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SPORTS
Sports traditions: octopi
on the ice and other
timeless practices
By Will Cloyd
Sports Editor
Sports are all about the people who play the game, the
people who attend them, and the places the hallowed
games are played. Traditions rule sports.
Sports fans live for experiences like going to the
Boston Garden with its traditional parquet floor, watching
Clemson's players rub Howard's Rock before charging
down the hill at Death Valley, or even sitting back on a
sunny afternoon while the sun catches the ivy on Wrigley
Park's outfield field and a deranged celebrity belts out
the National Anthem are all the things sports fans live for.
Traditions bring us back over and over again to see
the things our parents and grandparents saw and feel
the same rush that they felt. We get to feel the excitement
while the Ohio State marching band dots the 'i' in Ohio,
or when the Miami Hurricanes football team charges out
of the smoke to take the field.
Likewise, the players get to share the same expmences
their forebearers did. Every Notre Dame football players
gets to touch the "Play Like a Champion Today" sign as
they enter the field and all the international soccer players
get to exchange jerseys with their opponents following a
hard-fought match.
But while the stirring traditions get our hearts pound
ing and collective pride stirring, the bizarre traditions are
equally worthwhile. The weirdness includes the Detroit
Red Wing fans who throw octopi on the ice during every
home playoff game, or the post-game pie in the face for
baseball players who hit a walk-off homerun.
These traditions add fun to the games and allow fans
and players to have fun. These are, in fact, games, and not
matters of life and death, as some would tell you.
I must mention one awe-inspiring tradition above
others that stands apart. The traditional Haka dance,
performed by the New Zealand Rugby team, is truly spec
tacular as the All Blacks strut before their opponents, slap
ping their chests and thighs while sticking their tongues
out and making grotesque faces.
The Haka has been a tradition of the All Blacks since
1884 and is still as much fun to watch now as Tm sure it
was over 120 years ago.
And that's the thing about traditions. They live on.
Longer than you, longer than me, and they seemingly
never get stale. They will be fresh for your grandchildren
and for mine. We will always have them.
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UPCOMING GAMES AND MATCHES
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March 29 Guilford 11 GREENSBORO COLLEGE 3
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MARCH 25-27 Guilford 13/32 at Camp Lejeune Intercollegiate
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March 26 GUILFORD 7 Virginia Wesleyan 6*
WOMEN’S LACROSSE
March 27 Guilford 6 CHRISTOPHER NEWPORT 21
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March 23 Guilford 4 GREENSBORO COLLEGE 2
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April 2 GUILFORD V Virginia Wesleyan*!
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April 2 Guilford v RANDOLPH-MACON
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April 3 GUILFORD v Emory & Henry
MEN’S AND WOMEN’S TRACK AND FIELD
April 1-2 Liberty Collegiate Invitational
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April 2 GUILFORD Emory & Henry*!
WOMEN’S TENNIS
April I Guilford v SWEET BRIAR