True Blue on the Horizon

[RootforRoo44]

That was a True Blue Embarrassment. That's all the students you could gather for that trip? HAHA

[Dave in Green]

How many organized road trips has True Blue done?Most of you were respectful during the senior night thing which is good, but shouting over our choir during the national anthem wasn't very classy. You guys brought lots of energy early but quieted down as the game wore on. My advice is to hold back a bit during the first half so you can really go all out in the second half. You were in unison for your cheers, and brought a little bit of creativity. Overall not bad.Maybe next year you could organize a trip to Can't. They're not very fond of visiting students.

+1I've never seen a problem with Buffalo fans, except .....Never mess with the national anthem.Never. No way. No how. No matter how cool you may think it might sound to amplify "home of the brave(s)", most patriotic citizens will rightfully consider it disrespectful of the true meaning and purpose of our national anthem, and think less of the University at Buffalo and its students.

[RootforRoo44]

How many organized road trips has True Blue done?Most of you were respectful during the senior night thing which is good, but shouting over our choir during the national anthem wasn't very classy. You guys brought lots of energy early but quieted down as the game wore on. My advice is to hold back a bit during the first half so you can really go all out in the second half. You were in unison for your cheers, and brought a little bit of creativity. Overall not bad.Maybe next year you could organize a trip to Can't. They're not very fond of visiting students.

+1I've never seen a problem with Buffalo fans, except .....Never mess with the national anthem.Never. No way. No how. No matter how cool you may think it might sound to amplify "home of the brave(s)", most patriotic citizens will rightfully consider it disrespectful of the true meaning and purpose of our national anthem, and think less of the University at Buffalo and its students.

They weren't the first...i believe Can't was WAY worse 2 years ago. They started chanting during the national anthem, at least the Buffalo fans (all 8 of them) yelled "home of the bulls". That is not far removed from what the Rowdies do, though the Rowdies only do "home of the zips" when the national anthem is not being sung.

[TrueBlue]

Just got home from the bus didn't really have time to read through this but um, apparently we wanted to win more than our players so yea.... Zips get this one, I guess we'll find out in Cleveland who wins the season series.

[johnnyzip84]

Just got home from the bus didn't really have time to read through this but um, apparently we wanted to win more than our players so yea.... Zips get this one, I guess we'll find out in Cleveland who wins the season series.

I applaud you all for making the trip. IMHO the UA-UB rivalry is a very good thing for the MAC. Beyond what's already been mentioned (good and bad) I'd like to give props for the "USA USA" chant as the retort to "Buffalo's in Canada". Nice timing with the Winter Olympics I hope to see more of you at the Q for one huge MAC hoops party.

[Dr Z]

Just got home from the bus didn't really have time to read through this but um, apparently we wanted to win more than our players

It's okay, I drove up to Buffalo this year to see a football game where the refs wanted Buffalo to win more than I did.

[MDZip]

This thread has been fun, especially with a few Bulls fans joining in so its time to "kick it up a notch" (and get away from whining at each other and aim it back at the Bulls) with the old look-a-like contest. Yes, I know some of you fear it, believing it has a curse. But its time to show that what we do on here doesn't actually matter in the outcome of games and this one was too good to pass up. So I give you:

The "curse" is officially lifted. We can play again. By the way, OU's buzzer beater over Miami was play #8 on ESPN's top ten plays of the day. #6 was Cal State Fullerton winning on a 3 pt bank shot that looked eerily like the Penno shot.

[Captain Kangaroo]

Just got home from the bus didn't really have time to read through this but um, apparently we wanted to win more than our players

It's okay, I drove up to Buffalo this year to see a football game where the refs wanted Buffalo to win more than I did.

[Captain Kangaroo]

How many organized road trips has True Blue done?Most of you were respectful during the senior night thing which is good, but shouting over our choir during the national anthem wasn't very classy. You guys brought lots of energy early but quieted down as the game wore on. My advice is to hold back a bit during the first half so you can really go all out in the second half. You were in unison for your cheers, and brought a little bit of creativity. Overall not bad.Maybe next year you could organize a trip to Can't. They're not very fond of visiting students.

