Band needs to learn Mexican hat dance

A-ron · February 22, 2005, 02:25:16 PM

I'm going to have to agree with Ben here...I suffered through that loss to St. Lawrnece and watched Sweater Guy dance all night. Now, I can't wait for Macho Man to be played so that I can scream out, "sweater guy still sucks" and get confused looks. The crowd seems to enjoy it and people have fun doing it...the nerve of them, having fun at a Cornell hockey game.

I didn't like people alternating hand raises during Gary Glitter, but from what I hear from townies it both looks good and helps keep them in time with the music...so I guess that has stuck as new tradition.

We still throw fish on the ice against Harvard even though that was in response to one specific event more than a couple years ago.

The way I see it, the more cheers/chants/dances that the Lynah Faithful have under their belt, the more reason to claim that we are the best fans in college hockey.

KeithK · February 22, 2005, 02:42:38 PM

[q]The way I see it, the more cheers/chants/dances that the Lynah Faithful have under their belt, the more reason to claim that we are the best fans in college hockey.[/q]We should want quality as much as quantity. Of course, quality is in the eye (ear?) of the beholder.

Will · February 22, 2005, 02:55:17 PM

[Q]KeithK Wrote:

[Q2]The way I see it, the more cheers/chants/dances that the Lynah Faithful have under their belt, the more reason to claim that we are the best fans in college hockey.[/Q]
We should want quality as much as quantity. Of course, quality is in the eye (ear?) of the beholder.[/q]

Indeed. And IMHO, fish is quality, while Macho Man is frivolity.

Ben Rocky '04 · February 22, 2005, 03:51:23 PM

Again with the random hatred, without logic or reason, of Macho Man. If you don't like it and don't respect the history of the ugly sweater guy story, then don't do the cheer.

Trotsky · February 22, 2005, 03:59:27 PM

[Q]billhoward Wrote:

By the age of 10, if your kid's team has made it to a league semifinal (and with six team leagues, odds are good), he or she has been through
[/q]

Tea with Ms McGill?

CowbellGuy · February 22, 2005, 04:21:32 PM

Fine, you want reason?

1. It's a stupid song, and despite what someone claimed, it's hardly ever played at hockey games.

2. Do you have any idea how retarded we look doing it? If you know the origin, fine, it's amusing. But when we're at some other school's rink and the band starts playing Macho Man, suddenly it looks like all the Lynah Faithful ride the short bus. It makes me cringe just thinking about it.

Tub(a) · February 22, 2005, 04:33:19 PM

[Q]Trotsky Wrote:

[Q2]billhoward Wrote:

By the age of 10, if your kid's team has made it to a league semifinal (and with six team leagues, odds are good), he or she has been through
[/Q]
Tea with Ms McGill?[/q]

By the age of 10? :-O

KeithK · February 22, 2005, 04:34:34 PM

It was a stupid song back in 1978 and it's a stupid song now. Why songs by the Village People continue to be played in the 21st century is beyond my understanding.

Jordan 04 · February 22, 2005, 04:48:22 PM

[Q]

1. It's a stupid song, and despite what someone claimed, it's hardly ever played at hockey games.[/q]

A brilliantly subjective reason, which would pretty much be the reason for any person to ask for the removal of any song at any time. Man, if I had a dime for every time a conductor made me play through the Muppets... ::scream::

[q]2. Do you have any idea how retarded we look doing it? If you know the origin, fine, it's amusing. But when we're at some other school's rink and the band starts playing Macho Man, suddenly it looks like all the Lynah Faithful ride the short bus. It makes me cringe just thinking about it.[/q]

Pardon my French, but boo-fucking-hoo. Are you really so insecure in yourself as a person and a fan that you don't do something at the rink that you find enjoyable because the other fans don't know what's going on and may think we're retarded? I'm sure everyone in visiting rinks knows why there's a random dude beating on a cowbell and screaming when he's done.

jtwcornell91 · February 22, 2005, 04:54:19 PM

[Q]CowbellGuy Wrote:
2. Do you have any idea how retarded we look doing it? If you know the origin, fine, it's amusing. But when we're at some other school's rink and the band starts playing Macho Man, suddenly it looks like all the Lynah Faithful ride the short bus. It makes me cringe just thinking about it.[/q]

I agree about Macho Man, but this does put me in mind of The Lion Sleeps Tonight as Cayuga's Waiters' signature song and how puzzled the fans at Franklin Field were when we all threw up our hands and did the weema-wup thing when the Penn band played it.

Jacob 03 · February 22, 2005, 05:30:38 PM

[Q]Jordan 04 Wrote:

Pardon my French, but boo-fucking-hoo. Are you really so insecure in yourself as a person and a fan that you don't do something at the rink that you find enjoyable because the other fans don't know what's going on and may think we're retarded? I'm sure everyone in visiting rinks knows why there's a random dude beating on a cowbell and screaming when he's done.[/q]

You know, in a million years I'd never guess from what Age wrote that he secretly loved the Macho Man dance but refrained from doing it because he feared the judgment of other teams' fans. Seemed like a bit of a stretch to me.

With or without its context, "respect the history of the ugly sweater guy story" might be one of the most ridiculous and overdramatic phrases I've read on ELynah. If we were taking a poll, I'd also throw my lot in with the "hate it" group when it comes to Macho Man. I've asked pep band conductors and managers to stop playing it (obviously to no avail in this instance, but it's probably the easiest method to effect change in Lynah Rink, and at least it doesn't involve an Anaphoric Society). I'd even contribute to the aforementioned funds to stop its performance (of course, my priorities are pretty skewed and I offered multiple chimesmasters a hundred dollars to not play "Here Comes the Sun" for a semester).

That being said, all my reasons for despising it are definitely subjective. I initially found the pertinent SLU fan stupid, but not worth the mimaic. The tradition seems to be more self-satire than anything else now, but so many other Lynah ones could probably be described in similar ways. Also, the stupid dance doesn't come with the same minor functional hindrances of...say...the drawn-out Diiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeeee cheer. In the laissez-faire world of hockey fandom I'll continue to voice my complaint when the subject comes up, but harbor little ill feeling (if a bit of snobbish pity) for those who enjoy it so.

Of course, the one guy at Princeton doing the Gary Glitter moves looked objectively ridiculous.

Trotsky · February 22, 2005, 05:42:09 PM

"This cheer is stupid!" vs "Who made you the cheer judge?" is the eLynah version of the college hockey video game and the BTHC.

Ben Rocky '04 · February 22, 2005, 05:45:18 PM

Yay for camp value!

Jeff Hopkins '82 · February 22, 2005, 05:53:52 PM

I'll toss in my hat with the "Macho Man Must Go" side. My reasons:

1) Macho Man is a disco song. Disco Sucks. Gay disco sucks even more, sometimes quite literally.

2) It just looks stupid.

3) It does nothing to pump up the our team or intimidate the opposition (unlike Gary Glitter).

4) Many fans are actually turned off by it.

5) Memorializing the stupidity of an opposing fan doesn't seem good justification for a cheer or song.

Ben Rocky '04 · February 22, 2005, 05:59:40 PM

It is the band's decision to play it, and I trust their judgment. If they stop playing it, no one will shed tears at its departure. They are kind enough to preform at all home games and most road games, and I enjoy their presence, so when they play a song we don't like, we should live with it. If you feel that the cheer makes us look retarded, take heart: it will be gone in a few years. If you like it, keep doing it. Life goes on.