I drove my the stadium yesterday and I have go say

[GoAUpher]

I could either way on the first down chant, when we are winning, or on the verge of a momentum changing TD, the chant is great. When things are not going our way, or we are down 55-0, I think they should scrap it, its just embarrassing to cheer for a first down at that point.

That makes sense...my fond feelings for the chant all come from memories of big drives and winning games. Doing it at the Michigan/Iowa games last year was not so cool (the few times we got to do it).

Not sure how to do it sometimes and not others though. Either its your first down chant or its not. There really isn't a middle ground.

 

[UptownMaroon&Gold]

If we are ahead, or down by less than 3 scores, (with a reasonable chance to make a comeback), I say do it, if we are down by 3 touchdowns or more--lets hope this is not an issue-- then I think the PA guy, along with the band, should know that the cheer is "off". I think we could handle that.


PS Im watching Gopher/wisky from '03 on BTN right now. Boy, it is too bad we didn't have a defense that year, we could've been something special.

 

[anticallihan]

some other people that dont like the first down chant. To me it sounds-----juvenile I guess is the word. Maybe lame is better. I cant put my finger on it either but it sounds too contrived--kind of bush league. Hope it doesnt take something like that to get the crowd involved. Its especially bad when the game has been decided and the fans fake enthusiasm.

Compared to what Wisconsin does, it is the greatest 1st down chant in the world.

I like it. Not that bad. You can get into it... Throw your body into it... Say it loud and with in your face attitude.

Now Wisconsin.

First and 10, Wisconsin.

And the announcer says it all girly. I am pretty sure a large majority of the fans at Wisky dislike this chant too.

 

[Maximus]

I understand that we are far different from ND, but..come on...do we REALLY need to be so rediculously commercialized all the time?!?

When you make less than half of what ND, Ohio State, Michigan make on a game day, yes.

 

[highwayman]

I’m new to “Brew’s Crew Football Forum” and this is my first post. Thought I’d add to this discussion with my perspective on the worst of the dome.

First the setting: The Gophers are driving and have Iowa / Wisconsin / Michigan / … (your pick) on their heals, forcing our foe to take a timeout. Great time for the band to strike up the Rouser and really get the crown into the game. But no, the powers that be decide this is the perfect moment to hold a tire race between Sam from Eden Prairie and Deb from St. Paul. The building crescendo is cut off at its knees. All so everyone in section #233, row #4 can win a 6-inch sub from (insert your favorite sandwich shop).

Don’t get me wrong, I’m no liberal, but this commercial garbage during timeouts has to go. It literally sucks the air out of the crowd (and the team).

Here, here!

I hated those endzone contests. Save them for in between quarters or something.

Also, maybe it was just the dome, but did anyone ever notice that MOST games, even big ones, that the dome crowd never seemed to recover from half time? It was like we got "zombied". It killed us in some huge games and seems to occur regularily.

What can be done? I say we come up with some participatory song that gets the crowd involved right before the 2nd half kick-off. Not the Wisconsin "jump" song (ick), of course, but something upbeat and fun. We seem to like AC/DC at the dome, so I don't know if I'm for or against. I like "Right Now" by Van Halen, as it fits Brew's ""Why Not Us? Why Not Now?"

Maybe having twice as many students will help the halftime "zombification" of the Gopher crowds.

 

[BrianW]

Wouldn't it be nice to have a public address announcer that would keep it simple and yet be unique like the late Jules Perlt? Perlt had a distinctive as well as a dramatic voice.

The Mike Max clip with Bobby Bell and Judge Dickson has a very short example of Perlt's announcing. He was always quick and accurate with the names of the players involved in the play. He was a professional that added to the game day atmosphere. A simple but dramatic delivery. He'd tease the stadium with scores of other games in play (those were the days when most games had a 1 o'clock start). Good memories.

It'd be nice to have another unique public address announcer. Not a copy but an original.

Go Gophers!!

There are two men who, more than any other, are responsible for me being a Gopher fan, and Perlt is one of them. The man WAS the Gophers for over 50 years!

I know I'm already going to be a basketcase on Sept 12th, but if they play his voice over the PA as the team comes out of the tunnel I am going to lose it completely. I will know at that point that we are finally home.

 

[RodentRampage]

You'll take the first down cheer out of my cold, dead... ummm where ever I might hand on to a cheer. It's not lame - the fact that opponents hate it shows that.

Game day is commercialized because we need the revenue. Notre Dame has a lot bigger revenue stream than we do, they can afford to keep it away from game day. But if those big contracts fade away, they will be commercializing game day just like everyone else.

Commercialism of game day isn't bush league, it's the opposite. The game is a lot less commercialized at lower levels.

 

[borninthebarn]

The band will be a lot easier to hear in the new stadium. The Dome ate sound like crazy.

Hopefully they will be able to get rid of the microphones needed for everyone to hear the band. I think that will help decrease the need for piped in stuff.

