How to check if a select value equals a certain option using jQuery Validate?

I'm using jQuery Validate for a form. I need to add some functionality so an additional field is required if a specific option is selected from a select/dro开发者_开发百科p-down menu.

Here's the example they provide on the jQuery website to require a certrain field if an option is checked in a checkbox (http://docs.jquery.com/Plugins/Validation/validate#options):

$(".selector").validate({
   rules: {
     contact: {
       required: true,
       email: {
         depends: function(element) {
           return $("#contactform_email:checked")
         }
       }
     }
   }
})

Here's what I'm doing, but it returns an error. Basically, if Football is chosen as a Favorite Sport from a drop down, then position is a required field.

$form.validate( {
rules: {
    favoriteSport: {
        required: true
    },
    position: {
            depends: function(element) {
                    return $('#favoriteSport[value="football"]');
            }
    }
}

});

try:

$('#favoriteSport > option[value=football]:selected') 

If you're using ASP.Net or some other language that ruins the IDs of your controls, and you're looking for a way to have specific text selected, you can do this:

$('[id$=NormalControlID] :selected').text("SomeValue");