The Blue Workhorse

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Many sports teams have fan traditions that can be seen as fun, funny, or just goofy. Some traditions are universal in all stadiums (such as the wave), some are sport specific (throwing hats on the ice after a hat trick in hockey), and some traditions are only performed in individual stadiums (throwing back a home run hit by an opposing team and singing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” at Wrigley Field) or by the fans of individual teams (the New York Jets chanting “J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets”).

While it may look foolish when one person stands and waves a towel or a foam tomahawk, 30000, 50000 or even 100000 rabid fans yelling and waving a piece of sports paraphernalia becomes an imposing spectacle for an opposing fan or team member.

With the recent passing of Pittsburgh Steelers famed broadcaster Myron Cope, who was perhaps most famously known for his creation of the “Terrible Towel” waved frequently by the Steelers’ fans, we’re decided to honor Cope and his “Terrible Towel” with a list of the top 9 (we’re anti-top 5 and top 10) paraphernalia traditions in sports:

9. Green Weenie - A rubber or plastic hot dog waved at players? This one was a new one on us (and unfortunately we couldn’t find a picture), so we’ll let Wikipedia explain:

“The Green Weenie was a green plastic rattle in the shape of a hot dog, which when waved at opposing players, purportedly put a jinx on them. On the contrary, when waved at Pirate players, it bestowed good luck.

The superstition began during a 1966 game against the Houston Astros, when Danny Whelan shouted from the dugout at Astros’ pitcher Dave Giusti, “You’re gonna walk him!” while waving a green rubber hot dog in the direction of the pitcher’s mound. Giusti did walk the batter, and the Astros lost the game. During the next game’s broadcast, Prince quizzed Whelan about the frankfurter incident, and the gimmick was born. Within weeks, Green Weenies were being sold to fans at Forbes Field.”

However, it appears this was the first team-specific paraphernalia gimmick that accrued mass appeal, and the predecessor in Pittsburgh to Cope’s “Terrible Towel.”

8. Thundersticks - These thick inflatable plastic balloons came to prominence during the Anaheim Angels 2002 World Series run. They actually originated in Asia, possibly in South Korean baseball stadiums. Thundersticks are given away in pairs typically at big games, often playoff games, and are now spreading to political rallies as well. When struck together, the thundersticks make a remarkably loud noise, especially in an indoor arena.

7. Rally Monkey - Also coming to prominence during the Angels championship run in 2002, the Rally Monkey actually started in the middle of the 2000 season as a video clip from Ace Ventura: Pet Detective with the words “RALLY MONKEY!” displayed on the video board when the Angels were trailing in the ninth inning. 

After winning that game, the Rally Monkey was in Anaheim to stay. It went on to garner its own set of rules for when it could be used on the video board.  It also took the form of the stuffed animal, which is why it is able to make our list.

6. Cowbell - The cowbell has many uses but to sports fans it is best known and best serves as a noise maker. The cowbell is used by many sets of sports fans, but it is most closely identified with Mississippi State University. It is so engrained at the school the web site even lists it alongside the live mascot bulldog, school colors, fight song, and alma mater as school traditions. According to the site, it is not known the exact origins of the tradition, but this is the most widely known tale:

“The most popular legend is that during a home football game between State and arch-rival Mississippi, a jersey cow wandered onto the playing field. Mississippi State soundly whipped the Rebels that Saturday, and State College students immediately adopted the cow as a good luck charm. Students are said to have continued bringing a cow to football games for a while, until the practice was eventually discontinued in favor of bringing just the cow’s bell.”

5. Foam Tomahawk - In June 1991, Atlanta Braves’ announcer Skip Carey mentioned on his radio show that the Braves needed something to rally behind to identify the club. After hearing Carey on the radio, a foam rubber sales manager, Paul Braddy, rushed home and created what has become an icon of its own in the city of Atlanta. In four months, with over 250,000 foam tomahawks chopping along to the Florida State fight song (thanks to FSU alum Deion Sanders), Atlanta fans watched as the Braves rallied all way to Game 7 of the World Series before falling to the Minnesota Twins.

