Previous
Chapter 29
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Fever Pitch, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Obsession vs. Fandom
Sports, Identity, and Community
Escapism
Sports and Masculinity
Summary
Analysis
One day before a Cambridge United game, Nick’s friend accidentally drops half a “sugar mouse” in the road. That day, Cambridge beat Orient. Ever since, Nick and his friends have a superstitious routine where they eat the head of a sugar mouse and throw the bodies in the street to get run over by cars. Throughout his years as a football fan Nick has had many such rituals, but they never make the team any more likely to win. Nick muses that football fans have to develop rituals like this to fool themselves into thinking they have control over things, since they spend so much time invested in the game yet have so little real power over it.
Sugar mice are traditional mouse-shaped candies that are popular in the UK. Sometimes Nick’s narration lacks self-awareness, but his analysis here is spot on. Superstitions are a way for Nick (and other football fans) to feel that he impacts the gameplay in some way, and thus is truly integrated with the team. It is a way of justifying his obsession with the sport even though, in reality, Nick has no effect on the gameplay or outcome.
Themes
