|
|
Well.. Jack Reminded me that i actually found interest in these important topics that must be examined in order for Western Civilization to continue to progress... This was originally discussed in a football related area but would like to get insights from the hockey crowd on the ass slap.
Topic - "The 'ole slap on the buttocks" - (12/29/04)
===== PFFLcommish - "ok....why is it acceptable for a grown man to slap another man in the buttocks after a HR, TD, or goal?..i mean when did this become ok in the male world?....i have this debate with guys all the time and id say about 70% of the time guys see it as normal behavior....I mean after all, whatever the guy did to deserve an "ass-slap" was what he was paid to do.....If a male co-employee slapped your ass after a routine daily act at your job, how whould you take it?...im myself would take issue with it...what are we teaching our kids?"
That is a good question my fellow Outer Space Warrior. One thing that I have notice on this strange tradition is that the "Ass-Slapper" usually much older than the one being "Ass-Slapped."
It tends to always be the authority figure as in a coach. Imagine if the player actually "Ass-Slap" the coach "Great Call Coach!." It would probably be a weird experiance. Then later on it's only natural for the players to imitate their father like figures, when it becomes the player on player "Ass-slappin." (Yet, from memories, don't think it happen much or at all.)
- What we need to find is the history to this bizarre act of praise. When did this practice actually occur? Maybe back in the days of the Roman empire where people loved to participate in sports naked (Imagine the old version of Grecko Wrestling) Thus in those time maybe there is some special significance that ass symbolized in nakedness.
- Maybe it's only natural.. like if we were to move animals in which most folks were farmers of some kind. What do people tend to do... slap the horse on the rear & it moves. Thus "Good Job Psycho, now move on."
- Or, since our arms hang at where the rump is... it's just being lazy & slapping the closest object in it's way. Yet, what about those High 5's windmill Ass slaps?
The other good question you raised is why it is in the Sports profession, & not preferred or accepted in most other fields? At this point, I'm pretty clueless on the reason.
JA...
|
|
|
|
From The Sports Pickle
Study: Butt Slapping Decreases Moderately in Post-Game Showers
A 10-year study released today has found that athletes slap each other’s butts less in the post-game shower than they do during games. The study was conducted jointly by the four major professional leagues.
The results showed that while butt slapping decreases in post-game showers, as expected, it does so only moderately. “If the average professional player gets his butt slapped by a teammate once a game,” says lead researcher Byron Cope, “we found that he gets his butt slapped only slightly less – about five out of every eight times – by a teammate in the post-game shower.”
Butt slapping has long existed in sports as a way teammates and coaches show appreciation to one another on the field – a tap on the butt can mean anything from “nice tackle” or “great pass” to something more consoling like “we’ll get ‘em next time.”
Why the butt slapping continues off the field of play and in the post-game shower is less clear. “These guys just seem to really like slapping each other’s butts,” Cope said.
The rate of slapping from on the playing surface to the shower decreased the least in the NHL, the study found. “They slap each other’s behinds less while playing then they do in the other leagues – about three out of every four games a player gets a tap,” Cope said. “But they receive about the average amout of butt slapping in the shower as is the average in Major League Baseball, the NBA and the NFL.”
Another interesting finding on the NHL is that the customary post-goal celebration – where the goal scorer’s teammates celebrate in a crowd around the player in the corner – does not altogether cease in the shower. “It decreases, but it still happens,” Cope said. “Part of it comes from hockey’s long tradition of hazing rookie players, I think."
(Of course, in SLHA, we practice...um...gesture humping...This is all directly related to SirKiko and entirely his fault.)
The study found that coaches don’t stop their butt slapping once the game is over, either. “Coaches are serial butt slappers,” Cope said. “Think about it – in baseball the give a tap after a home run, a sacrifice fly, a strikeout, anything. It’s the same in football and basketball. And it doesn’t end in the shower.”
Cope said a National League manager (all names were withheld from the study at the leagues’ request) waits outside his team’s shower and slaps each player’s naked butt as they walk past him on exiting the shower.
“He tells them ‘Nice job!’ or ‘Better luck next time’ when he slaps their butts,” Cope said. “None of the player’s seem to have a problem with it. Many gave him a return slap to his cheeks.”
