Who agrees with this? My understanding is that the old fart season ticket holders like this "tradition" far more than the students do. At any rate, it's a funny read.
Hands in the air
Hands in the air
"manufactured" traditions
- Thread starter DocCatsFan
- Start date
I hate it. Absolutely hate it. It was fun the first couple of times when the team actually got into it, but now it's about two minutes of old people in the stands moving their hands back and forth about four inches at a time. The biggest problem is that the song is played for WAAYYY too long -- I've taken to actually timing it and it's been as high as about a minute and a half.
Awful. Terrible. Make it go away.
You do a grave disservice to metal fans everywhere. On third down we play Metallica's "For Whom the Bell Tolls". Not ACDC's "Hells Bells".
Absolutely right that you can't manufacture tradition, and there's really no rhyme nor reason why things catch on.
When I was undergrad at Shippensburg (Pa.) in the '60s, the band started playing the Cliff Noble instrumental "The Horse" at games (probably because it's relatively simple to play and we didn't have a music major at the school). It's got a cookin' rhythm to it and they still play it at Ship games 50 years later. When we had a top-scoring Division II offense a couple of years ago, visiting schools even remarked how they hated hearing that song blared at them so often. Reminds me of having to listen to the OSU and Michigan fight songs when we play them.
My current favorite NU thing is the team singing the fight song after a victory. That was great at South Bend last year. We just need a few more victories!
When I was undergrad at Shippensburg (Pa.) in the '60s, the band started playing the Cliff Noble instrumental "The Horse" at games (probably because it's relatively simple to play and we didn't have a music major at the school). It's got a cookin' rhythm to it and they still play it at Ship games 50 years later. When we had a top-scoring Division II offense a couple of years ago, visiting schools even remarked how they hated hearing that song blared at them so often. Reminds me of having to listen to the OSU and Michigan fight songs when we play them.
My current favorite NU thing is the team singing the fight song after a victory. That was great at South Bend last year. We just need a few more victories!
It sucks. It sucks for many reasons. 1) it's stupid 2) it's ineffective 3) "manufactured" never works, although i wonder about the early origins of equally stupid 'hang on sloopy'. Is there a worse 60's song? something by the Archie's perhaps? 4) the nervous announcement before - "ladies and gentlemen..." O..M...F...G.. how incredibly stupid is that? 5) nobody cares 6) it's embarrassing if you are on the visitors' side as I often am. people are like WTF is that?
Needs to be buried near the fake cat growl we temporarily stole from PSU and the checkered endzone that we stole from Tennessee at one time. and don't we call our NUMB something like 'the finest band in the land'? a direct ripoff of dOSU
Postives
1) Hands up in the air - makes me nostalgic for Detroit (sniff)
2) I'd rather hear this song 100 times in a row than sweet effing caroline one more time. At least I don't have to hear hands up in the air at every single wedding. SO sick of it. The fact that it is the theme of the loathesome Boston Red Sox makes it worse.
Needs to be buried near the fake cat growl we temporarily stole from PSU and the checkered endzone that we stole from Tennessee at one time. and don't we call our NUMB something like 'the finest band in the land'? a direct ripoff of dOSU
Postives
1) Hands up in the air - makes me nostalgic for Detroit (sniff)
2) I'd rather hear this song 100 times in a row than sweet effing caroline one more time. At least I don't have to hear hands up in the air at every single wedding. SO sick of it. The fact that it is the theme of the loathesome Boston Red Sox makes it worse.
As and old fart, I say it's fine. Let it be, it's harmless and fun to see who appears on the video screen to introduce it. Many people get a kick out of it.
I hated put the hands up in the air, until this year when my ten year old daughter was the first person shown jumping up and down. When they play it this year, if they do, and my daughter is not on the shot, I will probably return to hating it.
These cheap imitations belie NU having the top marketing program in the country. Why can't we do something original? Even the "Wildcat" team name seems counterfeit, the most uninspiring mascot name in the entire B1G, the genesis of which derived from a random newspaper article in the 1920s. Bring back the Fighting Purple.