I hope that the powers that be resist the temptation to use the fancy new scoreboard to create videos for everything.

 

[Schnauzer]

I like the first down chant and the resulting Student Section running in place. As others have said, it is at least a little unique and people actually do participate. I also agree it is painful during those times when the Gophers are on the wrong end of a blowout. I like the suggestions of scrapping it when the Gophs are down by a couple scores.

One of the biggest things I am looking forward to in the move is saying "good bye" to those cheap plastic signs that were velcro'd up everywhere inside the Dome to make it appear as though it was the Gophers home field. They didn't have enough velcro to make all those blue seats change color and it all combined to make the whole presentation look cheap and un-college like. It is going to be soooooo nice to leave the dome behind.

 

[GoGophers2005]

Looking at the YouTube videos of the various schools entrances I think 75% of them were horrible.
The Worst
1. Clemson riding the bus to the stadium with their full uniforms on was laughable. Do they not work out on the field before the game? Then running down the 'carpet' seemed too contrived.
2 Any with fireworks or fog. NC State and Marshall.

The Best
1. South Carolina, hands down
2. Tennessee. It's all band and not piped in music. I hope the U does something similar.
3. Michigan, simple and unique
4. Iowa, simple as well. Flags make it.

 

[parkinglotgopher]

1. Clemson riding the bus to the stadium with their full uniforms on was laughable. Do they not work out on the field before the game? Then running down the 'carpet' seemed too contrived.

I'm not a Clemson fan or anything, but to call this tradition "contrived" shows you don't know the background on it. When their stadium opened in 1942, the team got dressed in a field house that was across the street at the top of the hill. Entering the stadium meant walking out of the field house and coming down the hill. That's how it had to be done. It wasn't artificial, as you'd make it seem. The carpet is just a safety thing, providing the best traction for the players as they come down the hill.

From 1970 into 1972, the team changed the routine (now that they had dressing rooms on the other side of the stadium) and just entered the field straight from the locker room. The team didn't play that well, so they began boarding a bus on one end of the stadium and coming around to enter as they had for the past 30 years.

You might not like it, but it's a tradition that has more history and dates back further than anything we still do here at Minnesota.

 

[GoAUpher]

Looking at the YouTube videos of the various schools entrances I think 75% of them were horrible.
The Worst
1. Clemson riding the bus to the stadium with their full uniforms on was laughable. Do they not work out on the field before the game? Then running down the 'carpet' seemed too contrived.
2 Any with fireworks or fog. NC State and Marshall.

The Best
1. South Carolina, hands down
2. Tennessee. It's all band and not piped in music. I hope the U does something similar.
3. Michigan, simple and unique
4. Iowa, simple as well. Flags make it.

I have to strongly disagree on Clemson. Rubbing Howard's Rock and running the hill into Death Valley is a great entrance. The bus part seems contrived, but the rest is a long standing tradition with that kind of cool random history that only happens in college FB. The only reason they run on carpet is b/c that is a grass hill and they can't risk having anyone slip and get hurt...the carpet gives better traction for the run.

 

[GoAUpher]

I'm not a Clemson fan or anything, but to call this tradition "contrived" shows you don't know the background on it. When their stadium opened in 1942, the team got dressed in a field house that was across the street at the top of the hill. Entering the stadium meant walking out of the field house and coming down the hill. That's how it had to be done. It wasn't artificial, as you'd make it seem. The carpet is just a safety thing, providing the best traction for the players as they come down the hill.

From 1970 into 1972, the team changed the routine (now that they had dressing rooms on the other side of the stadium) and just entered the field straight from the locker room. The team didn't play that well, so they began boarding a bus on one end of the stadium and coming around to enter as they had for the past 30 years.

You might not like it, but it's a tradition that has more history and dates back further than anything we still do here at Minnesota.

Parkinglot!!!! This is what I get for not refreshing the page before I post...you beat me by 25 minutes.

 

[denguegopher]

Looking at the YouTube videos of the various schools entrances I think 75% of them were horrible.
The Worst
1. Clemson riding the bus to the stadium with their full uniforms on was laughable. Do they not work out on the field before the game? Then running down the 'carpet' seemed too contrived.
2 Any with fireworks or fog. NC State and Marshall.

The Best
1. South Carolina, hands down
2. Tennessee. It's all band and not piped in music. I hope the U does something similar.
3. Michigan, simple and unique
4. Iowa, simple as well. Flags make it.

I like the South Carolina one too. Having been there in person for several games I can recall the goose bumps from the moment they start playing 2001. I have also played on that field. They may still, but in the '80's they allowed the intramural championship football games to be played there. My proudest moment in graduate school was winning an IM championship at Williams Brice Stadium. I tell my wife that everytime I see South Carolina playing a home game - she is sick of me telling her that I have played on that field.

 

[mplsbadger]

I like the first down chant. It's one of the view things that engages the entire stadium.

+1

 

[Maverick]

I like the first down chant too. I do believe that the opposing defense that hears that a lot ends up being affected...demoralized if you will.

