Dead (or Zombie) Cheers

[CUlater]

Jeff Hopkins and Roy Kornbluh noted in the "Thank You Mike Schafer" thread how they used to remind Bob Gaudet about his ugliness.  That reminded me about the "U-G-L-Y, you ain't got no alibi! You're ugly! You're ugly....." cheer I used to hear in the mid-80s, whenever the sieve or another opponent took off his mask/shield on the ice.  The cheer had even died out by the end of the 80s, IIRC.

How do good cheers die?  And can we bring them back?

I'd love to hear about some other cheers that used to be popular but are no longer heard in Lynah.  Another one I remember was if an opposing skater fell notoriously, the chant would go up "[Player Name] can't skate!  [Player Name] can't skate".  And what about the Harvard specific cheers?  

H-A-AHR, H-A-AHR, H-A-AHR, V!
V-A-AHR, V-A-AHR, V-A-AHR, D!
HAHVAHD, HAHVAHD
RAH! (with a fey single hand wave, with pinky pointed out)
[all done with an affected upper class Boston accent]

or

That's H-A-R with a V,
V-A-R with a D,
Knit one, pearl two,
Hahvahd boys,
Yoo hoo!!  (with girlish hand waves)

A songsheet with the words to the two Harvard songs (and some other cheers) was left on the Lynah seats before the Harvard game in 1988-89 season, as fewer and fewer fans knew the words (or as more and more were hung over by the time the game actually started).

I note that none of the above are included in John's Cheers page, linked from eLynah's home page.  Maybe someone would be interested in compiling dead cheers and turning some of them into zombie cheers?



Post Edited (04-22-03 10:50)

[Lowell '99]

The Hahvahd cheers live on in the world of the marching band, but I tend to think they're a little too... I don't know... out of character for today's Lynah (interpret that as you please).  Not to mention far too organized.  Remember, some people can't even distinguish "you goon" from "you lose."    

;-)

[rhovorka]

[Q]"U-G-L-Y, you ain't got no alibi! You're ugly! You're ugly....." cheer I used to hear in the mid-80s, whenever the sieve or another opponent took off his mask/shield on the ice.[/Q]

The past couple years, whenever the opposing sieve has his mask raised, the students immediately give him the more simple "UG-LY, UG-LY..." chant and continue until his mask comes down.  At which point a sarcastic mock cheer goes up.  The "alibi" variant has been in some '80s high school football movies.

[Q]Another one I remember was if an opposing skater fell notoriously, the chant would go up "[Player Name] can't skate! [Player Name] can't skate". [/Q]

Still done.  Only it's the more anonymous "You can't skate!  You can't skate!"  or even "Learn to skate!  Learn to skate!"  Unless it's Noah Welch falling at his own blueline allowing Greg Hornby to break in and score the eventual game-winning goal.  In that case, the crowd does the usual goal celebration.  :-D

[French Rage]

I think the "ugly" cheer died when the Saturday Night Live cheerleader's skit used it.  That's a gauranteed way to kill any decent cheer.

[Jeff Hopkins \'82]

I think today's cheers are in part more clever (Hey,  ____!  Your mother called, your sister called, mystery guest called) but also less clever (Sucks being the response to just about everything).

Back in the 80's, all we did when an opposing player went to the box, was yell "You! You! You! (ad infinitum)"  I like what we do now better.

The one I'd like back is to have the whole house singing the goalie's name, such as "Syyyyyl.....vie" for UVM sieve Sylvain Turcotte, or "Hyyyyy...phen" for Grumet-Morris, much like is still done in the pros, especially with Cujo (or Hasek before he retired).  Problem is, you start doing that at Lynah now, and the entire rink will yell "SUCKS", because that's how we do it now.  I like it the old way simply for volume of harassment, it's usually a simple two-syllable thing so the whole rink can pick it up easily, and it can go on forever, rather than just three times.  That's how you really get under a goalie's skin.

JH

[Lowell '99]

The movie was the Goldie Hawn classic, "Wildcats."