Creative ideas conceptualizing the program's "Chicago's Big Ten Team" mantra is one place to look. A one minute brainstorm yields the following: a soundtrack of treacherous wind to reflect the "Windy City," an exaggerated "broad shouldered" Willie the Wildcat, something related to one of the innumerable movies filmed here, or exaggerated parodies of the school's academic reputation. There is a lot of material out there.
Quite a few articles of late have marveled at P.J. Fleck's recruiting prowess. A video surfaced during the week prior to NU's game against Western Michigan, featuring Fleck promoting "new traditions" at Western Michigan, many of which played off the oar motif on the program logo. I give Fleck a lot credit for subjecting himself to the potential for ridicule to create a brand at Western Michigan distinguishable from the other smaller state schools in the MAC.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgHyEbMQ-OE
Creative ideas conceptualizing the program's "Chicago's Big Ten Team" mantra is one place to look. A one minute brainstorm yields the following: a soundtrack of treacherous wind to reflect the "Windy City," an exaggerated "broad shouldered" Willie the Wildcat, something related to one of the innumerable movies filmed here, or exaggerated parodies of the school's academic reputation. There is a lot of material out there.
Quite a few articles of late have marveled at P.J. Fleck's recruiting prowess. A video surfaced during the week prior to NU's game against Western Michigan, featuring Fleck promoting "new traditions" at Western Michigan, many of which played off the oar motif on the program logo. I give Fleck a lot credit for subjecting himself to the potential for ridicule to create a brand at Western Michigan distinguishable from the other smaller state schools in the MAC.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgHyEbMQ-OE
Manufactured traditions can work if done well -- Auburn started a thing a few years back with "All I do is win" playing as they come out of the tunnel. The entire crowd is into it and it's awesome.
"Hands up in the air" is awful because it's a cheesy Euro-pop song (and I like Euro dance music) that just feels second-rate and embarrassing. It's not intimidating -- it has the feel of something a bad bar-mitzvah DJ would play.
What's weird is that our entrance videos the last couple years have been really, really good. It seems like we'd be better off letting that team come up with a "greatest hits" highlight video to lead us into the 4th. I'd rather watch Schnur to Bates and Kustok to Simmons on cat vision than a few dozen people feebly waving their hands around as opposing fans mock us.
"Hands up in the air" is awful because it's a cheesy Euro-pop song (and I like Euro dance music) that just feels second-rate and embarrassing. It's not intimidating -- it has the feel of something a bad bar-mitzvah DJ would play.
What's weird is that our entrance videos the last couple years have been really, really good. It seems like we'd be better off letting that team come up with a "greatest hits" highlight video to lead us into the 4th. I'd rather watch Schnur to Bates and Kustok to Simmons on cat vision than a few dozen people feebly waving their hands around as opposing fans mock us.
Have to jump in to defend NUMB. They're introduced as "the finest band in the land," but calling college bands "the something something something" in that style is pretty common across the country and has been happening for a long time. I'd be surprised if it originated with Ohio State. Or, rather, I'd be surprised if there's an undisputed "first band to give themselves a nickname." If a band doesn't call itself "The Marching [Mascot]," there's a decent chance it calls itself some variation on "The [Adjective] [Noun] [Preposition] [Place]."
Some examples, in no particular order:
Ohio State - "The Best Damn Band in the Land"
NC State - "The Power Sound of the South"
Texas Tech - "The Goin' Band from Raider Land"
Washington State - "The Best in the West"
Arizona State - "The Pride of the Southwest"
UCLA - "The Solid Gold Sound"
... and so on. The nicknames are meaningless and NUMB's is fairly bland, but it's well within the college marching band tradition. At the very least it's not a blatantly stolen marketing ploy in the style of Hands Up in the Air or the running of the freshmen thing.
This post was edited on 4/7 1:39 PM by DozerIII
FYI - "Hang on Sloopy" was played by the Ohio State band in 1965 when the song was first released by the McCoys. It went over well with the fans and has been played at every game since. The song is also the official state rock song of Ohio.
