Lesson 4. Facts about Sports

Facts about Sports

Sports are full of things that are done over and over. How did these traditions get started? Sometimes, they got started in strange ways!

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HIGH FIVE(1)

Do you know how the high five got started? The high five was created by accident in the early 1970s. Volleyball players in California often slapped hands when they jumped to hit the ball in practice. They began to do it on purpose to pump each other up during matches.

This tradition spread around the U.S. after Dusty Baker of the Los Angeles Dodgers gave one to a teammate on TV in 1977. Now the high five is widely used as a way of celebration.

HIGH FIVE(2)

There is another story about the origin of the high five. In the sports world, teammates originally would shake hands when congratulating one another. That handshake later developed into a slap of the palms: one player holds the palm upward, the other player slaps down on it.

Later, this same slapping motion moved upward into the air. It is seen largely in the United States, but it is moving quickly through the international sporting world. A new variation among American baseball players is to bump elbows with teammates, and American football players have taken to bumping their helmets.