The foam tomahawks have been through several designs, but the basic red foam shaped tomahawk with Braves on it is still a favorite in Atlanta and despised everywhere else.

4. Face/Body Paint - Face and/or body painting is one of the most expressive ways a fan can show their support. Only those with the most passion express their love of a team this way. While a fan can deflate their thundersticks or put away their cowbell, you can only attempt to cover up body paint (at least until you get home and into the shower). While it probably takes its roots from ancient warriors who painted their bodies before battle, it is now a great way for fat men and good-looking girls to get ready for the impending battle of their respective teams.

3. Cheesehead - Everyone knows (at least they should) that something worn on top of the head, keeps you warmer because the head is the #1 place on the body where heat is released. Therefore, if you cover it up, less heat is released. What could be a more pertinent issue needed to be addressed than staying warm when watching a game at a place nicknamed “The Frozen Tundra?”

So after Chicago Bears’ fans, coming off their mid-80s Superbowl victory, derogatively called Green Bay Packers’ fans “cheeseheads,” one Packers’ fan, Ralph Bruno, took it upon himself to make a foam cheesehead (and somehow he supposedly got away with cutting up the family sofa to create it). Since then, Bruno’s idea has become as much a known icon of Lambeau Field as Vince Lombardi and Brett Favre.

2. Foam Finger - Almost every ballpark in America sells them, and those that don’t should be ashamed that they don’t. Every kid that goes to a game for the first time should get one a foam finger. Often, it is all a first-timer wants and will make him/her remember the first trip to the ballpark. They come in all colors, for whomever the home team may be, but they also have been created in different shapes other than the traditional “We’re #1,” index finger raised. 

Other foam hand versions include the hook ‘em horns version for the University of Texas and schools/teams that have Bulls as their mascot, the American Sign Language symbol for love as in “Gotta love those (insert team mascot)” or “I love the (insert team mascot”, the middle finger extended version, and the shocker version with only the index, middle, and pinky fingers extended, but none are the same as the original “We’re #1.”

1. Terrible Towel - How could we not put the Terrible Towel in the top position? The towel has survived for more than three decades since Cope encouraged fans to bring yellow dish towels to wave when the Steelers played a playoff game against the Baltimore Colts in 1975. After the Steelers won the game, gold towels with “Myron Cope’s Terrible Towel” written in black on them were introduced in time for the Superbowl that season.

Behind the Terrible Towel, the Steelers defeated the Dallas Cowboys in Superbowl X. Since the towel’s inception into team tradition, the Steelers have won four Superbowls (’75, ‘78, ‘79, ‘05). With very few changes since it was first introduced, the Terrible Towel is one of the most traditional items of sports paraphernalia you will find in a stadium. Making the tradition of the Terrible Towel even more impressive, proceeds have helped raise more than $2 million for mental disabilites since 1996 when Cope gave the rights of the towel to a local school that cares for people with mental disabilities.

It has often been imitated (Hate the Yankees Hankies - Cleveland Indians, Homer Hankies - Minnesota Twins, etc.) as teams have given away team colored towels, but none of these knockoffs have had the stability or staying power as Cope’s Terrible Towel. While Cope may have passed, his name will undoubtedly be waved in Heinz Field on Terrible Towels for many years to come. As Cope once said when asked about the towel:

“The Terrible Towel is not an instrument of witchcraft…It is not a hex upon the enemy. The towel is a positive force that lifts the Steelers to magnificent heights – and poses mysterious difficulties for the Steelers’ opponents’ only if need be. Many have told me that the Terrible Towel brought them good fortune, but I can’t guarantee that sort of thing because the Steelers, after all, are the towel’s primary concern. Still, at the least, the symbol of the Terrible Towel will serve as a memento of your having been part of the Steelers’ Dynasty and if it causes good things to happen to you, so much the better.”

Shotgun Spratling

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