Let’s talk Gatorade baths and other sports rituals
The Super Bowl ended with Matthew Stafford's final kneel-down. For fans of ritual, the game didn’t fully end until Rams defensive lineman A'Shawn Robinson doused coach Sean McVay with the traditional Gatorade bath. Bettors even wagered on the color, which was blue, and it was filled with lots of ice. Is this exercise enhancement and hydration shower still exciting for you, or is it time to move on? Is it still trendy, or is it so 1980s?
What started the ritual? Many believe the first instance occurred when Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka was the recipient of first Gatorade bath in November 1984 after Ditka coached the Bears to an NFC Central clincher over the Minnesota Vikings. After the final gun, Bears players Dan Hampton, Steve McMichael and Mike Singletary collaborated to douse their coach. However, pre-dating that was the Bill Parcells shower of October 28, 1984, when the New York Giants beat the Washington Redskins 37–13.d Giants linebacker Harry Carson and defensive tackle Jim Burt drenched Parcells and after every game win that season and the next, and continued the action through the team’s Super Bowl win in 1986. According to legend, Burt was angry over Parcell’s treatment of him during the week, and talked Carson into the actual dunking, as Carson was a Parcells favorite. The ritual took off after the 1986 Super Bowl bath and has been an NFL staple ever since.
Now, the ritual has reached beyond the NFL to the World Series, the Little League World Series and most televised sports.
Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers may be the first NBA coach to be hydrated in that manner after Paul Pierce dumped a cooler filled with red Gatorade over coach’s head following Boston’s 2008 NBA championship finals win.
Former NFL coach George Allen got his shower as head coach for Long Beach State University in 1990, following a victory over Nevada. Not saying this was the cause, but, Allen became ill shortly afterward and died of ventricular fibrillation six weeks later. Oops.
One coach got a Gatorade shower DURING a loss. Kentucky Wildcats football coach Guy Morriss got his in 2002 when UK was beating LSU in the waning moments of the game. Immediately after the shower, LSU’s Marcus Randall threw and completed a Hail Mary TD pass to Devery Henderson to steal the victory on the final play. Oops. In 2018, LSU was involved again when Tigers coach Ed Orgeron got his bath after a game-ending LSU interception. Time out. Review. Play overturned and LSU lost to Texas A&M in seven overtimes, 74-72. Oops.
Major League ballplayers routinely got Gatorade baths after hitting game-winning home runs, or after completing no-hitters or making game-saving plays. But that seems to have given way to whipped cream pies in the face, and during some after-game interviews on cam, the player of focus gets a towel filled with shaving cream rubbed on his head and face. Other baseball rituals and football TD celebrations include high fives, jumps, team hand jive and dances, but Gatorade buckets still reign supreme.
Some teams prefer to change the main ingredient – Gatorade. As the Florida State Seminoles have an agreement with Powerade, and since Gatorade started with the rival Gators of Florida U., the ‘Noles use Powerade. Other teams use water, milk or other items in a bucket.
In 2010, Michigan State beat Penn State and the green-and-white Spartans poured a Gatorade bucket filled with green and white confetti on head coach Mark Dantonio. It was innovative, but it was explained that the temperature was cold and done because Dantonio has a heart condition. No George Allen replay here.
Other ingredients include food and synthetics. After the Arizona State Sun Devils won the 2019 Sun Bowl, coach Herm Edwards was avalanched from a Gatorade cooler filled with Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes by none other than Tony the Tiger himself. Kellogg’s was a game sponsor. Several days later, the Ohio Bobcats won the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl and the team doused coach Frank Solich in French fries. 2020 Cheez-It Bowl winner Oklahoma State ended when coach Mike Gundy was covered in the orange puffy snacks. Mayonnaise was used to cover South Carolina coach Shane Beamer after the win in the 2021 Duke’s Mayo Bowl.
Non-food green slime, a trademark of children’s cable network Nickelodeon, was slathered on New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton after an NFC playoff win, to tie in network sponsorship.
So are you a Gatoradian or do you prefer variation on the theme? I like creativity … the fake out. Will it be Gatorade or peanut butter? Sports drink or bubbles?
And what about at home, what about when your kid gets an “A” or when someone cooks a great meal, or wins at cards? When your dog finishes a trick or when your grandchild eats the full meal in front of him or her? When the drive-through attendant actually hands you what you ordered? Get out the Gatorade and celebrate like the pros.
Do you have a ritual you like or one you think is ridiculous? Let me know at mike.blake@mountvernonnews.com
See you next time.
