"The Bookstore Basketball Tournament is one of the best traditions here at Notre Dame," Rogers said. "With so many participants, it truly demonstrates the sense of community we all enjoy on this campus. Whether you are part of a competitive team or not, it is a great experience and also raises money for a great cause."
-Observer Article, "Bookstore Basketball Approaches", March 7, 2007 http://www.ndsmcobserver.com/2.2754/bookstore-basketball-approaches-1.262329
-Observer Article, "Bookstore Basketball Approaches", March 7, 2007 http://www.ndsmcobserver.com/2.2754/bookstore-basketball-approaches-1.262329
For a humorous, yet insightful, look at Bookstore Basketball, please check out the ever-popular Notre Dame blog, thingsnotredamestudentslike.com. This features an overview of the tournament, and of the various skill levels and types of teams.
Survey and Interview Results
Major Reasons for Participation
Are people in this for the competition, or do they just want to have fun?
90.2% said they did Bookstore for fun, only 9.8% said they did it for the competition.
How did students rate the multitude of reasons they participate in bookstore?
Tradition and Being a Part of the Notre Dame Community were some of the most important reasons for participation. 76.9% of people said Tradition was either a very important or somewhat important reason that they played, and 73.1% responded similarly for being a part of the community. This experience of tradition and community is a critical aspect of Bookstore Basketball's popularity and importance, and is related to a variety of factors, including play, ritual, liminality, and communitas. Every person interviewed though that Bookstore Basketball helped to build community on the Notre Dame campus.
Non-Basketball Related Fun
The Importance of Costumes and Team Names
52.8% said Costumes and Team Names was a Very Important or Somewhat Important reason for their participation.
The interviews make it clear that the importance of having the element of funny team names and costumes cannot be overstated.
- "Costumes are huge because otherwise it's just basketball, and anyone can play pick-up basketball. It's an event, a feeling- all the way down to the goofy observer write-ups."
- Another participant said the costumes signify "the universal appeal of the tournament. With everyone doing it, there are some who acknowledge their lack of basketball ability and just try to have fun, which is what the tournament is all about."
- "Actual teams are ok, but I think the heart and soul of bookstore is the ridiculous names/costumes/etc. That's basically what brings out all the non-seeded teams."
- A different point of view from thingsnotredamestudentslike.com: "the one aspect of Bookstore Basketball that all teams take seriously is the naming of their team...Notre Dame Students have an innate desire to show each other how smart, funny, and clever they are; and a hilarious bookstore name is the best way to achieve this goal."
- This point will be revisited in the analysis, but the additional elements of ridiculous names and dress appears to be very important to Bookstore Basketball. It means that even those who are bad at basketball can still participate in a meaningful, recognized manner. It may additionally related to the fact that many Notre Dame students are naturally competitive (which helped them get into ND), and funny names means they can still compete in Bookstore without being good at basketball.
On the other hand, only 22.2% responded similarly for Alcohol Consumption, with 55% saying it was not important at all. The fact that many bookstore games are held on weekday evenings may contribute to this. Some teams do drink, sometimes heavily.
- One participant said that the reason his team didn't drink was "just because it was the middle of the week and we had things other things to do afterward."
- In contrast, another said, "We drank a lot...the rest of my team still had death-hangovers at game time". He added that drinking can also help build community, "especially when the teams decide to pregame together."
Contributing to Charity was somewhat of a factor in people's motivations for participating. 49% of people said it was very or somewhat important as a reason for participation. However, in my personal participant-observation, I have observed that this is not a primary factor. It makes people feel good about participating because they know it is going to a good cause, but people aren't participating because the proceeds go to charity. Students participate because they can have fun, bond with their friends, and feel like they are a part of the Notre Dame community. Charitable contributions are a nice side benefit.
Complete results of survey asking why people participated in Bookstore:
