After having written countless blog posts encouraging people to give BU Athletics I try, after having admitted over and over again that I don't care if you're only there because there are free give aways, after promising you need to know nothing about sports...I think, I think I'm changing my mind.
If you don't have anything nice to say, shut up. And if you can't shut up, get the hell out of the rink.
Most of the inhabitants in the student section have a ton of patience. It's okay if you come to a game to see what the hype is all about and mess up some cheers or yell something that makes no sense. For the most part, the student section is a pretty forgiving place. But there a few things that really just shouldn't be part of the game atmosphere. Almost no exceptions.
The first of that being the completely uncalled for and yet still hanging around phrase that comes after "ole" in the first whistle of the game. It has gotten way, way, way better, yes. But shit. Why is it still a thing at all? There's a clear split between people who want to get rid of the song that precedes it all together and other people who believe that the tag can go on its own, but either way it needs to change. There's been a lot of people in the student section incoherently yelling after "ole" to try and drown it out but that shouldn't be the case. Seriously if you still do this you sound like an idiotic prick. It's not funny, not even a little bit.
Secondly, and this has gotten way worse this weekend, is having chicken take precedence over winning. Look, we all get it. We're a bunch of broke college students and the thought of saving a couple of bucks here and there is entirely worth cheering for. By all means, chant that we want chicken. This weekend it was a bit different, too. Both games you could feel the students getting antsy for chicken towards the end of the third period when things were looking okay in the win column anyways. It's okay to get loud at those moments, shout "oohs" and "aahs" when the puck gets close to the net but just isn't close enough. It's fine, it's all in good fun.
But Friday night was really out of place. 24 shots on goal out of the needed 25. Seconds ticking away, game already won. All we wanted was to have our cake and eat it, too. It all made sense. But as time expired and Coach Quinn earned his first W as bench boss, all that could be heard in the arena were boos. Boos that the final shot of the night was not one on net but one to the corner. The arena sounded like we had just lost by multiple goals with sloppy, inexcusable, less than division I play. Jesus there's been less boos directed towards Northeastern's team.
The last point of contention builds off of that one. Booing your own team, for any reason, ever. Before discussing that, though, full disclosure that I am a true blood Boston sports fan. And as much as I love Boston sports fans, they are truly irritating in this respect. They're so passionate about the games, love the teams so much, but if athletes wrong them even remotely - they'll toss them aside so quickly. They're notorious for leaving early and calling loses even earlier.
But, for the most part, BU fans have been better than that. Yeah, they still leave way too early, but for whatever reason there's generally been a better sense of camaraderie. At least in game. What is said in tweets and blogs and USCHO forum posts later is a different story. But that's not what matters anyways. In game, whatever team is playing feeds off fan energy. And with such a small contingency of collegiate fans, those that are there need to be louder and more energetic than ever. It can be difficult, especially when games aren't going the way anyone wants. But even if you can't fake it until you make it, just shut the hell up.
This Saturday I had the unfortunate opportunity to sit near some fans in 117 who knew nothing about anything. For the most part it didn't matter. They spent the beginning half of the game just begging for Quinn to put Garrett Noonan on the ice. It was funny, we all love Noonan, it wasn't bothersome. But towards the end of the game those same fans started belligerently yelling at anyone on our team not named Noonan. We have a lot of freshmen. We have a lot of people that need to adjust to playing with each other. We have an entire team that needs to learn a new coach's style. But Saturday night's game was not that bad. Room for improvement as there always is, but I've seen this team play worse. Almost everyone has. We've seen this team play way worse, even in wins. Saturday night was not a time to knock the team.
There's always going to be times when we wish our team was playing better. Stupid plays happen to every team and every one. We've all done it before, yelled reactionary statements. But there's a line between a sharp intake of breath and full out telling one of your players they suck. It doesn't have to be all rainbows and sunshine, it never is. But what purpose does yelling demeaning crap at players - on YOUR team - serve? You take away from the atmosphere both in the stand and on the ice. If they were playing bad before, chances are they're going to play even worse after you open your big damn mouth.
The student section doesn't need to be a second RSIG. No one should have to police anyone when it comes to this stuff. But there should be a lot more intelligence coming from some (and I really mean a small portion) of the students that are making their way to games. It's not that you shouldn't come but maybe you should just silently observe for a while. And if you can't, well, I'm not really sure we'll miss you.
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