The SIEVE cheer IS meaningless and pointless from the poor goalie's
perspective.  He may or may not have been a "sieve".  Maybe his
defense lapsed an let an odd man rush up the ice, who knows?  If
he's playing at this level he'll be able to shrug it off and make
the next play or maybe not and he'll have to endure another SIEVE
cheer or worse yet he'll be benched.
 
Regardless, the SIEVE cheer IS FOR THE FANS!  It's fun to do and
makes you feel like you're intimately involved in the game.  It
doesn't have to make sense or be logical.
 
BTW if your team is ahead 10-0 and the opponents score a goal and
their fans do the SIEVE cheer, the OBVIOUS retort from your section
is: SCOREBOARD! SCOREBOARD!  That one always works ;-).  I should know,
Cornell has been on the wrong end of that one a lot the last few
seasons :-(.
 
So hockey fans everywhere do your cheers this weekend while you can
because it's a long summer until next season.  To those of you who
feel this is juvenile and pointless, you're right, but lighten up
and enjoy the game.
 
Eric Hoffman
Cornell '88
SUNY-Albany '95 and ??
 
P.S. The SIEVE cheer is 100 times better than a string of expletives!