I'm not sure I have anything to offer to this discussion. So, I really should keep quiet. This thing is, I've never been known to do that. As has been mnetioned many times, every school has their cheers to get the fans involved. And as usual, other school's fans don't like them. Tough beans. I think this has more to do with loyalty than common sense. Having never played the game on a competitive level, I can't say whether or not the Sieve cheer rattles the goalie. But, I do know the building cranks after UW scores a goal. I can remember a game against NMU a couple of years ago. It was a very tight game for the first period and a half. The NMU goalie let in a bunnie to give UW a 2-0 lead. The Sieve cheer seemed especially loud. Wisconsin scored 2 more times in the next five minutes and the goalie definetly looked lost. (WI went on to win the game 10-1) I also think the UW band should be a part of the cheers. This is called the pep band (for good reason). The sieve chant without the UW band isn't the same (note this past year's Hockey Showdown). There is such a thing called home-ice advantage for a number of reasons, the least of which is the "seventh-man" (called the 12th-man in football). So, go ahead, have your own cheers. You certainly don't have to like any from an opposing school. But don't call it unsportsman-like. later jd on wisCAHNsin ps The sieve cheer would seem to rank behind the cheer "SOME" MN fans yell after an opposing player gets whistled for a penalty (on the un- sportsman-like scale) pps Unless anyone out there has played any game in front of 8000- 18000 fans, I'm not sure we can comment on whether or not players can get rattled by the crowd. FWIW, I've seen numerous quotes in papers from players (of various sports) concerning the crowd involvement. One thing is clear, most players will say they are able to ignore fans (if they are on the road) ot they get pumped up from the fans (if they are at home). I'll take this off the list with those that would like to discuss it further.