Important message to ice hockey ticket holders

[RichH]

My wife came with me to Red Hot Hockey. She recoiled at the idea of our kid going to a game because of the cursing. Maybe I'm in too deep to be objective.

Ignoring my belief for a second that the act of hearing a word that someone, somewhere has deemed to be offensive does not cause heads to explode, I'll ask if you were able to pick any out in a crowd of 18,000.

[ugarte]

My wife came with me to Red Hot Hockey. She recoiled at the idea of our kid going to a game because of the cursing. Maybe I'm in too deep to be objective.

Ignoring my belief for a second that the act of hearing a word that someone, somewhere has deemed to be offensive does not cause heads to explode, I'll ask if you were able to pick any out in a crowd of 18,000.

I'm not talking about individual curses. We were in the 100s level surrounded by alumni. There was virtually none of that. The most offensive thing to come out of our section was some guy who looks and sounds a lot like me yelling "COVER THE FUCKING POINT" during a frustrated moment.

She was offended more about the resounding cries of "SUCKS" and "Drop Dead" and all of that. It isn't about heads exploding or anything like that anyway. It is about not wanting to be the parents of a 4 year old who tells grandma "traffic sucks." It is about, for me anyway, discretion and courtesy, not the desire to have jackboots as part of the standard usher uniform.

[Trotsky]

She was offended more about the resounding cries of "SUCKS" and "Drop Dead" and all of that. It isn't about heads exploding or anything like that anyway. It is about not wanting to be the parents of a 4 year old who tells grandma "traffic sucks." It is about, for me anyway, discretion and courtesy, not the desire to have jackboots as part of the standard usher uniform.

To me that's not being offended by profanity but by selfishness, entitlement and rudeness.  Which is fine, but you're gonna have to move your family out of the Northeast to avoid it.

Personally I'm offended by the lack of creativity of the constant "sucks" and "drop dead" cheers.  Mothers don't let your children grow up to be boring.

[css228]

She was offended more about the resounding cries of "SUCKS" and "Drop Dead" and all of that. It isn't about heads exploding or anything like that anyway. It is about not wanting to be the parents of a 4 year old who tells grandma "traffic sucks." It is about, for me anyway, discretion and courtesy, not the desire to have jackboots as part of the standard usher uniform.

To me that's not being offended by profanity but by selfishness, entitlement and rudeness.  Which is fine, but you're gonna have to move your family out of the Northeast to avoid it.

Personally I'm offended by the lack of creativity of the constant "sucks" and "drop dead" cheers.  Mothers don't let your children grow up to be boring.

It's really hard to be creative and organized in a crowd that large. I think most of the fans went for organization with the simpler chants. While I openly admit the creativity at Lynah today doesn't approach its hey day, its still far better than what was witnessed at RHH.

[Al DeFlorio]

She was offended more about the resounding cries of "SUCKS" and "Drop Dead" and all of that.

When Electrolux first marketed its vacuum cleaners in this country, it's slogan was:  "Nothing sucks like an Electrolux."

[KeithK]

She was offended more about the resounding cries of "SUCKS" and "Drop Dead" and all of that. It isn't about heads exploding or anything like that anyway. It is about not wanting to be the parents of a 4 year old who tells grandma "traffic sucks." It is about, for me anyway, discretion and courtesy, not the desire to have jackboots as part of the standard usher uniform.

I still boggle at the thought of anyone being offended by "Sucks" as en expression, let alone at a sporting event.  Or at least at the thought of anyone close to my age being offended by that.  Then again, I suppose I don't have small children so it's hard to relate.

[Trotsky]

It's really hard to be creative and organized in a crowd that large. I think most of the fans went for organization with the simpler chants. While I openly admit the creativity at Lynah today doesn't approach its hey day, its still far better than what was witnessed at RHH.

I agree with you about MSG and this is not meant in any way as a knock on today's undergrad classes who I think are just as fierce and fun a fanbase as we've ever had.

The two most interesting things about Lynah are the DIY "open mic" Section A and B cheers (which are impossible in a larger arena) and the constant noise (not just for a significant play but cheering on every shift and not allowing any dead air -- the cheers that make visiting players look up at the crowd during stoppages as if to say "WTF is wrong with you people?!" ).  These things seems to ebb and flow with different classes of undergrads -- right now it actually seems (from the streams anyway) much better at Lynah than during the early 00's, and MUCH better than during the early 90's when the place was really just another barn.