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
From the Johns Hopkins newsletter:
The extra-low five: the art of the butt touch
By MARY DOMAN
Issue date: 4/26/07
Male athletes sometimes touch each other's backsides. Not that Hopkins is by any means a socially "normal" school, but I think I would be correct in stating that in most places, even at Hopkins, a friendly tap on the behind from male-to-male, or even male-to-female, in public, would be questioned. And that's what this article is about. Why do athletes smack each other's asses? Luckily, here at Hopkins, not only do we have male butt-smacking athletes, but our ass-slappers manage to also excel at a highly competitive institution, reflecting their intuitive nature and - dare we say it? - scientific expertise on the topic.
Freshman soccer player Neil MacLean gives us a simplified, general rule for when the butt slap is appropriate. "You're not gonna slap a guy's caboose unless you're real tight with the guy," he claims.
However, according to freshman lacrosse player Max Levine, there is a complex system underlying MacLean's general policy. "I personally think that the closer teammates are with each other, the farther down their slaps will be." He elaborates, "Two teammates who aren't best buddies tend to slap each other on the shoulder or upper back. Teammates who are pretty tight go for the mid to lower back. Teammates who see each other as brothers go for the real deal and slap each other's asses."
There is also a specific way to speak the buttocks language, according to freshman baseball player Brendan Walsh. "No cupping or squeezing; its got to be quick and painless, just to let them know I'm there." Who knew that the ass smack held such profundity?
Freshman tennis player Dan Myers obviously does. He seems to truly understand the essence of the athletic spank, explaining, "Well, a nice smack on the butt could mean anything. It can just mean, 'Nice job,' or 'You'll get them next time,' but it can also mean simply, 'Hi, how you doin'?', or 'How's that essay coming along?', or, 'Wow, your butt is pretty muscly today. You been working out?'"
Now that they had explained the requirements and described a few meanings behind the mystery of this motion, the athletic gentlemen were also eager to rationalize the gesture. "High fives are becoming outdated. Handshakes work, but eye contact is made and it takes too much time. The celebratory dance is used, but only on special occasions," freshman football player Michael Stoffel says. He concludes: "A smack on the ass can be used any time." Freshman men's fencer Jim Pearse thoroughly defended the tush touch by sending me the following statement:
"Dear Mary, I believe this is a simple matter of equestrian tendencies for the male gender. Every man desires to be a cowboy; look at Chuck Norris in Walker Texas Ranger. The man epitomizes machismo. So, ultimately if Mr. Norris needs to travel quickly, how can he motivate his horse to move faster? He slaps its ass. Likewise with sports, men need to commune and help motivate one another as a team. It's standard practice and common courtesy to slap another man's ass if you feel he is slacking. Not only is that fact, that's science.
"Cordially, Jim Pearse."
Could it be put more clearly? Pearse even gave us a historical perspective of this fanny phenomenon. Myers, however, holds a more evolutionary view of the smack, hypothesizing that the smack "came around from the punishment of being spanked. This punishment was turned into a sexual act - don't ask me why - and then later turned into a slightly homoerotic way of guys keeping each other on their toes. Eventually, it turned into what it is today."
And though the Hopkins men's athletes appreciate the tushy token as it is today, Myers is quick to point out that there's one thing the male butt smack can't compare to. "Although the slapping of another man's backside is a great thing, the slapping of a woman's behind is on a whole new plane of awesomeness."
Though it may never reach this plane of awesomeness, the men still have high hopes for the future of this derriere delight. Walsh predicts that one day the gesture will be incorporated outside of the athletic community. "I just wish that I could bring this habit off the baseball field into my 'other' life. Got an A on a test? I believe a little butt slap is quite appropriate." |
|
|
|
| LOL @ the fact there is history on this. For real? I always wondered myself how this started and why men do it especially if they aren't gay. I like to watch football players do it. lol wait that didnt sound right for some reason. I meant slap ok I shut up now. |
|
|
|
Jeff Spicoli:[laughs incredulously] Those guys are fags!
OMG! yall bunch of ass slappers. this is why I dont wear my spanker to the rink.
LMAO!
Leave it to a candian to talk about felling my hot sexy ass. Figgin Joe  |
|