus Ohio. The article portrayed many of the rules, rituals, and traditions of football at Ohio to many values and traditions of America. The article first looked back at the history of football. Football really began its popularity after the civil war, when Americans need something to bond them together. By making rules different than rugby, football emphasized the athletic abilities of individuals to achieve success. More rules meant more strategy meaning that intelligence had  a lot to do with success along with physical abilities. These features of football mirror the American work ethic. Americans believe that hard work leads to success. Skill and determination yield success.
The article then began discussing the certain rituals that are found specifically at Ohio State games. The Buckeye, their mascot and emblem, is used as a way of identifying as a native from Ohio and bonds fans together. To outsiders, the Buckeye is poisonous, but to locals it brings good luck and was once used for certain medicinal purposes. The food served in the parking lot is emblematic of the German heritage in Ohio. People most often grill bratwursts or Polish sausages. A lot of time was spent discussing the band at Ohio State. The band is steeped in tradition and ritual. The perform a skull session before each game to thousands of fans to warm up. They have the same entrance at every game and at each halftime they spell Ohio and dot the I with a sousaphone player.
Many of these rituals and traditions are similar to the American ideals of bureaucracy and hard work. There are very defined rules that must be followed similar to the laws that govern our country. If you follow the rules, work hard, and are intelligent you will have a greater deal of success both on and off the football field.
The second article had to deal with group and networks. It discussed how we view our world from our groups. There was as story about an Italian festival where kids were trying to climb a light pole to get to an envelope of money. Other kids, including a girl and an african american boy, came to help. Even though they were not Italian they were still accepted as part of the group because they were neighbors and attended school with the other boys. When an Asian man came and climbed the pole, they viewed him as an outsider who did not belong. This was due to the newness of Asian immigrants at the time this article was written. People form groups through networks. More affluent people have more networks than middle class or lower class people.

Questions:
What type of group would you consider yourself a part of?
Are there any other sports teams that have specific rituals and traditions?