The fans at UCSB have a funky tradition of celebrating at athletic events by throwing tortillas onto the court or field. It’s a tradition that began in the early 1990s when fans threw tortillas on the court en masse after the basketball team’s first basket of the game. The practice would result in a technical foul, and it became known as the “tortilla technical.” The practice reportedly has moved to soccer games recently, but some fans tried to bring it back to basketball Tuesday night, and it nearly cost the team.
Playing at Jenny Craig Pavilion in San Diego, a few UCSB fans let loose with some flying tortillas after a foul had been assessed in the final second. The fans were celebrating the impending victory, and they threw the tortillas onto the court from behind the Gauchos’ bench.
Luckily the PA announcer issued a warning, and the team did not receive the technical foul. UCSB was up 63-61 at the time, and added two more free throws to win 65-61. Had a technical been called, it could have put the outcome in jeopardy.
I’m guessing Gaucho fans won’t change their tradition anytime too soon. Between fans in Detroit throwing octopuses on the ice, and soccer fans tossing bobbleheads, I’d count flying tortillas as relatively safe. Just as long as they’re not from Freebirds, because that would make it a waste of perfectly good food.
Here’s a video of fans at a UCSB soccer game throwing the tortillas, so you can see what it looks like:
Thanks to College Basketball Nation for sharing the story.