It's this type attitude that is why we have no game day traditions. Air Willie is Stupid, the Bells are Dumb, Hands Up in the Air is embarrassing, everyone does the wave, why can't we be original, that cat noise was a ripoff and is lame!!!
If all you do is whine about meaningless stuff, they'll take it all away. Then we'll be left with a plain field, no activities, the announcer will sound like he's Ben Stein... But we won't have any "stupid traditions"
If all you do is whine about meaningless stuff, they'll take it all away. Then we'll be left with a plain field, no activities, the announcer will sound like he's Ben Stein... But we won't have any "stupid traditions"
We should really take advantage of our "Cardiac Cats" history going into the 4th quarter. Yes, I know the last few years have turned that moniker into a cruel joke, but it's a unique nickname and for years our crazy comebacks defined the program. Just show a montage of our last-minute wins -- if nothing else it might work to pump-up our players and remind them that we used to be the program completing hail-marys.
Or, you know, it could be that people are right and these attempts at creating traditions are stupid.
Nobody complained about Hands in the Air when it started, they had actual celebrities introducing it, and everyone got into it. Now people have lost interest and nobody famous wants to do it so they have to put the university president on the screen. It's cringeworthy. Kill it.
Nobody complained about Hands in the Air when it started, they had actual celebrities introducing it, and everyone got into it. Now people have lost interest and nobody famous wants to do it so they have to put the university president on the screen. It's cringeworthy. Kill it.
realcatfan posted on 4/7/2015...
It's this type attitude that is why we have
no game day traditions. Air Willie is Stupid, the Bells are Dumb,
Hands Up in the Air is embarrassing, everyone does the wave, why can't
we be original, that cat noise was a ripoff and is lame!!!
If all
you do is whine about meaningless stuff, they'll take it all away.
Then we'll be left with a plain field, no activities, the announcer will
sound like he's Ben Stein... But we won't have any "stupid traditions"_____________________________________________________________________________________
Now that would be original . . .
It's this type attitude that is why we have
no game day traditions. Air Willie is Stupid, the Bells are Dumb,
Hands Up in the Air is embarrassing, everyone does the wave, why can't
we be original, that cat noise was a ripoff and is lame!!!
If all
you do is whine about meaningless stuff, they'll take it all away.
Then we'll be left with a plain field, no activities, the announcer will
sound like he's Ben Stein... But we won't have any "stupid traditions"_____________________________________________________________________________________
Now that would be original . . .
Maybe we could have Willie dress up as an Indian and do a dance.
This post was edited on 4/7 4:46 PM by FeralFelidae
This post was edited on 4/7 4:46 PM by FeralFelidae
I think there is some potential material with a heartbeat. "It's the 4th quarter, this is where the Cardiac Cats thrive!" and then a heartbeat that gets progressively faster or something like that. Clap along with the heartbeat maybe?
Dozer, I'm wondering if the NU faithful like anything about NU's game day experience. I'm a very senior citizen and like the original concept of "Hands in the Air" but how about just quickly introduce it and show it for maybe a minute. Heck anything to get our fans off their rear-ends. NUMB could continue to use the monicur, "the finest band in the land " when and if they incease their size by 50 to 100 members. Until then maybe "the finest band on the North Shore" might work. Marketing did get one thing right, Chicago's Big Ten Team", if for no other reason then it gets the illini people furious. Ryan Field will again be hopping like 1995 when the Cats win a Big Ten title again and there won't be any need for smoke and firework introductions, professional anthem singers and 4th quarter theatrics.
DonatelloCat posted on 4/7/2015...
_______________________________________________________________________
I like the idea for a Cardiac Cats theme . . . but using an EKG machine sound instead. The crowd claps to the accelerating rhythm of the beeps, culminating into the crescendo of the "flat line" sound. Then, Fitz suddenly appears on the jumbotron, shouting "clear!" - the cue for NUMB to play the fight song.
I think there is some potential material with a heartbeat. "It's the 4th quarter, this is where the Cardiac Cats thrive!" and then a heartbeat that gets progressively faster or something like that. Clap along with the heartbeat maybe?
