Gatorade shower
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Gatorade shower, also known as the Gatorade dunk and the Gatorade bath, is a sports tradition involving dumping a cooler full of liquid (most commonly Gatorade mixed with ice) over a American football coach's (or occasionally star player or owner's) head following a meaningful win. The tradition began with the New York Giants American football team in the mid-80s. According to several sources, including Jim Burt of the Giants, it began on October 28th, 1985, when Burt performed the action on Bill Parcells after being angered over the coach's treatment of him that week.[1]. However, former Bears defensive tackle Dan Hampton claims he invented the shower in 1984 when the Bears dunked Mike Ditka upon clinching the NFC Central.[1] The phenomenon gained national attention in the 1986 Giants season. Parcells was doused after 17 victories that season, culminating with Super Bowl XXI.
George Allen died on December 31, 1990 from ventricular fibrillation in his home in Palos Verdes Estates, California at the age of 72. Allen admitted shortly before his death he had not been completely healthy after some of his Long Beach State players dumped a Gatorade bucket on him following a season-ending victory over the University of Nevada, Las Vegas on November 17, 1990. It was a cold day when Allen was dumped and he remained in his wet clothing for several hours after the event.
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, a history of Gatorade, in which he, among other things, documented the story behind the Gatorade dunking phenomenon.[2]