[rhovorka]

Jeff Hopkins '82 wrote:

The one I'd like back is to have the whole house singing the goalie's name, such as "Syyyyyl.....vie" for UVM sieve Sylvain Turcotte, or "Hyyyyy...phen" for Grumet-Morris, much like is still done in the pros

LOL...I just had a rant about that tonight while watching the Leafs-Flyers game tonight.  The Philadephia fans went to doing this exact thing to Belfour.  I think that it's boring, uncreative, and dumb.  You aren't saying anything about the sieve, just repeating his name.  How is that taunting?  My comment during the game tonight was that the mindless droning just shows how much better college hockey crowds are than the pros.  College crowds talk about his 5-hole.  Talk about his mother.  Call him a sieve/funnel/vacuum/black hole.  There's only two things NHL crowds do...this name-repeating thing and the "na na na hey hey hey goodbye" song.  I really hope that college crowds would never want to be more like NHL crowds.

Just my opinion.

[Jay Wang \'99]

Jason Elliott once said something about how he didn't understand how the name-repeating thing was supposed to bug a goalie, and that he actually got a kick out of it when opposing fans tried to rattle him that way.

[Section A]

And I think that's the point. The fact that he even noticed, and thus lost some of his focus to "get a kick out of it," says that at some fundamental level, the cheer works.

[ugarte]

Rich Hovorka '96 wrote:

You aren't saying anything about the sieve, just repeating his name.  

It only makes sense if you are going after a player who is already having a bad game.  It is a way of saying "all eyes are on you and your horrible performance."  Otherwise it is just tedious.

[Josh 03]

As is doing any of the countless 'sieve' cheers against top goalies who we are in one goal games/tied with/losing against in the third period.  Though I guess that's just what is done.

[CUlater]

Daryl Strawberry might disagree -- he let it bother him whether he was having a bad game or not.

[Steve Marciniec \'85]

This taunt was a staple at Lynah rink several years before I heard it at any NHL game or other pro event.  I managed to get most of the Oakland Coliseum on Orel Hershiser's case with it in the '88 World Series.  It didn't work well enough.

After Ayers threw his 3rd period fit in the championship game, I tried to get this going, but only got a couple puzzled looks from the Faithful nearby.  I realized afterwards that I should have been yelling Miiii-key instead of his last name.  Oh well, we abused him pretty well anyway.

[jtwcornell91]

The version of this that I find very annoying and NHL-lame is the one BU fans seem to enjoy where they singsong someone's name three times and then yell "YOU SUCK!"  Also, is there anyway to stop people from adding "you suck" after the "SIEVE"s in Gary Glitter?  Basically if NHL fans have figured out how to do a cheer/taunt, it's probably beneath us as college fans.  (And to every college team that plays Gary Glitter after goals: get a damn fight song already.)



Post Edited (04-23-03 16:45)

[Jeff Hopkins \'82]

I'm not saying that college crowds should be more like NHL crowds.  God forbid.  I tried to get a "sieve" cheer going at a couple of games. and all I got were blank stares.   Most NHL cheers consist of some combination of "Go" and the team name (e.g. "Let's go, Flyers!" or "Go Leafs, go!").  :-P

The true fans are so far away from the players that if one person ever tried "Hey Belfour, your mother called...." the sound would die before it left the upper deck.  So when the fans, most of whom are corporate suits who aren't even watching the game, get their act together enough to sing the goalie's name, it's as creative as it gets.  

While the intimacy of Lynah allows a more creative cheer selection, I'm just saying that 3800 fans all singing the goalie's name at the top of their lungs can be pretty intimidating to a goalie whose confidence has been shaken.   Opposing goalies have said so.   But it only works when you've got a big lead.  Besides, it's a hell of a lot more interesting than just yelling "SUCKS!"

BTW, I positively loved it when the Flyers fans last night started "Bel-four" and "Na, Na, hey hey", not to mention "Domi Sucks".   After all, I am a Flyers fan.   Die, Sens, Die!

JH