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Sebastian Guerra

Professor Meyer

Cultural Anthropology

12 February 2013

Basketball Game Fieldnotes

In Texas, the major sport that people enjoy watching, playing, and talking about is

football. Coming to college in Kentucky, and specifically Transylvania University (Transy for

short), I had to get used to the fact that Kentuckians viewed football as a completely different

(almost insignificant) side to the sports world and instead replaced it with an obsession with

basketball. Because of this opportunity to look at an everyday event through more detail-oriented

and fresh eyes, I decided to observe a basketball game at Transylvania University. Some details

that might be important to include are: it was a womans basketball game, it took place on a

Wednesday night from 7:30 P.M. to 9:00 P.M., and I viewed it as a member of the Pep Band and

therefore sat on the far right. Also, as a general observation, more people are present at the mens

games and even more are present when the game takes place on a Saturday which may explain

some of the behaviors and observations that I recorded.

I arrived in front of the Beck Center (the building where basketball games takes place) at

6:45 in order to be on time for the Pep Band call time. When entering the building, I filed in

behind a family and was surprised when a man held the door for me and announced to his family

Alright! The Pep Band is comingtonights gonna be a good game. Aftergiving him an

appreciative nod, I made my way into the arena, gathered my equipment, found my spot in the

stands, and gauged my surroundings. Although it was still forty minutes until the game started,

the players of both teams were already warming up doing drills and making shots from various

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spots on the court. What surprised me was the amount of people already sitting in the stands

waiting for the game to start. Some of them looked fairly comfortable in their spots while others

were roaming around chatting with other people that were early to the game. Most of the people

that were there seemed to be Transy alumni, family of the players, and a few students. The

majority of the people tried to get seats close to the court, but there were a few that chose to sit

high in the stands. The general atmosphere of the arena was calm, yet there was a buzz of

excitement in anticipation for the game. When it was fifteen minutes before the game, the Pep

band began to play some stand tunes to get the crowd and players excited. As time progressed,

more people walked in, sat, talked, and watched as the players of both teams warmed up. The

last thing the Pep Band played before the warm up time finished was the Transylvania fight

song. The crowd cheered and clapped as we played the song, but when we finished the noise

died down to allow the pre-game ceremonies to begin.

Please rise for the playing of the National Anthem by the Transylvania Pep Band!

Although Ive been to countless games, I never quite caught what the announcer said or how he

said it until I actually paid attention. The players were all lined up on the court, everyone was

standing in various forms of respect (hands over heart, head bowed, etc.), and the whole arena

was silent as they waited for the National Anthem to begin. While playing the song, I saw some

people mouthing the words, some staring at the band, and others staring respectfully at the

American flag. After the last chord of the National Anthem ended, the crowd clapped and the

introductions of the teams and players commenced. Introductions began with the opposing team;

the team was announced, and then the starting line up was announced. Most of the cheering

during those introductions was from the small group of people that came to support the opposing

team. When the Transy introductions began, the announcer sounded much more enthusiastic and

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the crowd cheered after every name of the starting line up was announced. The enthusiasm

paired with the up beat music that was playing in the background seemed to set the competitive

spirit that is common at the games. As the team got into position and the toss up was about o

start, all the focus went to what was happening in the center of the court to see whether Transys

team would be the lucky ones to start the game. As soon as the ball was thrown in the air, the

Transy basketball player jumped up and hit it to her teammate which made the crowd cheer

because we would be starting the game. For the first half of the game, the teams each made good

shots and their teamwork was evident when the shots would have been impossible without it.

Most people in the arena watched as the game progressed, every time their respective team made

a point they cheered, every time the ref called a foul on their team they groaned, and every time

their team was making a free shot they remained completely silent and waited. While observing

the people watch the game, it was humorous watching everyones head move in unison as the

ball travelled up and down the court. I caught myself doing it a couple of times and had to force

myself to stop and continue with my observation of the people and not just the game. By the time

the first half was over Transys score was twice as high as the opponents team and it was clear

who was likely to win.

With the end of the first half, the teams went to the locker rooms and the spectators got

up, moved around, talked, went to the concession stands, or just sat and watched as the

performances began. First, the dance team came out and did a choreographed dance with a mixed

song and after it was done the audience clapped as the dance team left. After the dance team left

and the court was empty, some of the kids took the chance to play on the court and imitate some

of the plays that went on during the first half. For the remainder of the half time, the Pep Band

played stand tunes in order to provide entertainment for the people that were waiting for the

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game to restart. Although some people danced during the song and others clapped after each

song was done, the halftime was relatively uneventful until the teams came back and we played

the fight song to get the crowd excited again. The second half of the game was moderately the

same as the first half, but there were some things that were worth noting. Ten minutes into the

game, a girl from the opposing team accidentally got knocked in the jaw and fell to the floor in

agony. At once all the cheering stopped and everyone got quiet as the trainers and others went

out to assess any injuries. Whenever it was clear that no immediate injuries were present, the

crowd cheered to show that they sympathized with the girl. However, the coach of the girl didnt

seem to care and yelled at her other team players for not playing good. When the girl was moved

to the bench the coach didnt even glance her way or make any move to ask if the girl was okay.

Despite the break, the rest of the game moved on normally after that, and the teams kept getting

more points. The number of fouls that were called increased from the amount in the first half and

the crowd groaned and booed after each one was called even if they knew it was a fair call. As

one member of the Pep Band said, I know their right, but you still have to be upset anyway.

The team also was able to make a few more three point shots which were met with more

cheering from the crowd. By the six minute mark it was clear who was going to win because the

score was 80 to 39. Nevertheless, nobody left and people stayed to watch the game finish. When

the clock hit twenty seconds, the Pep Band got ready to play the fight song, and the crowd

cheered because one of the Transy players got the ball and was holding it so nobody would make

any more points. When the buzzer sounded to signal the end of the game, we played the fight

song one last time as the teams shook hands and people started to exit the arena. After putting

some of my equipment away, I saw people gathered outside talking about the game and leaving.

While making my way back to the band room, I couldnt help but remember the mans comment

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that linked the Pep Band with a good game and realized that although I grew up looking at

football as the sport of choice, basketball was a sport that I could grow to like.