At Northwestern sporting events, we put our hands up in the air, jingle our keys and scream "time to move the chains" after gaining a first down, along with a whole host of other traditions that make our games truly unique. But many of these customs are outdated or simply too pompous (the reason for jingling our keys doesn't make us look too good), which led us at NBN Sports to come up with some new ideas. Enjoy our attempt at revitalizing Northwestern's sports games:
Primal Scream during basketball games
By Austin Siegel
Primal scream is already one of Northwestern’s most popular traditons. For those of you who don’t know (in which case, Reading Week must be absolutely terrifying), primal scream takes place at 9 p.m. the Sunday before finals week. Everyone on campus either goes outside or opens a window…and screams. It’s an awesome way to blow off some steam, but I think it could also be used to scare the bejeezus out of our opponents during basketball games.
Here’s my plan: Before every basketball game, all the fans in the student section agree on a minute in the game in which they’ll start screaming for no apparent reason. One game it might be 14 minutes in, another it might be at the two-minute mark – it’s just important that it be different every game. When the clock hits that minute, we go bananas until a Northwestern player scores a basket. Then it’s business as usual. The opposing team and their fans will have no idea what’s going on and probably wonder whether we’ve all lost our minds. Sounds great, right?
Real wildcats
By Jasper Scherer
The commercial break contests during Northwestern football games are relatively tame: catching balls launched into the air, throwing a football through the uprights from various distances, etc.
But none of those contests involve wildcats, which is a travesty that needs to be corrected. Here's what I propose: One (un)lucky contestant starts on the opposite side of the football field from an actual wildcat – lynx, jaguar, cheetah, whatever. The feline is unleashed on the contestant, who must then elude said wildcat for 30 seconds. Win, and you walk away with a year's supply of cat food. Lose and, well...you don't want to lose.
It would spice up the football games that are sometimes in need of some spicing up (the Michigan-NU game comes to mind), and would enhance our school spirit by giving our real, living mascot some love.
Halftime knockout games
By Andrew Simpson
There are two ways to go with this: become even more pretentious or make the games more fun for the students.
Pretentious is easy: We just shake our keys during opponents’ foul shots. Mass key jingling is obnoxious, but there’s nothing like the prospect of having a future lower annual income than some random purple-wearing college kids to distract you from a free throw.
Okay, lame idea out of the way. Now, imagine this: a five-person knockout tournament at halftime, based on who brought the best sign to the game, and the winner gets $10.
First, this encourages students to bring hilarious signs to games. At halftime, get the WNUR host to pick the five best signs, then bring the five students onto the court and make them play knockout. Reward the winner with $10 dollars.
There are so many ways to make this even more fun. One game, make the students wear flip flops. Maybe use tennis balls or volleyballs instead of basketballs. Have the crowd be completely silent until the winning shot.
I’m challenging the administration, Wildside or whoever can make this happen. I will personally shell out the $10 to the winner at every home game.
New chant
By Andy Brown
A really cool tradition we should try is actually going to sporting events utilizing a signature chant other than “Go U, NU!” To me, that has always seemed kind of archaic. After all, it comes from the first three words of the fight song, which was written in 1913, when our unofficial mascot was The Fighting Methodists. Don’t get me wrong, I love our fight song. But we can do much better chants-wise.
“Go U, NU!” also just doesn’t have the same resonance as similar chants at other schools, i.e. “Texas, Fight!” or “Go Blue!” Those chants are distinctly Texas and Michigan respectively, and the average college sports fan recognizes them almost instantly.
I’m not crazy enough to believe that Northwestern can ever live up to the fame or fortune of those programs, but I am crazy enough to believe that with all of the brilliant minds packed into this university, somebody can come up with something more iconic and recognizable than what we have now. And no, “Let’s Go, ‘Cats!” is not the answer I’m looking for.
The athletic department is currently trying its damnedest to freshen up a bit, so there’s no reason the fanbase shouldn’t follow suit with a new chant. Think purple, white, felines, whatever resonates. I pass the buck onto thee, Northwestern.
Stay until the end and sing
By Ellen Schmitz
Let’s go out with a bang! Imagine the entire student section staying until the very end of games. We already sing the alma mater, but we could put a little more heart and soul into it. Doing that also requires showing up – and actually knowing the lyrics would help too. The song could be something that keeps every NU fan at the game until the last seconds tick off the clock. As cheesy as it is, it shouldn’t matter if we win or lose (read: lose). We’re all Wildcats and we’re all family. At the end of the game, every ‘Cat should be on their feet singing.