Origin of "Red!" during national anthem?

[Jeff Hopkins '82]

Wasn't me, Roy.  

I started the newspapers during intros, and I know you and I (along with my roommate) started the "Somebody else, too" addition to Screw BU in 1980, but that's all I can take credit (responsibility?) for.

I know it wasn't done when I was a student, and I don't remember it from the tournament at the Garden in the mid 80's.  The first time I remember hearing it was at Lake Placid in '96.

[Robb]

I'll narrow it down a little further between Greg's and Rich's recollections; I'm roughly 95% certain that we weren't doing it when I started attending games in November, 1987, and that we were doing it by either the Boston Garden semifinal loss to RPI in 1990 or the Boston Garden semifinal loss to SLU in 1991.

Sorry I can't be more specific.

I'm as certain as I can be about anything 25 years later that RED was yelled at my very first Cornell hockey game (yes, I was there for the warmups, kiddies - get with it!) which would have been fall of 1990.  Funny thing about traditions - when you hear it for the first time, you just always assume 'twas always thus.  I had no idea the tradition was so "young" when I heard it first.

[Trotsky]

Funny thing about traditions - when you hear it for the first time, you just always assume 'twas always thus.  I had no idea the tradition was so "young" when I heard it first.

I never knew "x too" began in 1980.  When I first heard it in the fall of 1981 I assumed it was ancient.

[marty]

Funny thing about traditions - when you hear it for the first time, you just always assume 'twas always thus.  I had no idea the tradition was so "young" when I heard it first.

I never knew "x too" began in 1980.  When I first heard it in the fall of 1981 I assumed it was ancient.

I'm losing it perhaps? I thought it was done in the fall of '70 when first was lucky enough to sit in Lynah.

[Jeff Hopkins '82]

Funny thing about traditions - when you hear it for the first time, you just always assume 'twas always thus.  I had no idea the tradition was so "young" when I heard it first.

I never knew "x too" began in 1980.  When I first heard it in the fall of 1981 I assumed it was ancient.

I'm losing it perhaps? I thought it was done in the fall of '70 when first was lucky enough to sit in Lynah.

It may have been done in '70, but it certainly wasn't being done in '78 when I arrived on campus.  

That said, nothing's ever original.   Full disclosure:  I stole the newspaper idea from the University of Scranton.

[Trotsky]

That said, nothing's ever original.   Full disclosure:  I stole the newspaper idea from the University of Scranton.

I don't recall the newpapers being shaken at first, and that was much more effective.  Mystery, Alaska was terrible, but the one thing it got right was the newspaper scene.  Complete silence.

[jkahn]

Funny thing about traditions - when you hear it for the first time, you just always assume 'twas always thus.  I had no idea the tradition was so "young" when I heard it first.

I never knew "x too" began in 1980.  When I first heard it in the fall of 1981 I assumed it was ancient.

I'm losing it perhaps? I thought it was done in the fall of '70 when first was lucky enough to sit in Lynah.

It may have been done in '70, but it certainly wasn't being done in '78 when I arrived on campus.  

That said, nothing's ever original.   Full disclosure:  I stole the newspaper idea from the University of Scranton.

It's been discussed before, but in the 1972 NCAA tournament, Wisconsin fans added "and Cornell too" to our Screw BU cheer.  BU's band constantly played what was their "GO BU" cheer, so it was BU's band that was playing it during the tournament, and it always was met with a loud "Screw BU" from the large Cornell contingent.  Not liking that their team wasn't in the final, Wisconsin fans added their tag line so both finalists were included.

[ugarte]

I'll narrow it down a little further between Greg's and Rich's recollections; I'm roughly 95% certain that we weren't doing it when I started attending games in November, 1987, and that we were doing it by either the Boston Garden semifinal loss to RPI in 1990 or the Boston Garden semifinal loss to SLU in 1991.

Sorry I can't be more specific.

My first semester on campus was January '90. It was already a thing. Maybe it started earlier that year, but the freshmen I knew - who told me when I transferred in to find a way to get hockey tickets - made it sound like it wasn't new that year.

[KenP]

I remember using that cheer at football games in fall 1988.  My first hockey game was fall 1990 and it was there too.

Interesting that it was so new at the time.  I would never have guessed!

[adamw]

Just seeing this now.

My freshman year at IC was Fall of 1988. I attended/covered my first Cornell hockey game that fall ... so, say, November or December 1988.  I know for a fact "RED" was chanted then - because I distinctly remember nearly jumping out of my skin when it happened, because I completely wasn't expecting it. Which elicited a chuckle from who I was there with - which leads me to believe it had been done before, as well.

[Trotsky]

So we have it narrowed down.  It didn't exist yet during the '86 run, but it was common enough in '88 that it scared a freshman.  

Sounds like it happened during the '87 season; one of the few bright spots not starting with the letters "Nieu."

[bigred91]

I know this is a necro post, but I have always wanted to set the record straight on this. I know the answer because I was there when it first happened. It was during the 88-89 season.

The first time this was done I was standing next to Shehriyar "Shay" Antia, class of '92 I think he was, when he just did it spontaneously. It cracked everyone up in our section (D or E, can't recall which) and the next game a few more of us did it. It caught on quickly and by season's end it was a mainstay. A few seasons later Clarkson copied the idea and started shouting "Knight" when "proof through the night" came around.

So there you have it. Shay Antia, 88-89 season!

[block]

Just came across this -  I am the originator of the "red" during the national anthem.  I started doing it probably in late season '87 or possibly '88 (I'm class of '89).  I was a big Orioles fan at the time and thought it was a no-brainer to chant "red" during the anthem.  I got several of my roommates to help out but it didn't catch on until we roadtipped to Clarkson and St. Lawerence and sat near the Cornell band.  They obviously heard it and started to do it themselves.  The rest is history.

[CU2007]

My dad told me he did it in 1981

[The Rancor]

I think our season tickets started in '85-'86 and I vaguely remember it being a thing.