I was sitting in my criminal justice class when our teacher started making jokes about sports teams and some of the players. This was normal for our class so I think everyone was ready to hear what the professor had to say. He was talking about different college basketball teams, and then said, “Speaking of basketball, have you guys heard the Shaq joke?” We all said we hadn’t heard it, so he proceeded to say, “What do you do if you are losing to the Lakers and you want to make sure you win?” We said we didn’t know, so he said, “You foul Shaq, that way he has to make free throws! We all know he can’t make those under pressure, or at all for that matter.” A lot of people started laughing, especially the guys in the class. That made me think a little about folklore because you could say that these guys are all within a folklore group of shared interest involving sports (40). There were some people, mainly girls, who didn’t seem to understand the joke at all, so the guys had to explain it to them. Without anyone asking, one of the girls confessed she didn’t know anything about basketball, which is why she didn’t understand the joke.
I thought it was funny because I watch a lot of basketball with my boyfriend, and he has always made comments about how funny it is that Shaq can’t make free throws. You would expect a professional basketball player to be able to make a free throw because at every other level you’re taught that free throws can win games. They offer you a chance to get points without anyone interfering with you. That’s why the joke is funny, its mocking the fact that Shaq can’t make free throws (even though they’re supposed to be “free” points) and how it is such common knowledge among basketball fans.
I was checking on Google.com to see if I could find different versions of this joke, but all I found were all different sites mentioning how bad Shaq is at shooting free throws. My boyfriend mentioned that this joke refers to the strategy “Hack-a-Shaq.” He said that anyone who is a real fan of basketball would know about this term because it is such common knowledge within that folk group. There are all sorts of sites that talk about this, which is “hacking” or intentionally fouling Shaq, forcing him to make free throws (which he usually won’t) and then getting the ball back. You can find this at http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Hack-A-Shaq. He also said that jokes like this came once Shaq became a part of the LA Lakers (late 90s) because that's when he was the most dominant. It was so hard to defend him that they would foul him, he'd miss the free throws, and then they'd get the ball back. you would like to read some more funny basketball jokes, check out http://www.internationalbasketball.com/basketballhumor.html. *Picture is from CNN Sports Illustrated website. It can be found at http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/statitudes/news/2000/12/26/shaq_freethrows/t1_shaq_all-01.jpg

This post is my response to the Joke Encounter Assignment.