+1I've never seen a problem with Buffalo fans, except .....Never mess with the national anthem.Never. No way. No how. No matter how cool you may think it might sound to amplify "home of the brave(s)", most patriotic citizens will rightfully consider it disrespectful of the true meaning and purpose of our national anthem, and think less of the University at Buffalo and its students.

The Rowdies amplify "...and the hooooome of the Zips" all the time. Why no complaints until Buffalo did it?

[ZachTheZip]

How many organized road trips has True Blue done?Most of you were respectful during the senior night thing which is good, but shouting over our choir during the national anthem wasn't very classy. You guys brought lots of energy early but quieted down as the game wore on. My advice is to hold back a bit during the first half so you can really go all out in the second half. You were in unison for your cheers, and brought a little bit of creativity. Overall not bad.Maybe next year you could organize a trip to Can't. They're not very fond of visiting students.

+1I've never seen a problem with Buffalo fans, except .....Never mess with the national anthem.Never. No way. No how. No matter how cool you may think it might sound to amplify "home of the brave(s)", most patriotic citizens will rightfully consider it disrespectful of the true meaning and purpose of our national anthem, and think less of the University at Buffalo and its students.

The Rowdies amplify "...and the hooooome of the Zips" all the time. Why no complaints until Buffalo did it?

The Rowdies only do it when the band or a recording is playing. Never when there is a choir or singer, out of respect to their performance.

[Captain Kangaroo]

How many organized road trips has True Blue done?Most of you were respectful during the senior night thing which is good, but shouting over our choir during the national anthem wasn't very classy. You guys brought lots of energy early but quieted down as the game wore on. My advice is to hold back a bit during the first half so you can really go all out in the second half. You were in unison for your cheers, and brought a little bit of creativity. Overall not bad.Maybe next year you could organize a trip to Can't. They're not very fond of visiting students.

+1I've never seen a problem with Buffalo fans, except .....Never mess with the national anthem.Never. No way. No how. No matter how cool you may think it might sound to amplify "home of the brave(s)", most patriotic citizens will rightfully consider it disrespectful of the true meaning and purpose of our national anthem, and think less of the University at Buffalo and its students.

The Rowdies amplify "...and the hooooome of the Zips" all the time. Why no complaints until Buffalo did it?

The Rowdies only do it when the band or a recording is playing. Never when there is a choir or singer, out of respect to their performance.

What is the difference? The National Anthem is The National Anthem. Be it sung by the the little kid sitting next to you, played from a recording, or sung by a choir.To call out the Bulls fans as "not very classy" is hypocritical.

[Dave in Green]

How many organized road trips has True Blue done?Most of you were respectful during the senior night thing which is good, but shouting over our choir during the national anthem wasn't very classy. You guys brought lots of energy early but quieted down as the game wore on. My advice is to hold back a bit during the first half so you can really go all out in the second half. You were in unison for your cheers, and brought a little bit of creativity. Overall not bad.Maybe next year you could organize a trip to Can't. They're not very fond of visiting students.

+1I've never seen a problem with Buffalo fans, except .....Never mess with the national anthem.Never. No way. No how. No matter how cool you may think it might sound to amplify "home of the brave(s)", most patriotic citizens will rightfully consider it disrespectful of the true meaning and purpose of our national anthem, and think less of the University at Buffalo and its students.

The Rowdies amplify "...and the hooooome of the Zips" all the time. Why no complaints until Buffalo did it?

Maybe it was because the Buffalo folks were closer or louder or both, but I've never really heard the Rowdies doing this. If I had, I would have said something on this forum.I don't believe it's any more appropriate to personalize the country's national anthem than it is to blurt out a personal message during a moment of silence for someone who has passed away.The Rowdies have a great combination of passion and class. I suspect if they thought this through that they would understand how this action would not reflect well on them or anyone else who does it.

