Bookstore Basketball and the Creation of Campus Communitas
According to dictionary.com, the definition of communitas is "the sense of sharing and intimacy that develops among persons who experience liminality as a group". Victor Turner discusses this concept in his well-known article on liminality in ritual and play. Liminality is a sort of transition phase, a "betwixt-and-between" state, often governed by its own set of rules that may be different from the rules of normal society. Bookstore basketball develops this sense of communitas in the students at Notre Dame. Turner differentiates between several kinds of communitas. Two of these are "spontaneous" and "normative". Spontaneous communitas occurs during the event or ritual itself. People "become absorbed into a single, synchronized, fluid event" characterized by "honesty, openness, and lack of pretensions or pretentiousness" (Turner 151). Normative communitas occurs when a group seeks to make the experience of spontaneous communitas more permanent, extending the inclusive spirit into everyday life. In a recent survey conducted by The Office of Strategic Planning at Notre Dame, 88% of students reported that they were satisfied with the sense of community on campus. Such as high percentage may indicate the successful creation of normative communitas.
Bookstore Basketball, the Play Spirit, and the Intersection of Sport and Play
Johan Huizinga, in Homo ludens, says that play is bounded by special places and times, and is undertaken with a playful spirit, not "in earnest". Play may be "serious" and still in the play spirit, as long as there is the recognition that it ultimately does not have an impact outside of the play zone. "Spoil-sports" who violate the play spirit are disdained. Huizinga considers sport a type of play, although clearly not all play is sport. What exactly constitutes a sport is a frequent source of debate (to incite a heated debate, ask your friends whether NASCAR and cheerleading are sports). Frey and Eitzen have a useful summary of how anthropologists and sociologists such as Huizinga and Callois differentiate sport and play:
What does all of this have to do with community? Sport is always in some ways divisive. One team must win; the other must lose, and this outcome is crucial. In play, there is not really a need for winners and losers, because the outcome is not important. This fosters a spirit of togetherness and bonding, a feeling known to Turner as "spontaneous communitas".
- "Play has no formal history nor organization; motivation and satisfaction are intrinsic; and the outcome does not have serious impact beyond the context of the activity. On the other hand, modern sport as represented by the Olympic Games, big-time college athletics, and professional sports exhibits the opposite profile. This type of sport is hardly voluntary; rules are formal, generalizable, and enforced by formal regulatory bodies (e.g. National Col- legiate Athletic Association-NCAA); the outcome is serious for individuals and organizations not actually participating in the physical activity, and winning (the outcome) is more important than participation (the process)." (Frey and Eitzen, "Sport and Society", 1991, pg 508)
- "They should ask which teams are going to take it seriously and give all of them a first round bye. The rest of the drunk teams will then be allowed to play at least one game against another drunk team."
What does all of this have to do with community? Sport is always in some ways divisive. One team must win; the other must lose, and this outcome is crucial. In play, there is not really a need for winners and losers, because the outcome is not important. This fosters a spirit of togetherness and bonding, a feeling known to Turner as "spontaneous communitas".
Bookstore, Liminality, and Marginal Play
Victor Turner ("Liminal to liminoid, in play, flow, and ritual", 1974) suggests that many sports fall into a category he calls "liminoid". These activities are similar to transformational rituals, but have key differences, such as being optional rather than mandatory. What characterizes Bookstore Basketball as a liminoid activity?
- Separation, liminal zone, integration: Liminal rituals such as rites of passage often feature these three stages, in which participants are segregated from society, undergo a period of being "in-between", and are then brought back into society. Teams that participate in Bookstore are separated when they enter the court area, enter a liminal period during game play, and return to society upon the end of the game. The temporal span of the tournament, occurring only at one set time during the year, and only for a month (for most teams, much less than a month), adds to the separation of the event.
- Inversion and Identity Ambiguity: Many liminal rituals, such as rites of passage, involve some type of reversal or mixing up of traditional social patterns and regulations. In Bookstore, teams can give themselves weird (often inappropriate or politically incorrect) names, dress up in crazy costumes, and show up to games drunk. Many teams do not play to win or even care if they are competitive, which is not the norm for basketball competitions. These can be seen as types of inversions. The costumes and team names contribute to ambiguous identity, in the same sort of way as Halloween costumes.
- Frame Violations: These occur when the lines between the sporting event and the outside world become blurred or conflict with each other. Bookstore Basketball team names (and costumes) demonstrate this. In theory, the actually playing of the sport of basketball is what the tournament is about. However, team naming is a sort of side competition, with the top 10 names getting printed on a shirt. Much thought usually goes into the team name, even if the team is not trying to be competitive.
- "The crazy teams definitely add to the fun of the ritual and make it so a wider range of people can play. I think if students didn't think they could just join for fun and dress up and have a good time, many less students would participate because they would feel they needed to be good at basketball. Now bookstore seems like it is pretty much open to everyone, regardless of their athletic ability" -Bookstore Basketball participant
Recreation vs. Competition in Community Building
As seen in the survey results, many students list "Being a part of the Notre Dame community" as an important factor in why they play bookstore basketball. This is consistent with other findings involving collegiate intramurals. A 2006 article (Artinger, et al) found that benefits of intramural sports included improved sense of belonging within the university, increased community involvement, and increased social bonding. The fact that many Notre Dame students regard their participation in the tournament as for "fun" rather than competitive increases their community experience, according this concept. Artinger et al found that recreational sports participants felt that intramurals increased their feelings of community involvement more so than competitive sports participants thought that competitive sports increased the feeling of community.
