forgotten cheer

[CB]

I always loved during faceoffs when the groups of fans in the line of sight of the oppossing goalie would raise their hands and wave them around to distract him.  Why isn't anyone doing this anymore?

[BigRedIslander]

I sit in B right behind the faceoffs. I haven't done it just because I thought it didnt do much to distract from the faceoff. Maybe just yelling really loud before the faceoff would help distract the other team. I'm always up for being loud  ::nut::

[French Rage]

Oh, crap, I had completely forgotten about that (I'm in B)!  I dunno, I guess the few people that usually started it graduated or aren't there or something; it's one of those things that if someone started others would eagerly join in.  I'll try to get the poeple in B doing it again tonite and tomorrow.

Yea, BRI, sure it doesn't really distract them, but thats not the point.  The point is that we're making the effort in hope of that magical one time where it does work (ala goalie cheers against Dartmouth).

[CowbellGuy]

Actually, from my experience, it seems the point is to piss off people trying to photograph or video tape the faceoffs :-D

[jeh25]

Also, if one thinks about the physics *at all* one realizes the arm waving is stupid and pointless. This isn't a basketball game where the player is looking up at rim that is mounted on a glass backboard.  Waving arms during a foul shot might make some sense given that you could argue that the motion will catch the player's eyes given our wiring. However, in my experience in competitive athletics, one learns to tune the audience right out, making me doubt it actually does anything.

But even if we assume that our neurobiology makes the arm waving useful, it still doesn't make sense in the context of a hockey game. During a faceoff, the players are looking down at the puck, which is below them. You are seated in the stands above the player. Unless the player is totally daydreaming, his eyes shouldn't be looking anywhere near you. Add to this the fact that the ice is bright while the stands are dark, I'd be shocked if the arm waving had any effect.

Of course, I could be wrong....

[Josh '99]

I'd been under the impression that the idea was to distract the goalie, not the player taking the faceoff.  Not that I think it actually works...

[jeh25]

Josh Herman '99 wrote:

I'd been under the impression that the idea was to distract the goalie, not the player taking the faceoff.  Not that I think it actually works...

Then why the fuck do people do it in B when our goalie is at that end of the rink....

[French Rage]

Not every cheer has to have a scientificly proven reason to work.  One's that that are for shits and giggles.

[Keith K]

Because they are idiots, John.  IMNSHO, the arm waving was always about annoying the opposing goalie and (I think) once upon a time (man I'm getting old) it wasn't done when our goalie was behind the faceoff.  The fact that it almost never works doesn't really matter...

This is basically the same thing that happens with all cheers.  When the fans think about what they're doing/cheering and do the cheers intelligently and creatively, the cheers are "effective" (in some sense, even if not really affecting the opponent).  When cheers are blindly done as the thing to do, they are not "effective".  I'm not just ripping on the current fans here - there was plenty of mindlessness (is that a word) years ago too.

[DeltaOne81]

Yup :-D

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=mindlessness

[Josh '99]

Took the words right outta my mouth, Keith.  People do it when it's our goalie because people are dumb.  (Or because they're sheep and are just following along with dumb people.)

Actually you also raise a good point about people blindly doing stuff like, say, my current pet peeve, the ridiculous love for "BEND OVER!".  It works much better if you get the goalie's pre-faceoff routine down (especially guys who tap a lot like Mike Walsh) than if everyone just yells "BEND OVER!" as soon as the goalie's back in the crease.  That's just dumb.
[/vent]

[CowbellGuy]

Amen

[gwm3]

Well I sat in B for two years at the height of student stupidity, and I can't remember people doing it to our goalie.  I always did it with the "intention" of distracting the opposing goalie (as futile as that might have been).  Distracting the guy taking the faceoff never even occurred to me.

As for "bendover," I agree that it became largely overdone.  The first person I remember it being done extensively to was Prestifilipo, who had a very set routine.  I remember that being rather funny, but people continued to do it ad nauseum even when goalies gave no real reason to do so.

[Komorowski]

On the note of a better cheer...how come no one seems to remind the opposing team that they still suck when they return to full strength after we kill off a power play. I personally enjoy this one celebrating our kill. Any ideas why this died out?

[mha]

It died out because Arthur, and many other rink PA announcers, stopped announcing the end of the power play. (Arthur was asked to stop.)

If the announcer is no longer saying "___ returns to full strength," it's harder to shout in response, "And they still suck!" For a while, fans were trying to shout the first part themselves, but it just doesn't work as well.