[tbozeglav]

Ill bite the bait, even though I shouldnt...Nobody in their right mind can sit there and say that what both UA and Buffalo do at the end of the National Anthem isn't classy without saying that any sports fans in the entire nation who do this VERY thing aren't classy. Our students, nor Buffalo's students, started doing this out of an idea from within. Rather, the "tradition" (for lack of a better word) of saying "home of the [insert home team's name]" at the end of the National Anthem has been around for as long as I know. To some of the elder members here, this may not be very long, but its enough to prove my point. We needn't be critical of Buffalo students, nor our own, for this action. Its become a ritual of the sports world long before we ever began doing it. Is it disrespectful of the National Anthem and, if applicable, the person performing it? To some extent, yes. However, I would digress that the level of disrespect involved is so low that its borderline insignificant. Never before have I ever heard of this being called out as being unclassy. If we are going to get our panties in a bunch over how classy something is during the National Anthem, we need to be getting on the case of anyone in attendance of the game who choose not to remove their hats, text, continue talking to friends, stand up, etc. These are "unclassy" things that need FAR more attention than saying "HOME OF THE ZIPS" at the end of the National Anthem. Thats all I have to add. Take it for what its worth, but know that I always remove my hat, always stand, always face the flag, always remain silent till the end, and am always respectful of the anthem, who is singing it, and what the anthem stands for.

[RowdyZip]

This is classless. I had a problem when the Rowdies did it last year, seems it's gone away this yr. Let's keep it that way. Having nothing to do with the performer, it's still disrespectful to the USA

[zipseuph]

This is classless. I had a problem when the Rowdies did it last year, seems it's gone away this yr. Let's keep it that way. Having nothing to do with the performer, it's still disrespectful to the USA

+1the national Anthem is a time to stand up and pay tribute to something bigger than Akron or any school they'll ever play. while "home of the (insert school)" isn't mean spirited or intentionaly disrespectful. it is out of place

[RootforRoo44]

How many organized road trips has True Blue done?Most of you were respectful during the senior night thing which is good, but shouting over our choir during the national anthem wasn't very classy. You guys brought lots of energy early but quieted down as the game wore on. My advice is to hold back a bit during the first half so you can really go all out in the second half. You were in unison for your cheers, and brought a little bit of creativity. Overall not bad.Maybe next year you could organize a trip to Can't. They're not very fond of visiting students.

+1I've never seen a problem with Buffalo fans, except .....Never mess with the national anthem.Never. No way. No how. No matter how cool you may think it might sound to amplify "home of the brave(s)", most patriotic citizens will rightfully consider it disrespectful of the true meaning and purpose of our national anthem, and think less of the University at Buffalo and its students.

The Rowdies amplify "...and the hooooome of the Zips" all the time. Why no complaints until Buffalo did it?

The Rowdies only do it when the band or a recording is playing. Never when there is a choir or singer, out of respect to their performance.

What is the difference? The National Anthem is The National Anthem. Be it sung by the the little kid sitting next to you, played from a recording, or sung by a choir.To call out the Bulls fans as "not very classy" is hypocritical.

COMPLETELY different. Apparently you dont understand, it is classless to show up the singer who is singing the words. When the tune is being played it is in no way the same thing as no lyrics are being sung. Personally i think it shouldnt be done either way, but it is VERY different. If you want to get into disrespect for our country we should discuss the garbage that UA brings in to sing the national anthem half the time (last night was great btw, definitely better than most anything). I find it far more disrespectful to put awful sounding little kids out there to butcher our song or to put some ridiculous singer who thinks its ok to change how it's supposed to be sung (like Kents singer this year).

[zipseuph]

How many organized road trips has True Blue done?Most of you were respectful during the senior night thing which is good, but shouting over our choir during the national anthem wasn't very classy. You guys brought lots of energy early but quieted down as the game wore on. My advice is to hold back a bit during the first half so you can really go all out in the second half. You were in unison for your cheers, and brought a little bit of creativity. Overall not bad.Maybe next year you could organize a trip to Can't. They're not very fond of visiting students.

+1I've never seen a problem with Buffalo fans, except .....Never mess with the national anthem.Never. No way. No how. No matter how cool you may think it might sound to amplify "home of the brave(s)", most patriotic citizens will rightfully consider it disrespectful of the true meaning and purpose of our national anthem, and think less of the University at Buffalo and its students.

The Rowdies amplify "...and the hooooome of the Zips" all the time. Why no complaints until Buffalo did it?

