SI on campus

According to Sports Illustrated, "The 100 Things You Gotta Do Before You Graduate (Whatever the Cost)":

"28. Yost Ice Arena (Michigan). The rowdiest crowds in college hockey."

Oy.

Other notable mentions:

36. Wave your index finger toward the opposing goal and yell "Sieve! Sieve! Sieve!" at Boston's Beanpot Hockey Tournament.

60. Scale the Lindseth Climbing Wall at Cornell, the largest indoor natural-rock wall in the country, then tackle Maryland's seven-sided, 60-foot-tall tower known as the Beast."

78. Channel your inner Ivy Leaguer and take in the Harvard-Yale regatta -- the oldest intercollegiate athletic event on these shores. The first race was contested on Aug. 3, 1852.

100. If you really plan to graduate after doing all this, um, maybe you should go to a few classes?

[sportsillustrated.cnn.com]



Post Edited (09-25-03 15:40)

Yeah, I was reading that during my lunch today; I almost choked from the disgust of seeing #28. Oh well.

Been to Yost lately? Who knows, maybe the student has become the master. They have a much bigger arena to get rowdy in.

(Oh Eternal Spirit of Cornell Hockey ... please forgive this blasphemy, or strike me down immediately; I can't live with the shame.)

No - haven't been to Yost lately. But to be more clear, the reason for the disgust wasn't due to doubting the rowdiness of the fans there, but instead was due to the old story about how they stole all the cheers, etc. etc.

From everything I have heard I would expect that Yost does have the rowdiest crowds in college hockey. They are certainly far more profane than the Faithful and that would probably be true even if it weren't for the Schafer era crackdown. However, rowdiest doesn't imply best even if it is a component.

Avash '05 wrote:

No - haven't been to Yost lately. But to be more clear, the reason for the disgust wasn't due to doubting the rowdiness of the fans there, but instead was due to the old story about how they stole all the cheers, etc. etc.

I meant to ask this when somebody brought up the similarities between Cornell and Michigan cheers in another thread, but for some reason I forgot to. Are the stories true? Actually, what are the stories (that is, if there's anything beyond "they stole our cheers"?

I'm sure someone can find the archived post or HOCKEY-L post or whatever (Whelan?). But yes, the stories are true. The crowd at Yost was nothing impressive until we played at Michigan in the 1991 NC$$ tournament. They learned their lessons well during that three game series (whch the bastards had to win...)

Someone should write to SI with the evidence they stole the cheers.

Some guy in my freshman dorm called ESPN to register his displeasure that their announcer during the Ivy Game of the Week (1990, Brown at Cornell I believe) made fun of the hotel school as the Ivy League jock major equivalent to phys ed.



Post Edited (09-25-03 16:57)

Bill '94 wrote:

Some guy in my freshman dorm called ESPN to register his displeasure that their announcer during the Ivy Game of the Week (1990, Brown at Cornell I believe) made fun of the hotel school as the Ivy League jock major equivalent to phys ed.

Well, I don't know if's the Ivy League equivalent, but it's certainly the Cornell equivalent. Just kidding, hotelies.

And the cheers at Lynah weren't exactly stellar until the early 80's when we started to steal cheers from other schools.

What goes around comes around.

JH

Here's one article that references the '91 tourny, when Cornell played at Yost:

[www.pub.umich.edu]

And another, where it is mentioned that "The series became known for turning the Michigan program in the right direction. "

[www.pub.umich.edu]

One of the guys who got revenge on Volonnino wrote:

Avash '05 wrote:

No - haven't been to Yost lately. But to be more clear, the reason for the disgust wasn't due to doubting the rowdiness of the fans there, but instead was due to the old story about how they stole all the cheers, etc. etc.

I meant to ask this when somebody brought up the similarities between Cornell and Michigan cheers in another thread, but for some reason I forgot to. Are the stories true? Actually, what are the stories (that is, if there's anything beyond "they stole our cheers"?

Well, as for whether they are true, why trust us, when you can trust the Michigan student paper:
[www.pub.umich.edu]

The exact story is this: we played them in the first round of the 1991 NCAA tournament. We* rocked the house, even though we were outnumbered by a LOT (this was Ann Arbor, not Cambridge). And it was a very exciting three game series, including an OT win by Cornell in game 1 where Manderville tied the game AS THE MICHIGAN FANS WERE COUNTING DOWN THE CLOCK with 2 seconds left. And then Andison (?) won it seconds into OT. Yost went from moribund to inspired.