Bookstore Basketball as both a Creator of Communitas and a Reflection of the Notre Dame Community
Another of Bradd Shore's ideas (overlapping somewhat with Huizinga) is that games/sports and rituals are not separate, but rather that ritual is built into the background of sport. Our important, popular sports often reflect the same values and conflicts as the overlying culture. In the case of America and baseball, baseball represents the conflict between the individual and the collective. While Bookstore Basketball is obviously not the most important Notre Dame sport, it may be the most popular intramural (with some competition from interhall football). Why do people identify with Bookstore Basketball, and link it to the general community?
Part of it probably has to do with the competitive nature of most Notre Dame students. Notre Dame is a highly selective university, and somewhere around 75% of students played varsity sports in high school. Students flock to competitive events of all sorts: football games, trivia, boxing. People leapt over tables in my sophomore year genetics class to be the first to turn in the answer to a problem, and win a prize of muffins or bagels. Bookstore Basketball then is a natural fit: it provides competition in the forms of athleticism, wittiness (in the names), and creativity (in names and costumes). However, Notre Dame students are rarely competitive to the point of meanness or sabotage. This is reflected in the laid-back attitude of Bookstore, and lack of enmity between teams (except perhaps in the later rounds).
Another often cited characteristic of Notre Dame students is the "work hard, play hard" mentality. Bookstore Basketball fits well with "playing hard". Sometimes this takes the form of heavy drinking before (or even during) games. Sometimes it's dressing in wacky costumes, like Amish clothing or full suits. Sometimes it's actually taking the game seriously. Whatever form it takes, it's no surprise that Notre Dame doesn't stage just any basketball tournament, they stage the biggest and craziest one.
Other characteristics are also represented. There are no officials for the first few rounds; teams call their own fouls. This is along the same lines as the Notre Dame Honor Code, in which students are entrusted to act in a responsible and honest manner. Additionally, the tournament is a charity event. With around 85% of Notre Dame students participating in some sort of service during their years here, building in a charitable benefit is a common aspect, a ritual-type aspect, of most events.
Participating in, watching, or following the Bookstore Basketball tournament introduces or reaffirms many of the values and rituals of the Notre Dame community. Students experience a feeling of solidarity, knowing that so many of their fellow classmates are participating, and that so many have participated in the past, and will continue to participate in the future. As one student said, "people get excited to be a part of something that big". It is acknowledged that most people are in some ways competitive, but also that most people have the ability to kick back, have fun, and be a little bit crazy. Since Bookstore Basketball is mainly for fun and not competition, it creates an inviting, inclusive atmosphere that enhances the feeling of spontaneous communitas, assisting in the creation of long-term normative communitas.
Part of it probably has to do with the competitive nature of most Notre Dame students. Notre Dame is a highly selective university, and somewhere around 75% of students played varsity sports in high school. Students flock to competitive events of all sorts: football games, trivia, boxing. People leapt over tables in my sophomore year genetics class to be the first to turn in the answer to a problem, and win a prize of muffins or bagels. Bookstore Basketball then is a natural fit: it provides competition in the forms of athleticism, wittiness (in the names), and creativity (in names and costumes). However, Notre Dame students are rarely competitive to the point of meanness or sabotage. This is reflected in the laid-back attitude of Bookstore, and lack of enmity between teams (except perhaps in the later rounds).
Another often cited characteristic of Notre Dame students is the "work hard, play hard" mentality. Bookstore Basketball fits well with "playing hard". Sometimes this takes the form of heavy drinking before (or even during) games. Sometimes it's dressing in wacky costumes, like Amish clothing or full suits. Sometimes it's actually taking the game seriously. Whatever form it takes, it's no surprise that Notre Dame doesn't stage just any basketball tournament, they stage the biggest and craziest one.
Other characteristics are also represented. There are no officials for the first few rounds; teams call their own fouls. This is along the same lines as the Notre Dame Honor Code, in which students are entrusted to act in a responsible and honest manner. Additionally, the tournament is a charity event. With around 85% of Notre Dame students participating in some sort of service during their years here, building in a charitable benefit is a common aspect, a ritual-type aspect, of most events.
Participating in, watching, or following the Bookstore Basketball tournament introduces or reaffirms many of the values and rituals of the Notre Dame community. Students experience a feeling of solidarity, knowing that so many of their fellow classmates are participating, and that so many have participated in the past, and will continue to participate in the future. As one student said, "people get excited to be a part of something that big". It is acknowledged that most people are in some ways competitive, but also that most people have the ability to kick back, have fun, and be a little bit crazy. Since Bookstore Basketball is mainly for fun and not competition, it creates an inviting, inclusive atmosphere that enhances the feeling of spontaneous communitas, assisting in the creation of long-term normative communitas.
Learn More about Ritual, Sport, and Play
Huizinga and Homo Ludens: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_Ludens_(book)
Bradd Shore: Google Books Preview
Liminality: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liminality
Communitas: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communitas
Victor Turner: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Turner
Intramural Sports and Community: http://www.albany.edu/involvement/involved/social_benefits_of_intramurals.pdf
Bradd Shore: Google Books Preview
Liminality: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liminality
Communitas: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communitas
Victor Turner: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Turner
Intramural Sports and Community: http://www.albany.edu/involvement/involved/social_benefits_of_intramurals.pdf
