We received an interesting email the other day from a student at WVU.
He wrote to tell us something that he’d observed while watching college sports.
Let him tell it:
One cold October night, a few friends and I attended a football game. It was snowing and we decided to bundle up and watch this grueling battle between gridiron rivals.
When we arrived at the stadium, we found a seat in the stands on the home side of the field.
Settling into a chilly seat, our eyes fixed upon the quarterback at mid-field. He dropped back for a pass. Instantly, I gazed down field to see a receiver wearing the home team’s jersey. As the ball floated through the air, the crowd rose to its feet. The player extended his arms and made a spectacular catch in the end zone.
Then I noticed a wave of rather bizarre behavior passing through the crowd. Old and young men alike were slapping their hands in the frosty air, patting each other on the back, and even bumping chests.
Looking back to the field I saw the teammates doing many of the same actions—and even popping each other on the butt.
Popping each other on the butt?
What is this all about? I asked myself.
If this scenario has ever happened to you, do not feel alone. Many people have asked themselves the very same question. The truth is that this ritual of bottom slapping has been practiced for centuries.
Archaeologists routinely conjecture that in pre-historic times, following the retreat of the great ice age, early humans often engaged in congratulatory acts of slapping each other’s buns after bumping off a wooly mammoth.
Later, in ancient Rome, the inhabitants would congratulate the victors of war by giving them a pat on the posterior to applaud, cheer, endorse, sanction, and pay tribute to their brave deeds.
And, of course, Roman gladiators would toast fellow fighters who won their battle at the Coliseum by giving them a congratulatory tap on the tutu.
Rome, however, was’t the only civilization to use this timeless technique of touting victors.
It is believed that Adolph Hitler, the infamous ruler of the Third Reich, would praise his Field Marshals privately by giving them a smack on the backside. Some have even speculated that the Nazi nabobs considered the ritualistic swat on the booty as a vote of confidence from their Leader.
Another hypothesis, however, related to the congratulatory whacking of buttocks employed by Hitler is that the merciless master suffered from gender ambivalence, although the theory has never been proved.
And recently, for whatever the reason, I have observed that some college gridiron coaches also have resumed the practice.
They praise their players by giving them a customary smack on the buttocks to keep them motivated.
The act has spawned the return of rump smacking in many other sports.
Coaches, players, and in some cases fans, have caught on to this form of adulation.
And so the practice of the butt slap lives on.
Sincerely,
Adam Lough
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Top o’ the morning!