* "We" is used very generously here, as I didn't make the trip.



Post Edited (09-25-03 17:56)

And one more from the Michigan Daily, the recap from our trip there in '97:
[www.pub.umich.edu]

(Edit: BRA beat me by a couple minutes)

I also have the copy of the Ann Arbor News from that trip that also tells the story of the '91 series.



Post Edited (09-25-03 17:56)

Geez, did they steal the cowbell from us too?! (Or did we steal that from someone else first?)

Well, it could be worse. At least they pretty much 'fess up to it.

The cowbell is as old as hockey. It probably goes back to 18th century rugby.

The Michigan traveling crowd is certainly the most obscene -- every other cheer is "ef this..." or "ef that..." They're loud, but it's a big barn. Ho hum.

The crowd I used to really like was Northeastern's in the early 90's, but a decade of bad hockey has apparently killed their crowd.

The arrival of the cowbell cheer at Cornell is well-documented. Neil Cohen brought it back after hearing it somewhere, I think over winter break, during the '68-'69 season. Seems to me he wrote a "Cornell Alumni News" about it a while ago, but I'm not finding it on-line. He liked the cadence, recognized its power, and thought that he would give it a try. When the crowd responded perfectly the first time through, a tradition was born.
[www.hockey.cornell.edu]

David Harding '72 wrote:

The arrival of the cowbell cheer at Cornell is well-documented. Neil Cohen brought it back after hearing it somewhere, I think over winter break, during the '68-'69 season. Seems to me he wrote a "Cornell Alumni News" about it a while ago, but I'm not finding it on-line. He liked the cadence, recognized its power, and thought that he would give it a try. When the crowd responded perfectly the first time through, a tradition was born.
[www.hockey.cornell.edu]

I didn't ever notice it in the Alumni News, but here's part of the account that Neil posted to CU-Sports-L a few years back:

I came to Cornell from Boston in the fall of '68 at the height of hockey
mania. I played the snare drum in the Pep Band and we attended every
home game at Lynah. There was a popular cowbell cheer that I used to
play in high school that I thought would go over well at Lynah. One
evening, I tried it out during a hockey game. I instructed the Pep Band
members to shout "fight!" after the last beat and I started playing this
rhythmic beat on a cowbell using a taped-up kitchen knife. It only took a
few repeats to get some other people around us to join in and it started
spreading around the rink. Soon every fan in Lynah was clapping along
and loudly yelling "fight!".

I think the only major difference from the way you're remembering it is that Neil was already playing the cowbell cheer before the got to the Hill, and brought it with him rather than discovering it on break.



Post Edited (09-25-03 23:52)

Just wondering - what were the "infamous circumstances regarding the replacement for Jamie Weber '98 (as mentioned at [www.hockey.cornell.edu]) ?

And one more reference:

[www-personal.umich.edu]

Hey Age,

I haven't been around this board as long as some, and even I'm beginning to get annoyed at the dozen or so times I've seen the topic discussed. FAQ entry with links maybe?

-Fred

I think the standard protocol here is for someone to write one. Rich maybe? Or someone who was there (as BRA and I hide in the corner in shame)?



Post Edited (09-26-03 12:51)

They stole the newspapers?!?!

Damn. That one was unique to Cornell (at least since I stole it in 81)

JH

Jeff Hopkins '82 wrote:

They stole the newspapers?!?!

Damn. That one was unique to Cornell (at least since I stole it in 81)

JH

Oh, but they say "Who cares?" instead of "Boooooring". So, obviously, they didn't steal that tradition.

I'm not quite sure how they are 'infamous'. But, this is basically the insiders view on it... The cowbell for a period of time was a tradition of AEPi fraternity. (as you can see by my signature...I was a member) It was handed down by an older member of the fraternity to Jamie who played the cowbell for a couple of years. (during his senior year he actually had double duty as both cowbell player and skating bear!) Jamie graduated in 1998 and handed down the cowbell to a sophomore member of the fraternity (who will go nameless here...grrrrrr...) who would be able to play the bell for a few years and then hand it down. Well...this guy decided that he'd:

1. lose his sense of rhythm

2. attend every third hockey game

And go figure that the rest of us didn't have a spare cowbell with us at the game to take over his duties. Thus...the tradition that we had within the fraternity was given up and Age took over. As far as the exact details of Age taking over I'm not sure if there is any more to the story...but it sucked that the guy in the house did not carry on the tradition within the house as he was supposed to...