_______________________________________________________________________
I like the idea for a Cardiac Cats theme . . . but using an EKG machine sound instead. The crowd claps to the accelerating rhythm of the beeps, culminating into the crescendo of the "flat line" sound. Then, Fitz suddenly appears on the jumbotron, shouting "clear!" - the cue for NUMB to play the fight song.
I find this to be wildly inappropriate considering we recently lost a head coach to a heart attack.
In 2009 we had a golden opportunity to organically imbed "Chelsea Dagger" into NU football culture...yes, I'm talking about the Blackhawks/hockey song.
It was the last game of the season against a ranked Wisconsin team. During the final minutes of the game for no apparent reason, we started playing Chelsea Dagger in the stadium. We were up 33-31 but Wisconsin was marching into field goal range. I would not have bet on us at that point in time. Even though the game hung in the balance, when that damn song came on, all our players started dancing around like we had already won, and so did our fans. In stark contrast, as I remember the sideline reporter mentioning (when I watched the replay at home) that the Wisconsin bench was the exact opposite - stone cold silent and tense like they had already lost. Then, sure enough, John Clay fumbled the ball, we recovered. In true NU fashion, that wasn't even the end of it...Wisconsin got the ball back and turned the ball over again (but Chelsea Dagger played right before the Clay fumble). It's one of my fondest memories of being at Ryan Field in the last 12+ years, second probably only to beating Ohio State in 2004.
That game sent us to the Outback Bowl and sent Wisconsin to some third-tier game (which in fairness to them, they probably won). The timing of the game (last home game of the season) may have essentially killed any hope of giving the song long-term momentum at Ryan Field, but I think if we would have brought the song with us to Tampa for the Outback Bowl, given the similar circumstances (extremely tight game), it could have become a fixture. Maybe even changed our fortunes in Tampa?
To me, this was a classic missed opportunity. And for anyone who says that song belongs to the Hawks...I'd say there are worse things than associating ourselves with Chicago's hockey team, especially since Fitz is a huge fan, Wirtz is an alum and the Stanley Cup has made an appearance at Ryan Field in the recent past. It's a natural match.
This post was edited on 4/7 6:38 PM by Sheffielder
It was the last game of the season against a ranked Wisconsin team. During the final minutes of the game for no apparent reason, we started playing Chelsea Dagger in the stadium. We were up 33-31 but Wisconsin was marching into field goal range. I would not have bet on us at that point in time. Even though the game hung in the balance, when that damn song came on, all our players started dancing around like we had already won, and so did our fans. In stark contrast, as I remember the sideline reporter mentioning (when I watched the replay at home) that the Wisconsin bench was the exact opposite - stone cold silent and tense like they had already lost. Then, sure enough, John Clay fumbled the ball, we recovered. In true NU fashion, that wasn't even the end of it...Wisconsin got the ball back and turned the ball over again (but Chelsea Dagger played right before the Clay fumble). It's one of my fondest memories of being at Ryan Field in the last 12+ years, second probably only to beating Ohio State in 2004.
That game sent us to the Outback Bowl and sent Wisconsin to some third-tier game (which in fairness to them, they probably won). The timing of the game (last home game of the season) may have essentially killed any hope of giving the song long-term momentum at Ryan Field, but I think if we would have brought the song with us to Tampa for the Outback Bowl, given the similar circumstances (extremely tight game), it could have become a fixture. Maybe even changed our fortunes in Tampa?
To me, this was a classic missed opportunity. And for anyone who says that song belongs to the Hawks...I'd say there are worse things than associating ourselves with Chicago's hockey team, especially since Fitz is a huge fan, Wirtz is an alum and the Stanley Cup has made an appearance at Ryan Field in the recent past. It's a natural match.
This post was edited on 4/7 6:38 PM by Sheffielder
I don't mind these "traditions" so much as I hate the stupid games they set up and play during time outs. YUK!! It's the end of the third quarter, the tension in the stadium is over the top, the game is on the line, everyone is really into it, really psyched and what do they do during a time out--totally break the feeling and the mood with some dork trying to throw a football into Coca-
Cola Can. DOUBLE YUK!!! Come on marketers, get out of the fourth grade! Stop this stupid sh*t.
