Kurt wrote: >4. Preparation. Yes, the fans at other schools are better prepared, >particularly Cornell and Vermont. At Vermont, during the play-down >round in 1992 Pete Ungaro and I (the WRPI crew that night, along >with Pete's then-girlfriend, Pam the She-Nazi) were amazed that the >student section was filled 45 minutes BEFORE the puck dropped. That's >how seriously they took their job(?). Next RPI home game, >watch how many students are still filtering in as the announcer >starts the opening proceedings. Also, many schools, and I'll cite >Cornell and Vermont again, perform their cheers and rituals so well >they must practice them. Excellent organization on the students' >part would produce a much better result overall. Ask yourself what >little things happen at an RPI game the average person wouldn't know. >Except for the "Sieve" chant following a goal and the "You suck" when >the opposition is introduced, nothing really happens. Go to Vermont >and Cornell to see how it should be done. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but I think at many other schools, the student seating is general admission. This gives the students a HUGE incentive to get there early. As an example, I was just at the Maryland-Carolina basketball game on Tuesday. The game was at 9:00pm. There were already 2,000 students lined up outside Cole Field House when the doors opened up at 5:30. All ~4,000 student seats were filled by the time the regular ticket doors opened at 7:30. With assigned seating, why should anyone get there before opening linups? Or, at worst, before team warmups? Nothing really happens before warmups, anyway. Things that happen at an RPI game: Yelling "PHONE!" when the press phone rings; yelling "HALFTIME!" at 10:00 of the second period; the "seive-funnel-vacuum-black hole" cheer; yelling "AWWWW SHIT!!" at EVERY close missed scoring opportunity. Waiting for the day ESPN picks up the ECAC final four... Dave / RPI '91 LET'S GO RED!!