The Rowdies only do it when the band or a recording is playing. Never when there is a choir or singer, out of respect to their performance.

What is the difference? The National Anthem is The National Anthem. Be it sung by the the little kid sitting next to you, played from a recording, or sung by a choir.To call out the Bulls fans as "not very classy" is hypocritical.

COMPLETELY different. Apparently you dont understand, it is classless to show up the singer who is singing the words. When the tune is being played it is in no way the same thing as no lyrics are being sung. Personally i think it shouldnt be done either way, but it is VERY different. If you want to get into disrespect for our country we should discuss the garbage that UA brings in to sing the national anthem half the time (last night was great btw, definitely better than most anything). I find it far more disrespectful to put awful sounding little kids out there to butcher our song or to put some ridiculous singer who thinks its ok to change how it's supposed to be sung (like Kents singer this year).

well why don't you just go ahead and work on that

[Hilltopper]

Bring back Greg Rockich, he was like a good luck charm for Huggins.

[ndwright]

How many organized road trips has True Blue done?Most of you were respectful during the senior night thing which is good, but shouting over our choir during the national anthem wasn't very classy. You guys brought lots of energy early but quieted down as the game wore on. My advice is to hold back a bit during the first half so you can really go all out in the second half. You were in unison for your cheers, and brought a little bit of creativity. Overall not bad.Maybe next year you could organize a trip to Can't. They're not very fond of visiting students.

For Basketball, this was our fourth one as a group. Honestly, when we do these trips, we go for quality fans, not quantity. This is something that we may have strayed away from for this trip, regrettably.As for why there may have been less noise and cohesiveness later on, there were several factors. I’m sure that you realize what some of them were.As for Can't: Been there, done that. Their older fans gave were downright ungrateful for our presence there the last time around, and there weren’t really any students to speak of. Except that one chick that’s always there. It was actually a member of the Rowdies who suggested that we come to the JAR this year instead. We obliged.---- -

That was a True Blue Embarrassment. That's all the students you could gather for that trip? HAHA

I'm sorry that we weren't able to impress your contingent of bandies and "rowdies" that made up that little section along the baseline. Props on the huge cardboard signs though, and that red “X” that’s been around forever. They almost made us take you seriously.Come on. If anything, you have to admit that since you knew we were coming, you probably tried harder to get that turnout and make the noise.

. . . Maybe the newly silent Ak-Rowdies will actually make somr noise? Last couple games they've sucked, especially OU.

Also, don’t try to pass it off that your efforts to bring people to the game if it had been in Buffalo last night would have been any better. From el Presidente himself:

but honestly it is frustrating have 500-1000 students (over 1300 for hartwick, iu, and osu) at every soccer game then begging to get 150-200 for basketball.

This problem seems to be mutual. Not that we ever had anywhere close to 500-1000 students for soccer, I would never try to bull**** that. We’ve had excellent turnout maybe twice this year. Wednesday night home games, our student section is far from packed. Then again, our end bleachers are easily 5 times as large as yours. To bring as many as we brought, considering this was a 12 hour commitment, mid semester, with many of our truly dedicated members, i.e. the noise making bunch, being unable to travel due to classes, midterms, etc.. I’m alright with that.Now, as for the National Anthem issue… In the past, I used to be concerned that the “Home of the Bulls” line was classless, but honestly, I got over it. In the end, I have the utmost respect for anyone who has ever fought to defend that flag and what it stands for, in the traditional sense. Any argument to the contrary is untenable in my mind.“… but shouting over our choir during the national anthem wasn't very classy.”I, personally, was singing along, as were my compatriots, I assume. We do this all the time at home. It’s a great show of patriotism, is it not? I think that to sing along is much more respectable than to simply hum and make “tsss” sounds when the cymbals [should] clash, as some imbeciles do.Why were the lyrics displayed on that marquis at the far end of the court if there wasn’t some expectation of crowd participation? Was it a lack of confidence in the ability of your own choir, or will you try to pass it off as something that was done in consideration of the visiting Canadian delegation, who may not have known the words to the Star Spangled Banner? (Some of us thought that we should sing O Canada immediately following the national anthem to be ironic, but we quickly realized that collectively we knew not more than the opening stanza and the closing lines)All in all, it was a good time, when you ignore the game itself. I’d make the trip again, honestly. Maybe next year the game will be on a Saturday night, and we can really see what we’re made of.On an interesting, possibly petty note: Your band’s drummer seemed to be starting a majority of your chants, even when the ball was in play. Isn’t there a ban on noisemakers during game time at these events? We’ve been made to do our cowbell chants during timeouts, and we’re often fighting against our obnoxiously loud band. See you in Cleveland.