Cola Can. DOUBLE YUK!!! Come on marketers, get out of the fourth grade! Stop this stupid sh*t.
I produced the team's intro video for a few years when Polisky arrived at NU. I made heavy use of all of the Cardiac Cats moments. Unfortunately they've been few and far between the last 10 years (although ND last year will make a nice addition). We used to play a montage of all the great comebacks just before the start of the 4thQ (now replaced with Hands in Air).
Personally, I really miss the old "1st and 10 Northwestern" announcer. It was like he was announcing a momentum shift at times.
Friends I've brought to games who are fans of other teams remark that the Raw Raw Raw growl over the PA always gets under their skin. I'm into things that get under the opposition's skin.
Personally, I really miss the old "1st and 10 Northwestern" announcer. It was like he was announcing a momentum shift at times.
Friends I've brought to games who are fans of other teams remark that the Raw Raw Raw growl over the PA always gets under their skin. I'm into things that get under the opposition's skin.
wait a minute - you could be onto something. Even if we skip the EKG etc below.
So we used to win a lot of close games. A lot of them. (now we lose a lot of them but set that aside). Many of them in the 4th quarter. We're trying to get people excited for the 4th quarter right? Dismiss the silliness and show the real stuff.
Showing the highlights of games we won like that - going back to Barnett era, all the way through some of the recent ones. Now THAT"s tradition, people. Show Barney on the screen and then us beating Wisc after the Dayne fumble. Show the winning Michigan kick. Blocked Iowa kick. Then Walker and show the Mich 54-51 touchdown as well as a bazillion others we won like that. There are a LOT of these highlights and would recall, with reverence, mind you, the kids that laid it on the line for the purple "back in the day". You go to Iowa and they show Nile Kinnick et al. OSU has all of those Heisman winners. Show the winning tradition. Dave Eanet on the call. MAN that gets me pumped just thinking about it. Cap it off with Jack Mitchell's kick into the Indiana darkness. Remind the fans AND the kids that we can win and win late.
So we used to win a lot of close games. A lot of them. (now we lose a lot of them but set that aside). Many of them in the 4th quarter. We're trying to get people excited for the 4th quarter right? Dismiss the silliness and show the real stuff.
Showing the highlights of games we won like that - going back to Barnett era, all the way through some of the recent ones. Now THAT"s tradition, people. Show Barney on the screen and then us beating Wisc after the Dayne fumble. Show the winning Michigan kick. Blocked Iowa kick. Then Walker and show the Mich 54-51 touchdown as well as a bazillion others we won like that. There are a LOT of these highlights and would recall, with reverence, mind you, the kids that laid it on the line for the purple "back in the day". You go to Iowa and they show Nile Kinnick et al. OSU has all of those Heisman winners. Show the winning tradition. Dave Eanet on the call. MAN that gets me pumped just thinking about it. Cap it off with Jack Mitchell's kick into the Indiana darkness. Remind the fans AND the kids that we can win and win late.
@phat - I actually do like the idea...but I wonder are there any NCAA rules against showing clips from previous games like this in the middle of a series (as opposed to when teams are running out of the tunnel, at halftime, etc)? I've not seen it done before.
The problem that I have with the nickname is that they are far from the finest band in the land. It's a complete lie.
Here are some more apt nicknames:
"The best effort band in the land"
"The hardest studyin' band in the land"
"The wind ensemble of Dyche"
"The highest woodwind ratio band in the land"
"The band that tries really hard"
"The band that loves to play shit you never heard of"
"Why ain't we got no sousaphones band"
"At least give us a big ass drum like Purdue"
etc...
Thanks, EvanstonCat. I thought we'd go the whole thread without someone belittling the efforts of a bunch of (generally pretty talented) college kids.
But there was no need to worry-- someone is always willing to be the asshole. Thanks for stepping up.
But there was no need to worry-- someone is always willing to be the asshole. Thanks for stepping up.
Yes, in this case, we have two and you and I fill the roles admirably. Then you have all the a-holes on this board who just aren't funny at all.
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