Throwing Tortillas
Throwing tortillas onto the basketball court after Gaucho’s scored their first point became a regular Thunderdome tradition in the early 1990s. UC Santa Barbara fans engaged in the act as a playful way to show team support and exude school spirit; however, as the tradition caught on, many people got carried away. At one basketball game in 1997, fans threw tortillas constantly throughout the game so that the stadium floor was covered and the game had to be stopped. Other controversial incidents include fans throwing tortillas in opposing team members’ faces, tortilla scraps getting inside and ruining an ESPN camera, and associations of the act with racist ideology. As a result, tortilla throwing has been banned from basketball games at the Thunderdome, but despite the set back, persistent fans still carry out the tradition during soccer games at Harder Stadium.
As UC Santa Barbara graduates and friends of the university, we each have our own image of UCSB. What we studied, where we lived, when we graduated; our campus experiences shaped us all. Let us know the memories you cherish. We look forward to reading your memories.
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Throwing tortillas onto the basketball court after Gaucho’s scored their first point became a regular Thunderdome tradition in the early 1990s. UC Santa Barbara fans engaged in the act as a playful way to show team support and exude school spirit; however, as the tradition caught on, many people got carried away. At one basketball game in 1997, fans threw tortillas constantly throughout the game so that the stadium floor was covered and the game had to be stopped. Other controversial incidents include fans throwing tortillas in opposing team members’ faces, tortilla scraps getting inside and ruining an ESPN camera, and associations of the act with racist ideology. As a result, tortilla throwing has been banned from basketball games at the Thunderdome, but despite the set back, persistent fans still carry out the tradition during soccer games at Harder Stadium.
As UC Santa Barbara graduates and friends of the university, we each have our own image of UCSB. What we studied, where we lived, when we graduated; our campus experiences shaped us all. Let us know the memories you cherish. We look forward to reading your memories.
Traditions & Memories - Post a Memory and Read Others' Memories Click on Add a Topic to post a memory
.
CLICK ON A TRADITION BELOW TO READ MORE ABOUT IT
.