Bearcat Nation RISE UP! It is time to create a tradition of our own.
I have been chatting with people inside the UC Bearcat administration about the game day experience and fan traditions or lack there of. I think I have a much better understanding of where they are coming from and I think they have a better understanding of where those of us who are passionate fans are coming from. In the end, we both agree on one thing: fans need to take the initiative to start their own traditions and that isn’t being done here for whatever reason.
I want to see UC take its place among the storied fan traditions in college football. I want to see the home crowd at Nippert become as feared and respected as the 12th man at Texas A&M and the color coordinated crowds of Boise State. The university has tried to help in some ways. They had yell leaders for two years in the student section, and after two years no one learned any new chants or cheers.
So since 2006 I have been hounding the administration to make changes and we as fans got some things accomplished. I think most of us would agree the music choices are better now than they were 4 years ago. I think most of us agree that the team entrances have gotten better. UC is at least taking steps in the right direction.
My question is how do we get the fans involved??? How do traditions like the Black Hole and the Dawg Pound get started? How do you get a crowd to stay for up to 45 minutes after a loss like Wisconsin’s 5th quarter? How do you get fans to run from one end of the stadium to the other to support their team like Texas A&M? How do you get 30,000 fans to wear color coordinated clothing based on the section you sit in like Boise State? How do you get a new tradition like the paddle people of Oklahoma State started?
I have started a Facebook Group for UC Bearcat Football Fans to gather and maybe make our own traditions. I figure that would be the best way to communicate and get organized. If you would like to be a part of this movement to make Nippert Stadium a part of college football history, please join this group and let’s get the discussions going. Hopefully we can work with UC, the alumni association and students to become the most feared home field in the BE.
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=154729501217773