I don't believe in Golden Ages, but I do think the overgrowth of the monotonous cheers ("Bend Over" ) crowd out the opportunities for Kids Today to come up with their own new traditions.  Let a hundred flowers blossom and all that.

[Trotsky]

She was offended more about the resounding cries of "SUCKS" and "Drop Dead" and all of that. It isn't about heads exploding or anything like that anyway. It is about not wanting to be the parents of a 4 year old who tells grandma "traffic sucks." It is about, for me anyway, discretion and courtesy, not the desire to have jackboots as part of the standard usher uniform.

I still boggle at the thought of anyone being offended by "Sucks" as en expression, let alone at a sporting event.  Or at least at the thought of anyone close to my age being offended by that.  Then again, I suppose I don't have small children so it's hard to relate.

The small child problem is they are really just drooling 3-second tapes on continuous loop, so after a game the parents hear nothing but x SUCKS, y SUCKS, z SUCKS, forever.

Which is why God invented the open palm slap.

[ugarte]

I still boggle at the thought of anyone being offended by "Sucks" as en expression,

You know that it's short for "sucks dick" right?

[Rosey]

I still boggle at the thought of anyone being offended by "Sucks" as en expression,

You know that it's short for "sucks dick" right?

Exactly: "sucks" is the censored/cleaned-up version of the phrase. What's the problem again?

[ugarte]

I still boggle at the thought of anyone being offended by "Sucks" as en expression,

You know that it's short for "sucks dick" right?

Exactly: "sucks" is the censored/cleaned-up version of the phrase. What's the problem again?

At least this puts the universe back in balance.

"Performs oral sex upon" is also a "cleaned up version" but since they all mean the same thing... they all mean the same thing.

[Ben]

I agree with you about MSG and this is not meant in any way as a knock on today's undergrad classes who I think are just as fierce and fun a fanbase as we've ever had.

I disagree. As someone who stands in the supporters' section for New York Red Bulls games -- where we sing & chant for the entire match -- I'm not impressed by the amount of noise we make or the amount of dead air there is during play.

I don't believe in Golden Ages, but I do think the overgrowth of the monotonous cheers ("Bend Over" ) crowd out the opportunities for Kids Today to come up with their own new traditions.  Let a hundred flowers blossom and all that.

Unfortunately, this happens wherever there are structured cheers. It's the other side of the double-edged sword of tradition.

[css228]

It's really hard to be creative and organized in a crowd that large. I think most of the fans went for organization with the simpler chants. While I openly admit the creativity at Lynah today doesn't approach its hey day, its still far better than what was witnessed at RHH.

I agree with you about MSG and this is not meant in any way as a knock on today's undergrad classes who I think are just as fierce and fun a fanbase as we've ever had.

The two most interesting things about Lynah are the DIY "open mic" Section A and B cheers (which are impossible in a larger arena) and the constant noise (not just for a significant play but cheering on every shift and not allowing any dead air -- the cheers that make visiting players look up at the crowd during stoppages as if to say "WTF is wrong with you people?!" ).  These things seems to ebb and flow with different classes of undergrads -- right now it actually seems (from the streams anyway) much better at Lynah than during the early 00's, and MUCH better than during the early 90's when the place was really just another barn.

I don't believe in Golden Ages, but I do think the overgrowth of the monotonous cheers ("Bend Over" ) crowd out the opportunities for Kids Today to come up with their own new traditions.  Let a hundred flowers blossom and all that.

Agreed on the monotony of some cheers. There's a need for new player specific cheers. Hopefully that'll be rectified soon.

[Trotsky]

Unfortunately, this happens wherever there are structured cheers. It's the other side of the double-edged sword of tradition.

It can, but the engine of cheering will always be the student sections and they have the power to change it.  It isn't like a professional sport (or Yale or Union) where the minute the tweens get hold of an LCD cheer everything else is obliterated.

We've always had structured cheers; they don't have to get out of hand.  There was a time when "the ref fucked sheep" after every Cornell penalty.  There's always a way back from the abyss.

[Trotsky]

There's a need for new player specific cheers. Hopefully that'll be rectified soon.

There are certainly some awesome new guys to get behind!