Athletics: Throw Toys Instead of Fish

[Give My Regards]

In case you think Cornell Athletics has a monopoly on this kind of thing, Syracuse University recently banned the playing of Gary Glitter at the Carrier Dome for precisely the same reason (please pardon the gross link -- hopefully this still works):

http://216.239.37.104/search?q=cache:kWA2DV4rKpMJ:www.wtvh.com/story.asp%3Ftopid%3D78%26stid%3D7746+syracuse+gary+glitter&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

I'm of the opinion that the profanity adds nothing to GG and it's not an infringement of anybody's God-given rights to ask (or even demand) that it be stopped.  However, if GG does end up being banned, exactly how long do you think it will take for the Faithful to start humming/singing the song themselves?  One second?  Two?



Post Edited (12-05-03 12:04)

[CowbellGuy]

Bill Fenwick wrote:
However, if GG does end up being banned, exactly how long do you think it will take for the Faithful to start humming/singing the song themselves?  One second?  Two?

And you can bet more people would use the profanity-laden version out of spite if it comes to that. Hell, I'd switch back.

[jy3]

i started a thread on uscho if anyone is interested.

http://board.uscho.com/showthread.php?s=58e897a493288ea704ba666c7780f816&threadid=32140

[allison]

Does anyone know/remember that the old tradition for the Harvard game was to tie a chicken onto the harvard goal and let it die there in the second intermission?  I wonder how they ended that one?

[Give My Regards]

allison wrote:

Does anyone know/remember that the old tradition for the Harvard game was to tie a chicken onto the harvard goal and let it die there in the second intermission?  I wonder how they ended that one?

As I recall, the SPCA got involved in ending that one.  I don't remember when exactly that happened (sometime in the early '90s, I think), but I do recall that the first Harvard game after that featured a guy in a chicken suit being tied to the Harvard goal.  Too bad that died quickly :-)

BTW, I don't think the chicken was left there to die, though it probably didn't survive being stuffed in an overcoat or whatever for two periods, being hauled out onto the ice and tied to a goalpost, then being untied and carted off to who knows where...

[jeh25]

Bill Fenwick wrote:
 though it probably didn't survive being stuffed in an overcoat or whatever for two periods, being hauled out onto the ice and tied to a goalpost, then being untied and carted off to who knows where...

to a nice pot of soup of course....

Hmmm. Chicken soup.

[jason]

[q]exactly how long do you think it will take for the Faithful to start humming/singing the song themselves? One second? Two?[/q]

Yes, that would happen, but there's no way it can match the energy produced by the Pep Band's playing of the Rocky/GG combo.

It's a pretty severe measure, but I think Athletics is feeling backed into a corner. They've said that they don't want profanity, and whether people agree or disagree (and, no, let's not have that discussion again), Lynah is Athletics' "house" and they get to make the house rules. Pleading hasn't worked. Ejections haven't worked.  So now we may lose the Rocky/GG 3rd period welcome back for our team. If this doesn't work, Athletics' next ploy is probably going to be even more aggressive.

[dss28]

[Q]to a nice pot of soup of course....

Hmmm. Chicken soup.[/Q]

Chicken soup for the Hockey Fan's soul?

[Jim Hyla]

Hey, I wonder if they make the band stop playing GG, then Coach will have to start declining the PPs so no one will be able to say A**hole?;-) (not that I'm promoting it that is.)

[jtwcornell91]

Jason N '95 wrote:

[q]exactly how long do you think it will take for the Faithful to start humming/singing the song themselves? One second? Two?[/q]

Yes, that would happen, but there's no way it can match the energy produced by the Pep Band's playing of the Rocky/GG combo.

So the band will play "Gonna Fly Now" and then people will sing Gary Glitter (and more people will say "fuck").  As it is the second "verse" gets sung a capella anyway.



Post Edited (12-06-03 11:43)

[jason]

[q]So the band will play "Gonna Fly Now" and ... [/q]

The way the Athletics announcement reads, the Rocky theme may bite the dust, too. But my point was (and you may not have been disagreeing with me) that an all a capella start to the third period will not have nearly the energy generated by the Pep Band's playing.

And if the student section retalliates by using more profanity, I believe Athletics will respond in kind and ultimately Lynah will be worse for it. I'm not choosing sides here as to who is right, but I do thing that in this battle Athletics will "win" and the Lynah experience (an important recruiting tool) may be irreparably diminished --didn't something similiar happen at Colgate several years back?

[Greg Berge]

Jason N '95 wrote:

I'm not choosing sides here as to who is right, but I do thing that in this battle Athletics will "win" and the Lynah experience (an important recruiting tool) may be irreparably diminished --didn't something similiar happen at Colgate several years back?

Starr has a noticeable problem with heavy drinking before/at the games in the early 90's.  The fans, not the players.  It will come as no surprise that there was also a lot of profanity.

When the administration started making moves to curb crowd behavior (by throwing out the offenders), they failed to differentiate between the soused and the sardonic.  There was much chest-thumping on both sides, and the "Draconian Measure --> Adolescent Protest" cycle escalated until the crowd had been knee-capped.

In contrast, Lynah saw the beginnings of that sort of m.a.d. in the mid 80's, but cooler heads prevailed, in large part because the AD was Laing Kennedy, who understood the tradition of the crowd.

If the ECAC didn't care and the administration was just polishing a few SS buttons that would be one thing.  But in this case the ECAC, probably in response to repeated complaints from a certain Cantab, has apparently made this a point of emphasis.  As with all points of emphasis, eventually people will remove the pole from their behinds, the hystrionics will pass and the tradition will re-establish itself.  But in the meantime, take a one year pass on the fish, come earlier, yell louder, and be unrelentingly critical of the Harvard coach's Mazzculinity.  It must be giving him problems for him to be so cranky.



Post Edited (12-06-03 15:05)

[Ack]

Greg Berge '85 wrote:

In contrast, Lynah saw the beginnings of that sort of m.a.d. in the mid 80's, but cooler heads prevailed, in large part because the AD was Laing Kennedy, who understood the tradition of the crowd.

"Cold" War at Lynah?