Know Thy Enemy-The Tomahawk Chop

You know after watching the Dodger’s glorious 6-1 win over the Atlanta Braves in game 1 of the National League Division Series, I noticed something. Obviously Clayton Kershaw is very good at throwing the Baseballs, but other than there being no joy in Dixie on Thursday night, I seriously hate the tomahawk chant. It’s unnerving, and annoying. It really is. We’ve been dealing with this since the 1990’s. It made me want to barf when I was a kid, and even more so now.  But whoa boy it’s ridiculous. I mean I know it’s their schtick and all, but damned Atlanta fans, how about you give those pipes a rest for a few ok?

However there are at least one more game in Atlanta, and possibly two more if the five game playoff series goes the full five games. So that means we should know what we’re dealing with here. It’s always a good idea to know thy enemy. So let’s take a look at the dynamics of the seemingly never-ending Tomahawk chop.

The Braves began making me sick around 1991. I was eleven years old, but vividly remember that season. The 1991 season was aggravating on many different levels. You see the Dodgers were in first place in the NL West for most of the season. Back in those days the six team National League West featured teams like the Reds, Astros, and the Braves. So the Dodgers were pretty far ahead at the all-star break and into August until the Braves ruined our party. The Braves got hot and overcame a huge deficit, battling the Dodgers until the second to last day of the regular season when they eliminated the Boys in Blue. The Dodgers ended up losing by a measly game. That is when we learned about the Braves. That’s when we learned about the chant. 1996 was annoying too. Then the Braves got really good for a while.

Oh the chant. The incessant chant. The Braves won five National League pennants during the 1990’s from 1991-1999. We had to listen to this the ENTIRE DECADE. The thing is, they don’t stop either. It goes on through the entire game. At all times. They don’t stop. Hey I know that it’s their house and they can chant and or sing, and or do whatever they want. Hey far be it from me to say what they can or can’t do. But, oh my goodness, it’s a little overboard.

The Braves fans waive foam tomahawks, actually doing the chop themselves while chanting the chop. It’s a war chant. I get it. But there are different size chops. There’s all kinds of chops. Big ones, and littlen’s, and medium sized ones.  Let’s go over the chops we’ll be dealing with while visiting Dixie.

The big chop

Sometimes you’ll see like a gigantic Tomahawk chop in the stands, and it’s like whoa! That’s one big damn chop. And you’ll see it moving in unison to the chant. I swear I’ve seen it guys. Frightening stuff.

The moderate chop

The standard regulation tomahawk chop. Used to irritate the opponent.

The lil’ chops

Sometimes the Braves fans use these little mini chops. For the Braves fan that’s on a budget of course.

Little’n

The hand chop

Some of the Braves fans don’t even have foam tomahawk chops. So they just use their hands. Look at that, a chop-less chop! They think of everything down in Dixie don’t they? They make the motion as if they are chopping. The chant too of course. They don’t stop the chanting.

Now we know all of the different types of Tomahawk chops. Hopefully the Dodgers do some chopping of their own in game 2. I’m not just whistling Dixie here either.