Wear some orange, make some noise, be some stupid

Three weeks ago, I remembered why I love being a fan of college sports. A few friends wanted to go to the final day of the H-Y-P swim meet and I went along.

As the afternoon progressed, and the men's team was getting closer to closing out Harvard for the championship, the atmosphere surrounding DeNunzio Pool was electric. The crowd — which was made up primarily of students — was loud and boisterous, and the team fed off of it.

As senior Jesse Gage stepped onto the blocks for the 4x100 meter freestyle relay, the entire crowd was hoping for something exciting to happen.

And it did. Gage swam the fastest split in Princeton history and the team broke the school record — much to the delight of the crowd.

The next weekend I went to Baker Rink for the men's hockey game against Colgate. Although the rink was three-quarters filled, the only noise from the stands was the Colgate Band heckling Princeton goalie Dave Stathos. Students were noticably absent to that game because of eating club pickups.

It was at this point that I realized that college students are much better fans than townies. While the townies who come to the game fill seats at the sporting events here, without the students it's like playing in an empty arena.

So this basically brings me to the point of this column. This weekend is one of the biggest ones all season for our men's basketball and hockey teams.

Men's hoops is on a bit of a slide, having lost its last two games on the road, but the Tigers still sit in a tie atop the Ivy League standings and control their own destiny. Hockey, on the other hand, is fighting for its playoff life, needing points in its final two weekends to earn a spot in the 10-team Eastern College Athletic Conference tournament.

So, as students of Princeton, this is one time to put down the books for a few hours on the weekend and go have fun at whatever game you want — whether it be men's or women's hockey, men's basketball or fencing.

But attendence has its responsibilities. It does not mean that you go sit up in the stands, watch quietly, and clap a little at the end.

The best games to attend are the ones at which the fans are loud, rowdy and make the opposing team have to contend not only with the home team, but also the fans in the stands.

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

This weekend, Princeton fans have to emulate those of other schools and create an environment in which other teams do not want to play. At certain events — last year's Penn men's basketball game and the Ivy Baseball Championship Series, for example — I've seen that fans here have the same spirit as they do anywhere else. This is one of the times to display it.

In case you've spent your Friday and Saturday evenings at Princeton in Firestone finishing up those problem sets or doing extensive preparations to go out to the 'Street,' here are some pointers on how to be a good fan at Princeton.

1) Wear orange — The brighter the better. At the University of Florida, fans on one half of the basketball court wear orange and on the other they wear blue. Do we need to go that far? No. But our school colors are orange and black. Wear them and have pride in them.

2) Make noise — So far this season men's basketball has traveled to two of the most hostile arenas in the country — Duke's Cameron Indoor Stadium and Penn's Palestra. Now it's time for the Tigers to get that same kind of home-court advantage.

If you decide to go to a game this weekend, wherever it is, make noise. Everyone will have more fun and the team will appreciate it.

As Stathos said to me early this season, "the best games to play are when there are lots of students and lots of noise."

3) Be stupid — For five days a week you have to go to class and act like an intelligent, sophisticated student — well, at least we're supposed to. But when you're at the games, have fun. Act a little wild and make this a great place to see a ballgame.

I'll see you at a game, whichever one it is. I'll be the one with no voice left, wearing the orange shirt. And hey, I hear Bodyhype is performing Saturday at halftime of the basketball game.