Rally towel
[1] Although, it could be argued the great coach E.A Diddle of the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers truly created the rally towel in the 1940s.
Teams that use rally towels include the NFL's Seattle Seahawks, New England Patriots, and New York Jets, the NHL's Anaheim Ducks, Montreal Canadiens, Vancouver Canucks, San Jose Sharks, Pittsburgh Penguins, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, New Jersey Devils and Dallas Stars, the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers, Memphis Grizzlies and Oklahoma City Thunder, the MLB's Detroit Tigers, San Francisco Giants, Toronto Blue Jays, Philadelphia Phillies, Texas Rangers, Minnesota Twins, Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets, Houston Astros, and the Washington Nationals,[5] and the NCAA basketball Duke Blue Devils.
Outraged by a string of unfavorable calls in a road game during the conference finals, Vancouver Canucks coach Roger Neilson draped a white towel over a player's stick and waved it above his bench in mock surrender.
Fans started waving white towels—first at the airport when the team returned to Vancouver, then at the next game—and "Towel Power" propelled the Canucks to victory in the series.
Today, rally towels are seen in all four major American sports leagues (MLB, NBA, NFL, and NHL).
It gained popularity throughout the 1987 pennant race as a promotional item created by the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
The two teams in the 2010 World Series, the San Francisco Giants and the Texas Rangers, both had rally towels.
In baseball, the teams that use rally towels that are common to hand out besides the Twins are usually the Colorado Rockies, Detroit Tigers, Philadelphia Phillies, and St. Louis Cardinals.
The Toronto Blue Jays hand out rally towels as part of their "Fan Fridays" promotion, inaugurated in 2010.
Fans used them in the playoffs, including when LeBron James returned to Quicken Loans Arena as a member of the Miami Heat.
The Chicago Bears, Dallas Cowboys, Denver Broncos, Indianapolis Colts, Minnesota Vikings, New England Patriots, New York Giants, and Philadelphia Eagles also hand out rally towels in the playoffs.
The Blackhawks, Blue Jackets, Bruins, Canadiens, Capitals, Devils, Golden Knights, Islanders, Kings, Kraken, Predators, Rangers, Red Wings, Senators, and Sharks also have rally towels.
In Major League Soccer (MLS), rally towels are less common due to the popularity of scarves.
