The Rise of Postgame Water Dousing in Sports
Picture a scene of celebration in the workplace, and chances are, you would not imagine people dumping water on each other’s heads. But in the world of sports, water has become the go-to beverage for athletes seeking a quick and relatively hygienic way to commemorate their achievements.
From college basketball teams navigating six rounds of anxiety-ridden, must-win contests in constant search of catharsis during March Madness to professional teams winning championships, athletes love pouring things on each other’s heads. This often involves dousing their coaches with water after a big win.
This postgame ritual started with baseball teams spraying champagne during championship celebrations sometime around the 1960s. NFL players have also been unloading Gatorade coolers on unsuspecting coaches at the Super Bowl since the mid-80s.
However, postgame celebrations of this sort have become more prominent and routine over the past decade, with teams regularly posting videos of them to social media as part of their marketing efforts.
The omnipresence of cellphone and television cameras, and the increasing willingness of players to accept them into locker rooms, have contributed to the increase in these celebrations. As Grant Hill, former college and NBA star, said, “Nowadays, they celebrate everything.”
Indeed, athletes nowadays are acting more amphibious, with the Sacramento Kings dancing inside a man-made tsunami after a double-overtime victory over the Los Angeles Clippers.
Unfortunately, not all athletes are happy about this trend, with some like Sir’Jabari Rice, a guard for Texas, waiting patiently in the hallway for postgame celebrations to end. Rice does not like oceans, swimming pools, or anything related to water, making him an exception in a sports world that loves dousing water.
Nevertheless, water has become a ubiquitous postgame ritual, with many college students having no other options, legally speaking. Water fights and dousing one’s coach in particular have trickled down to lower levels of sports, with even girls’ basketball players doing it after each of their five postseason victories in NorthWood High School in Nappanee, Indiana.
Coaches also find ways to turn the tables on their athletes, with former Michigan men’s basketball coach, John Beilein, wielding a Super Soaker water gun in self-defense after a big win in the 2017 NCAA tournament.
In recent years, teams have intentionally kept their postgame celebrations bone-dry even as they achieve big wins. The Miami men’s basketball team, for example, advanced to the Final Four and only considered spraying water if they win the championship.
Celebratory water dousing has become a hallmark of the modern sports world, where almost every achievement is worth celebrating. For athletes and coaches, nothing beats the refreshing splash of water to cap off a hard-fought victory.
