Ethnography

Jon Hocking

4/12/12

English 101

Ethnography

The subculture I chose was the Raynham Giants football team. The reason I chose this was because last year my high school required us to do community service. I decided that I wanted to help out with my old football team. I new this would be a good choice because I was very curious about how the players acted during game day. I expected it to be the same as when I played but it’s but I knew it was completely different watching it then actually playing.  

  Today is game day as Raynham Giants take on their rival the Hull Pirates. The winner of this playoff game will advance to the super bowl.  I arrive at Ryan Bettencourt Memorial Field an hour and a half before the game starts and still have trouble finding a parking spot. It seems like more people are going games then when I played. Walking towards the field all I can smell hotdogs, hamburgers, and fries. Everyone including myself is wearing some kind of Raynham Giants clothing to support their team. There is a two story concrete building with a window facing the field. They use this building to hold equipment, play music and commentate the game. There are two police officers and one paramedic sitting right next to it. On both sides of this concrete structure there are two sets of metal bleachers. These bleachers were much better quality then on the other side of the field. Only the fans of the home team get to sit on the nice metal bleachers. On the other side of the field are the less quality wooden bleachers where the fans of the away team sit. The grass on the field didn’t look as green as it usually does. This was because the old practice field was turned into a new baseball field. This forced all three of the Giants team to practice on the game field. There were a few good sized patches of dirt in the middle of field. The good looking part of the field was the perfectly done lines. The last of the field that I see is the Ryan Bettencourt memorial. This is a 10 by 10 foot fenced in garden with a beautiful memorial stone for Ryan.

I arrived a little bit too early and notice that the teams haven’t really organized themselves yet. All the players are doing their own thing like getting food, playing on the playground, or socializing. It’s an hour before the game and both teams have finally gotten together with their other teammates. The players are wearing their thigh pads, cleats, and their jerseys. I didn’t understand why they did this because without the jerseys on their shoulder pads there were no way of telling whose shoulder pads and helmets were whose. It was like they wanted to mix up their pads to because they all kept them next to one another’s. Both teams were goofing around and just having fun. Thirty five minutes until game time and it was time for the team to start warming up. The coach blew his whistle and all the players started looked for the pads. The coach had them start with a slow lap around the field and then start stretching. They formed 5 lines of about 10 people in each line. The 5 people in the front of the lines were the captains. Stretching lasted 15 minutes and next they individually went over to Ryan’s memorial and took a knee. 20 minutes until game time, the team seemed nervous but focused. No one talked or smiled until 5 minutes before the game when the coach did his game day speech that was so enthusiastic and inspirational that it made me pumped up. It seemed like that nervous butterfly feeling was replaced by motivation. Next both teams line up at each end zone and sit silently for about 30 seconds before the announcers introduced the pirates. They played “Remember the name” by fort minor as the Pirates ran from their end zone to their sideline. Next the announcer introduced the home team and played “Can’t be touched” by Roy Jones Jr. as the Giants ran to their sideline. You could feel the energy of both teams as they are chanting there team names.

            With every good play came energetic cheers and clapping and every bad call came angry booing. At half time the Giants were down 21 to 7. They walked slowly with their heads down toward their end zone. Team confidence was low and it was up to the coach to boost it back up. Instead of coach giving an inspirational speech it was the team captain who was the starting quarterback. I didn’t get to hear what he had to say because the coaches didn’t allow anyone near the team but I could tell he did a good job when everyone stood up and started cheering.

Thirty-six seconds left in the game and the Giants are down 28 to 24 when the coach quickly calls a time out. They were on the Pirates ten yard line on 3rd down. They do a pass play that gets knocked down and leaves them with ten yards to go with only one more play. It’s the last play of the game and it feels like every football movie I have ever watched. The Pirates are chanting “Defense” while the Giants fans are chanting “here we go giants here we go”. Finally the ball is snapped and the giants go for another pass. At this time everyone is completely quiet as we see who will win this game. It felt like slow motion as the ball left the quarterback’s hand and traveled through the air. This wasn’t like the normal football movie where the team you want to win is down then comes back within the last seconds of the game. When the ball was in the air the defender knocked it down and was an incomplete pass. The Pirates ran on the field yelling with joy as the Giants walked off the field with their heads down. None of the Giants players said anything and you see the disappointment and sadness in their eyes.

Even though the Giants didn’t make it to the super bowl it was still a great game. Overall I had an awesome time observing the players, the coaches, and the fans. This team definitely took losing better than my team. When my team lost the playoffs everyone was devastated and most of us including me cried after the game.