Hands in the Air Celebrations!

August 5, 2010 6:55 AM

When did (american) sports fans start celebrating by jumping and putting their hands straight in the air (see A-Rod). I recall watching highlights from the early 80s and beyond and while crowds were loud, they're reactions were different. Bonus: Does this differ in other countries?
posted by sandmanwv to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (17 answers total)

The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant!
posted by The 10th Regiment of Foot at 7:12 AM on August 5, 2010 [3 favorites]

I distinctly remember Rickey Henderson, Reggie Jackson, and Nolan Ryan jumping at various points in their careers. To say nothing of Ozzie Smith.

So, I'm not sure that it's true that baseball players didn't jump in celebration in the 1980s.
posted by dfriedman at 7:13 AM on August 5, 2010

Hm. I may have mis-read the question. I see it's about sports fans, not athletes, celebrating.

In which case I'd say: see British soccer hooligans and Australian rugby fans.
posted by dfriedman at 7:17 AM on August 5, 2010

Response by poster: @The 10th

Actually the clip you show is what came to mind for the prototypical "non-modern" celebration. Looks like people are clapping at a golf tournament.
posted by sandmanwv at 7:26 AM on August 5, 2010

Actually the clip you show is what came to mind for the prototypical "non-modern" celebration. Looks like people are clapping at a golf tournament.

At about fourteen seconds into that clip there are people waving their arms in the air.
posted by padraigin at 7:53 AM on August 5, 2010

How were their reactions different? Drawing on my experience attending hundreds of sporting events, professional and otherwise, I think the initial reaction to something awesome has ALWAYS been jump to your feet, hands in the air -- at first clenched fists, then you're pumping the air, high fiving seatmates, etc. Maybe going back to the sixties and earlier people were more golfy, though.

That doesn't explain jubilation at an A-Rod achievement, but that might just be me.
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 7:55 AM on August 5, 2010 [1 favorite]

I'm going to hypothesize that at least some of the both-hands-straight-up is a function of crowed conditions where a more-enthusiastic, jumping-all-over-the-place-arms-a-flailin' would cause injuries to your neighbor (not that I haven't been a victim of this too!)

It's also worth noting that moments of mass, spontaneous celebration are largely a product of our information and media age. Play-by-play announcement and moments of mass excitement were and outgrowth from the confines of the arena itself, fostered initially by live radio.

None of this really answers your question, but I think that there's been a recent genesis of universal norms of spontaneous, mass celebration. It's actually a pretty interesting question no that I think about it...
posted by DavidandConquer at 8:04 AM on August 5, 2010 [3 favorites]

Note some fans jumping up and down, hands raised in this film of the Dempsey-Willard fight from 1919.
posted by The 10th Regiment of Foot at 8:06 AM on August 5, 2010

When I score a personal victory (got Final Jeopardy right, found out the word I made up is actually a word in Scrabble, throw something into the trash can from across the room), my hands shoot straight up into the air above my head. (And I usually shout "ohhhh!")

It's not something I'm conscious of until after I've already done it, and sometimes people laugh at me, but I must have picked it up somewhere. I'm really not a sports fan, so my hypothesis is that this gesture has a much more complicated origin story.
posted by phunniemee at 8:21 AM on August 5, 2010

I'm trying hard to understand how this is 1) a particular method of celebration and 2) how it's unique or different. How were the reactions from the 80s different? I mean, i can watch footage from the 50s or 60s and people put their hands in the air.
posted by micawber at 8:28 AM on August 5, 2010

I would say the hands in the air aspect probably comes from the Amercian football referee signal for a score (touchdown or successful field goal/extra point) which is the referee holding both arms straight up. It could easily have migrated to other sports from there.

From that aspect, I can see where it might have been continuously popular in football but maybe fell into and out of favor with other sports.
posted by Doohickie at 9:31 AM on August 5, 2010

I think DavidandConquer nailed it. I bet it stems from being boxed in on all sides while you're sitting in that Coliseum, waiting for the lions and Christians to get their thing on. No where for your arms to go without smacking someone in the throat but up.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 11:44 AM on August 5, 2010

Or it could be a "Hail Ceasar!" *raises sword* type thing.
posted by The 10th Regiment of Foot at 12:37 PM on August 5, 2010

I think it would help if you could explain in what way the reactions of sports fans used to be different? I can't really think of how it has changed over the years myself.
posted by fso at 1:33 PM on August 5, 2010

As Doohickie notes, "arms raised straight over the head" is the referee's signal for a touchdown in American football. As such, I think many Americans unconsciously mimic this action when something good happens at a sporting event. As to why this seems to be a more recent phenomenon, Super Bowl I was played on January 15^th, 1967.
posted by ob1quixote at 2:55 PM on August 5, 2010

People gotta do something with their arms when they cheer to expend that excited energy. Straight out = hit the person in the seats in front of you. Left or right = smack your neighbors. Straight up seems pretty safe.
posted by DakotaPaul at 5:06 PM on August 5, 2010

The Giants clip looked like a church gathering if you ask me.
posted by InterestedInKnowing at 8:55 PM on August 5, 2010