What the hell did that nameless guy have to do that was more important than going to hockey games?

There was also an era of duelling cowbells at the games where the other guy did actually show up. There seemed to be a certain amount of bad blood, since Age was more dedicated and better at it (or so I'm told; I'm rhythmically challenged and wasn't around for many games that season), but the other guy was Jamie's annointed successor.

This was also around the time when "winning team/losing team" got taken over by the band; perhaps it should now go to the person who cut in front of the most people on the line



Post Edited (09-29-03 18:11)

Regarding "infamous cowbells" I hope the mists of time don't cause us to forget the truly incredible and oh so politically incorrect performances of the "Karl Habib Fan Club" which was not only wonderful, but unquestionably unique to Lynah

Peterg wrote:

Regarding "infamous cowbells" I hope the mists of time don't cause us to forget the truly incredible and oh so politically incorrect performances of the "Karl Habib Fan Club" which was not only wonderful, but unquestionably unique to Lynah

Uh...what?

The winning team guy was "taken over" by the band in 1995-1996. I use quotes because the guy who did it didn't see it that way (and neither do I). The person in question happened to be one of the most dedicated of the Lynah Faithful, band or not, and remains so to this day. The guy who followed him was similarly dedicated, and at that point it was already "tradition" (again, loosely used). Clearly the band has more than its fair share of tremendously dedicated hockey fans, but if a non-bandie rose to the occassion in the future, that wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing.

Lowell Frank '99, '03 wrote:

The winning team guy was "taken over" by the band in 1995-1996. I use quotes because the guy who did it didn't see it that way (and neither do I). The person in question happened to be one of the most dedicated of the Lynah Faithful, band or not, and remains so to this day. The guy who followed him was similarly dedicated, and at that point it was already "tradition" (again, loosely used). Clearly the band has more than its fair share of tremendously dedicated hockey fans, but if a non-bandie rose to the occassion in the future, that wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing.

I didn't mean "taken over" in a hostile way; it's just something that happened, and I agree with your assessment of the people involved. Certainly the transfer of tradition was more peaceful than the cowbell.

John- I figured as much. Sorry that didn't come across. Just posted in case the general populace was interested.

Karl Habib was a player of middle eastern descent in the late 70's / early 80's. He was a decent player but certainly not a star of the team.

His fraternity brothers would come to the game in Arab head covers (and some in sunglasses) imitating the OPEC oil sheiks. They'd sit in section H with a big sign calling themselves the "Karl Habib Fan Club". When Habib would get a goal or assist, they would throw monopoly money in the air and celebrate.

As Peterg said, "Oh so politically incorrect", but so much fun to watch.

JH

How quickly they forget. I invite corrections from Arthur or any other regular attendee at the time. From 1978-1981, Karl Habib was a tough, feisty forward for CU. My recollection is that it was the 1980 season, Karl's junior year, when there appeared in the student section ("D", I seem to recall), a group calling themselves the "Karl Habib Fan Club." Dressed in Arabic robes and head gear, they had one person on the washboard, one with two drumsticks and a third with the cowbell. At critical times in the game, they would rise, the washboard would be "strummed", the drumsticks beat together to set an underlying beat, and, after setting the crowd going, the cowbell would start. Viewed from the townie side (this was before my days in the penalty box), it was quite a scene. This all ended with Karl's graduation.

The "cowbell band" was separate from the Karl Habib Fan Club.

My freshman year, '78-79, there were in fact dueling cowbells. In 80 or 81, one fraternity (Kappa Sig, I think) decided to put the competition to rest, and created the cowbell band. It lasted about two years.

As I recall, there were four of them, not three. As each would play he'd descend the stairs, so that by the time the fourth member was playing, the four of them extended the length of a staircase. They usually did this around section D, in the first or second period. Often they go to center ice on the other side of the rink so the whole student section could see them for the third period.

The first would bang two sticks together marking the beat. The second (and this is where I'm not sure) hit two drumsticks together with the same three note rhythm as "We Will Rock You". The third had the washboard, and scratched out a rhythm on it, and when the crowd had worked itself into a frenzy, the cowbell came fourth.

When the four members of the band graduated, it kind of died out.

JH

Close enough for government work...

The only thing I'll add is Jamie (I think it was him) told me later on that the guy I ousted was only going to be around for one year anyway.

Didn't they also call themselves "Habib's Raiders"?

Not that I know of.

JH