The Gatorade shower (also known as the Gatorade dunk or the Gatorade bath) is a sports tradition that involves players surreptitiously dumping a cooler full of liquid (most commonly Gatorade mixed with ice) over the head of their coach (or occasionally a high-profile assistant coach, star player, or team owner in professional leagues) following a meaningful win, such as the Super Bowl, World Series or other major sporting event. This includes all levels of play including Little League World Series, high school, college (NCAA), and professional teams.
Start of tradition
New York Giants nose tackle Jim Burt dumped a cooler of Gatorade on head coach Bill Parcells in revenge after a 37–13 home win over the two-time defending NFC champion Washington Redskins on October 28, 1984. Parcells had been especially hard on Burt in practice prior to that game, making Burt raise a 20 lb (9 kg) dumbbell repeatedly off the ground in the weight room for 45 minutes to simulate raising his arm powerfully out of his stance at the snap of the ball.[1]
Burt and linebacker Harry Carson continued giving Parcells Gatorade showers throughout the 1984 and 1985 seasons. During their 1986 Super Bowl–winning season, Carson got into the habit of celebrating every win with a Gatorade shower. During the 1986-87 playoffs, CBS broadcaster John Madden would use the telestrator at the end of Giants' wins to highlight the Gatorade bucket. Grateful for the free advertising, Gatorade sent Carson and Parcells $1,000 gift certificates to Brooks Brothers.[2]
Notable examples
Former Chicago Bears defensive tackle Dan Hampton dunked Mike Ditka upon clinching the NFC Central Division championship by beating the Minnesota Vikings 34-3 on November 25, 1984. It had been 14 years since the last time the Bears won the division and there was cause for celebration.
Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers was reported to be the first NBA coach to receive a Gatorade shower when his team won the 2008 NBA Finals.[3] Paul Pierce dumped a cooler of red Gatorade over Rivers as the Celtics closed out Game 6 to clinch their first NBA title in 22 years. Then-Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson is the only NBA head coach to receive a Gatorade shower twice, as the Lakers won back-to-back NBA Finals in 2009 (at Amway Arena in Orlando, Florida) and 2010. Dallas Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle likewise received the honors when Mavericks celebrated their first NBA championship in 2011. Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra received the same treatment from Udonis Haslem when the Heat won the 2012 NBA Finals at the American Airlines Arena in 2012.
George Allen, coach of the Long Beach State football team and a former Hall of Fame NFL head coach, died of
Variations
An early variation of the Gatorade shower was adopted by Harry Carson, who had helped popularize the tradition, when he dumped a bucket of popcorn on President Ronald Reagan when the New York Giants visited the White House after winning Super Bowl XXI in 1987.[16]
Many teams do not use Gatorade but instead use water or another substitute; for example, the Florida State Seminoles use Powerade, due to their sponsorship agreement with Powerade manufacturer The Coca-Cola Company and Gatorade's affiliation with rival University of Florida.
After Michigan State University's win over Penn State in 2010, Spartan players dumped a Gatorade bucket filled with green and white confetti on head coach Mark Dantonio. This was done because of the cold temperature and Dantonio's heart condition. Likewise, following a win over Texas A&M in the 2016 Texas Bowl, Kansas State players poured confetti on 77-year-old head coach Bill Snyder.[17]
Tradition documented
In 2005, ESPN sports business writer Darren Rovell published a book entitled First in Thirst: How Gatorade Turned the Science of Sweat into a Cultural Phenomenon, in which he documented, among other things, the story behind the Gatorade dunking sensation.[23]
Elsewhere in popular culture
The Kroll Show episode "Soaked in Success" features a recurring sketch in which characters across all walks of life are soaked with Gatorade upon "winning", in increasingly inappropriate or ironic scenarios.
See also
- Ice Bucket Challenge
- Pieing