SI on campus

[David Harding \'72]

The arrival of the cowbell cheer at Cornell is well-documented.  Neil Cohen brought it back after hearing it somewhere, I think over winter break, during the '68-'69 season.  Seems to me he wrote a "Cornell Alumni News" about it a while ago, but I'm not finding it on-line.  He liked the cadence, recognized its power, and thought that he would give it a try.  When the crowd responded perfectly the first time through, a tradition was born.
http://www.hockey.cornell.edu/cowbell.html

[jtwcornell91]

David Harding '72 wrote:

The arrival of the cowbell cheer at Cornell is well-documented.  Neil Cohen brought it back after hearing it somewhere, I think over winter break, during the '68-'69 season.  Seems to me he wrote a "Cornell Alumni News" about it a while ago, but I'm not finding it on-line.  He liked the cadence, recognized its power, and thought that he would give it a try.  When the crowd responded perfectly the first time through, a tradition was born.
http://www.hockey.cornell.edu/cowbell.html

I didn't ever notice it in the Alumni News, but here's part of the account that Neil posted to CU-Sports-L a few years back:

I came to Cornell from Boston in the fall of '68 at the height of hockey
mania.  I played the snare drum in the Pep Band and we attended every
home game at Lynah.  There was a popular cowbell cheer that I used to
play in high school that I thought would go over well at Lynah. One
evening, I  tried it out during a hockey game.  I instructed the Pep Band
members to shout "fight!" after the last beat and I started playing this
rhythmic beat on a cowbell using a taped-up kitchen knife.  It only took a
few repeats to get some other people around us to join in and it started
spreading around the rink.  Soon every fan in Lynah was clapping along
and loudly yelling "fight!".

I think the only major difference from the way you're remembering it is that Neil was already playing the cowbell cheer before the got to the Hill, and brought it with him rather than discovering it on break.



Post Edited (09-25-03 23:52)

[Section A]

Just wondering - what were the "infamous circumstances regarding the replacement for Jamie Weber '98 (as mentioned at http://www.hockey.cornell.edu/cowbell.html) ?

[Ninian]

And one more reference:

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~cdbarker/chants.html

[DeltaOne81]

Hey Age,

I haven't been around this board as long as some, and even I'm beginning to get annoyed at the dozen or so times I've seen the topic discussed. FAQ entry with links maybe?

-Fred

[jtwcornell91]

I think the standard protocol here is for someone to write one.  Rich maybe?  Or someone who was there (as BRA and I hide in the corner in shame)?



Post Edited (09-26-03 12:51)

[Jeff Hopkins \'82]

They stole the newspapers?!?!

Damn.  That one was unique to Cornell (at least since I stole it in 81)  ::rolleyes::

JH

[Will]

Jeff Hopkins '82 wrote:

They stole the newspapers?!?!

Damn.  That one was unique to Cornell (at least since I stole it in 81)  ::rolleyes::

JH

Oh, but they say "Who cares?" instead of "Boooooring".  So, obviously, they didn't steal that tradition. ::rolleyes::

[bigggreddd77]

I'm not quite sure how they are 'infamous'.  But, this is basically the insiders view on it...  The cowbell for a period of time was a tradition of AEPi fraternity. (as you can see by my signature...I was a member)  It was handed down by an older member of the fraternity to Jamie who played the cowbell for a couple of years. (during his senior year he actually had double duty as both cowbell player and skating bear!)  Jamie graduated in 1998 and handed down the cowbell to a sophomore member of the fraternity (who will go nameless here...grrrrrr...) who would be able to play the bell for a few years and then hand it down.  Well...this guy decided that he'd:

1. lose his sense of rhythm

2. attend every third hockey game :-P

And go figure that the rest of us didn't have a spare cowbell with us at the game to take over his duties.  Thus...the tradition that we had within the fraternity was given up and Age took over.  As far as the exact details of Age taking over I'm not sure if there is any more to the story...but it sucked that the guy in the house did not carry on the tradition within the house as he was supposed to...

[Will]

What the hell did that nameless guy have to do that was more important than going to hockey games?

[jtwcornell91]

There was also an era of duelling cowbells at the games where the other guy did actually show up.  There seemed to be a certain amount of bad blood, since Age was more dedicated and better at it (or so I'm told; I'm rhythmically challenged and wasn't around for many games that season), but the other guy was Jamie's annointed successor.

This was also around the time when "winning team/losing team" got taken over by the band; perhaps it should now go to the person who cut in front of the most people on the line ::rolleyes::



Post Edited (09-29-03 18:11)

[peterg]

Regarding "infamous cowbells" I hope the mists of time don't cause us to forget the truly incredible and oh so politically incorrect performances of the "Karl Habib Fan Club" which was not only wonderful, but unquestionably unique to Lynah

[Will]

Peterg wrote:

Regarding "infamous cowbells" I hope the mists of time don't cause us to forget the truly incredible and oh so politically incorrect performances of the "Karl Habib Fan Club" which was not only wonderful, but unquestionably unique to Lynah

Uh...what?

[Lowell '99]

The winning team guy was "taken over" by the band in 1995-1996.  I use quotes because the guy who did it didn't see it that way (and neither do I).  The person in question happened to be one of the most dedicated of the Lynah Faithful, band or not, and remains so to this day.  The guy who followed him was similarly dedicated, and at that point it was already "tradition" (again, loosely used).  Clearly the band has more than its fair share of tremendously dedicated hockey fans, but if a non-bandie rose to the occassion in the future, that wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing.

[jtwcornell91]

Lowell Frank '99, '03 wrote:

The winning team guy was "taken over" by the band in 1995-1996.  I use quotes because the guy who did it didn't see it that way (and neither do I).  The person in question happened to be one of the most dedicated of the Lynah Faithful, band or not, and remains so to this day.  The guy who followed him was similarly dedicated, and at that point it was already "tradition" (again, loosely used).  Clearly the band has more than its fair share of tremendously dedicated hockey fans, but if a non-bandie rose to the occassion in the future, that wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing.

I didn't mean "taken over" in a hostile way; it's just something that happened, and I agree with your assessment of the people involved.  Certainly the transfer of tradition was more peaceful than the cowbell.