Let's up the ante...

Lets start this cheer to go along with the first down cheer...

"It's another (insert hated rival name... Iowa Hawkeye) fourth down!!!!!).

I believe that the opposing offenses would start hating that cheer and it would negatively affect their performance too....

 

[Maximus]

I always loved the chant when Maroney and Barber would put together about 5-6 first downs in a matter of minutes.

 

[Foster]

The inflatable tunnel has got to go, have always hated that ugly thing.

The Nittany Lion "roar" is pretty annoying but nothing is worse that Purdue's "boiler up!"

I like the idea that was on here a few months about about have "Ski U Mah" chant. Home side gets "Ski", students get "U" and the visiting side gets "Mah". Start this off while the team is bouncing around in the tunnel to the point of freaking out. That would be great for the players to hear the students screaming "U" while they are getting ready to take the field. Line up the cheerleaders and dancers and play the rouser when they come out. No fireworks or smoke, makes it look cheap.

Is the cannon coming over to TCF?

 

[GoAUpher]

Is the cannon coming over to TCF?

Yes.

As for the other stuff, I suppose it will all depend on what Brew feels entices recruits.

 

[re3886]

I'm not a Clemson fan or anything, but to call this tradition "contrived" shows you don't know the background on it. When their stadium opened in 1942, the team got dressed in a field house that was across the street at the top of the hill. Entering the stadium meant walking out of the field house and coming down the hill. That's how it had to be done. It wasn't artificial, as you'd make it seem. The carpet is just a safety thing, providing the best traction for the players as they come down the hill.

From 1970 into 1972, the team changed the routine (now that they had dressing rooms on the other side of the stadium) and just entered the field straight from the locker room. The team didn't play that well, so they began boarding a bus on one end of the stadium and coming around to enter as they had for the past 30 years.

You might not like it, but it's a tradition that has more history and dates back further than anything we still do here at Minnesota.

Umm...Not quite. Cheerleading was invented here at Minnesota, and that does predate 1942 by quite a large margin. The contrivedness of Clemson, is, leaving the field, boarding a bus, getting out, then running back to the field, like they just came back from a mile away. I have attended games there and found it to be humorous.

 

[husker70]

Two things knowledgeable home crowds have is silence when the offense is breaks the huddle, and bringing the noise when the defense is out there. They will even stand and scream on third downs. They appreciate a defensive stop by the defense as much as first down by the offense. And the most important fans if there is such a thing are those inside the twenties and in the endzone. They must be a wall of sound on defense, hostile, and may cause that one time out. If you know the game, or played the game, or have that sense,that ability to see or feel, this is the game. This play. This is where you are on your feet either screaming your lungs out or silently waiting to explode. That is what experienced crowds have. More of the latter generally. If you are not into the game, no quirky PA announcer will do, either you get it or you merely have a ticket.

 

[DarrenTheGreek]

It would be sweet if they "updated" the cannon. Instead of the little cart that gets wheeled around they should have a replica Civil War cannon either on the plaza or the 2nd level concourse above the student section. When the Gophers score, fire that thing off.

 

[RodentRampage]

How about a cannon that looks like a real cannon? That little cannon makes a nice bang, but it's so small, you don't see the canon. We could have one that looks just like a Civil War cannon, but makes the same bang as the current canon - maybe with more smoke for effect.

I'm against scapping tradition. For new things to do, we should re-examine the old. There have to be a lot of traditions that fell by the wayside that we can revive. I'd like the Ski-U-Mah cheer to be revitalized instead of just being a line from a couple of the school songs.

 

[parkinglotgopher]

Umm...Not quite. Cheerleading was invented here at Minnesota, and that does predate 1942 by quite a large margin. The contrivedness of Clemson, is, leaving the field, boarding a bus, getting out, then running back to the field, like they just came back from a mile away. I have attended games there and found it to be humorous.

Touche on the cheerleading thing, I guess I don't consider something that's become universal to be a tradition that we claim specifically for our school, but it certainly counts.

As for it being contrived, I feel like the definition of the word and how it was initially used was to imply it was some sort of artificial tradition. Though continuing the tradition now has some clunkiness involving buses and such, I still don't find it to be contrived. But really, this is just a semantics argument at this point, so I'll leave it as we agree to disagree. I will say that it's something that's unique to that team and something the home fans really enjoy, and beyond that, what more do you want from your home field traditions?

How about a cannon that looks like a real cannon? That little cannon makes a nice bang, but it's so small, you don't see the canon.

I may be mistaken, but I thought there was going to be a new cannon for this season, one that would produce more sound than the smaller cannon that had been used at the Dome. If that's not the case, I agree with this. Keep Cannon Man, but get him something with some real firepower.

 

[ColNathanJessup]

Definitely, with the cannon, since we're going to have a Veteran's Memorial anyway, it would not feel contrived and it would continue a real tradition. They should incorporate the cannon into the memorial somehow in that plaza/endzone.