[OZoner]

How many organized road trips has True Blue done?Most of you were respectful during the senior night thing which is good, but shouting over our choir during the national anthem wasn't very classy. You guys brought lots of energy early but quieted down as the game wore on. My advice is to hold back a bit during the first half so you can really go all out in the second half. You were in unison for your cheers, and brought a little bit of creativity. Overall not bad.Maybe next year you could organize a trip to Can't. They're not very fond of visiting students.

+1I've never seen a problem with Buffalo fans, except .....Never mess with the national anthem.Never. No way. No how. No matter how cool you may think it might sound to amplify "home of the brave(s)", most patriotic citizens will rightfully consider it disrespectful of the true meaning and purpose of our national anthem, and think less of the University at Buffalo and its students.

The Rowdies amplify "...and the hooooome of the Zips" all the time. Why no complaints until Buffalo did it?

Maybe it was because the Buffalo folks were closer or louder or both, but I've never really heard the Rowdies doing this. If I had, I would have said something on this forum.

Interesting. I've heard them do it from across Quicken Loans Arena, though I don't remember if someone was singing it at the time.

[MDZip]

Happens all over the country - Go to Atlanta for a baseball game and you'll get "...home of the Braves". Go to Baltimore and you'll hear "O's say does that star spangled banner yet wave ...". Thats whole stadiums full of people and generally a live singer. To each his own, that's exactly what our national anthem represents. There are limits of course, but its not that big of a deal.

[bandzip]

On an interesting, possibly petty note: Your band’s drummer seemed to be starting a majority of your chants, even when the ball was in play. Isn’t there a ban on noisemakers during game time at these events? We’ve been made to do our cowbell chants during timeouts, and we’re often fighting against our obnoxiously loud band.

The rule is you can't play when the ball is in play. When the ref is holding the ball waiting for someone to toss it in it's perfectly fine, just like how they play music right up to the tip. He usually starts them and then stops right as the ball is handed off and lets the students keep it going.

[ndwright]

On an interesting, possibly petty note: Your band’s drummer seemed to be starting a majority of your chants, even when the ball was in play. Isn’t there a ban on noisemakers during game time at these events? We’ve been made to do our cowbell chants during timeouts, and we’re often fighting against our obnoxiously loud band.

The rule is you can't play when the ball is in play. When the ref is holding the ball waiting for someone to toss it in it's perfectly fine, just like how they play music right up to the tip. He usually starts them and then stops right as the ball is handed off and lets the students keep it going.

I recall a couple of instances where the ball was moving up the court and the drummer was still banging away. I believe Jeseph [TrueBlue] will back me up on this one.

[ndwright]

On an interesting, possibly petty note: Your band’s drummer seemed to be starting a majority of your chants, even when the ball was in play. Isn’t there a ban on noisemakers during game time at these events? We’ve been made to do our cowbell chants during timeouts, and we’re often fighting against our obnoxiously loud band.

The rule is you can't play when the ball is in play. When the ref is holding the ball waiting for someone to toss it in it's perfectly fine, just like how they play music right up to the tip. He usually starts them and then stops right as the ball is handed off and lets the students keep it going.

I recall a couple of instances where the ball was moving up the court and the drummer was still banging away. I believe Jeseph [TrueBlue] will back me up on this one.

[Let'sGoZips94]

That wasn't a very good turn out by the True Who. I enjoyed the middle fingers also. I thought one of the greatest chants was when the True Who started chanting "USA! USA! USA!" and the Rowdies all shrugged their shoulders like "Ok, it's our country thanks for honoring it" and started chanting "USA! USA! USA!".