Kennel Club
by i_am_a_ZAG on Dec 6, 2009 8:02 PM PST
24 comments
There have been many negative posts regarding the Kennel Club in the last week since the WSU and WF games, some of which I think are warranted. As a member of the student section, I do not see any problem chanting "That ref sucks" or "Take his whistle" after a blatently bad call. These chants are no different than just booing the officials. However, the "Bull----" chant needs to go. I believe that the only way this can happen is if it is addressed by the KC Board.
Apart from the student section, there is not much noise coming from the crowd. Is it that hard to stand up for a few minutes during key possessions and cheer for your team? I'd like to hear some input from fellow KC members as well as other fans.
GO ZAGS!
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welcome
love to have students on the blog. hope you continue to stop by. as for your post i generally agree with everything you say. i’m sure while the BS chant was going on the kennel board was telling everyone to shut up. that’s usually a pretty big no no with the people that are in charge of the students so i’d expect that to go away. personally, i tend to get upset when people boo or chant after blatantly obvious calls! i couldn’t tell you how many times Gonzaga would commit an obvious foul and i’d hear that “what what” chant (which i hope has been retired) or something else. i respect fans with a high basketball IQ and it’s not like we have football to distract us. we’ve got one sport to go crazy at!
the rest of the crowd is quiet but my freshman year the KC board made sure to do “On your feet” chants at big moments in the game and that would get everyone up. i missed that the past few years. just keep chanting at the others…they’ll get it together!
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We try
There were a few key plays in both the WSU and Wake games in which the student section did the “on your feet” chant and everyone got up. However, as soon as play started back up everyone sat down again even though we were still yelling to them. I think someone said it here or on another thread but the fact that the crowd other than the student section sits down and doesn’t get loud most of the game is what separates us from an arena like Cameron Indoor, which holds almost 4,000 more people than the Kennel but is also much larger and has a much higher ceiling, where everyone is going crazy. Our arena is so small that the Kennel Club can make a big difference but when everyone gets involved it is an even more awesome experience. I was at the Battle in Seattle last year and when we were coming back against UCONN the whole place was on their feet and going crazy. If we could get that out of all 6,000 people at the Kennel(plus or minus the few visiting fans) we would be able to blow the roof off the place. The compact area makes the Kennel a hellhole for visiting teams and I can only imagine how tough it would be if everyone went crazy the whole time. St. Mary’s was like that last year and WSU got loud near the end but I am sure that it could be even crazier. Anyway, thats my 2 cents(and then some).
I generally don't like the people in Kennel Club Board, but they do try and stop "BS" chants.
But they can’t stop it when the majority of the student section is chanting it.
The best way is to police yourselves!
Take pride in your University and your Team. Question your peers motives and behavior and get those HAND SITTING FANS across from you to get with it! There’s NOTHING like class from a student section. Take the high road. The University has great respect in the Hoop community, don’t let it slip away. Great job so far.
KC board message
This is an excerpt from the weekly KC board newsletter sent out a few minutes ago:
“The Kennel Club is known throughout the country as a crazy, passionate, but classy student section. I know the refs make bad calls (it makes us just as mad) but we really are better then chanting Bull—— (if someone has a better idea of something else to chant that would be awesome). Don’t think this means we aren’t thinking it as well, but we feel that it is probably best to not. Also, the other chant that has been gone for years after much scrutiny is yelling b—— at the end of the “on you” foul cheer. It is just distasteful. We feel like everyone else and want to get in there heads but we have better ways to do it. We love the passion from everyone and want to encourage that. We obviously care a ton about Gonzaga Basketball and just want to try and keep our image as the intense crowd, focused on our energy and off of the exact things we say. (Having said that you should all check out D Casto’s interview after the Wazzu game) He was definitely not prepared for our intensity."
props to KC board
who cares
personally the bs cheers don’t bother me at all. You hear way worse at football games. And I’d rather the student section be honest rather than classy ;)
The thing that does annoy me about the student section is during the routs of the smaller schools, after gonzaga is already up by 20-30, you will still hear “you got swatted” “airball” and other cheers. Do they really need to get that excited about beating the heck out of cupcake d2 team?
former student now sitting across the court...
I am a former student that now attends the games and sits in the normal seats across from the students and it is still really frustrating and hard to get the people around you to stand and cheer. They get more excited for the Thomas Hammer coffee cannon than anything else. I try to stand as much as possible, but when you have people sitting behind you and you are the only person standing in your section, it makes it difficult. I actually yelled/screamed at my section during the WSU game when we were coming back to 4 down and the people just sat back down after a time-out and the people around me just laughed…it’s really quite sad. Believe me that there are many fans that would love to continue the craziness around the Kennel, its just that most people aren’t that into it.
Lots of great comments
As a member of the Kennel Club Board I would love to address as many of these comments as possible. First off, we do try and stop the BS chant if it starts but we really aren’t able to control 1200 students. I appreciate the excerpt from the email and the offer always stands for people (not just students) to email us alternative cheer ideas. Our email is kcboard@gonzaga.edu. SethGrandpa, sorry you are hating on us for whatever reason but that’s fine.
As a student section we are proud to be Zags and as I’m sure the authors of this blog can attest to, there is something special about the four years you get to sit in the student section. We are very proud of both our teams and our fans and while we do say questionable things at times, I will take that over a half full arena of people that just go cause the tickets are free any day.
GO ZAGS!
just drown it out
if the majority isn’t using the BS chant, why don’t you lead another chant that the majority will pick up on and drown out the BS chants with if you’re really trying to get rid of the BS chant? honestly, it doesn’t really bother me, i’ve heard it since the old Kennel days, but if it’s hurting our image on televised games then this would seem like a no-brainer…
by trufflshuffl on Dec 8, 2009 11:21 PM PST up reply actions
Who are you talking about?
Just a little confused on who you are calling a classless Dilt. Just want to clarify so I don’t miss your intent.
Ekrub is who I would assume.
I believe he is referring to the comment "I’d rather the student section be honest rather than classy ;)
IMO a “BS” chant just shines a negative light on us…especially when it’s a national broadcast. We’re better than that in Spokane.
Go Zags!!
If this was a shot at me...
well mikesequim, I’m sure the Kennel Club would start a “I respectfully disagree” but that is quite a mouthful. BS is much easier.
And I dont go to, or cheer at the games. So if me having the opinion that the cheers don’t bother me makes me a “classless Dilt”….. than you are a moron absolutely right
Props
to the kennel club board because they do a hell of a job organizing everything and trying to control the cheers. To expect 10 or so people to stop a chant being screamed by 1000 is outrageous. They do their best and continue to address the problems. So give them a break
The BS chant
isn’t classy, but it is an immediate reaction. If there’s an alternative, I definitely think that would be better but the point is that you’re disagreeing with the call. It’s hard to look classy when you’re mad. If the Casto thing I read about is true, that is extremely disappointing.
Also, I agree with Ekrub on chanting during when the Zags are beating up on smaller schools. Totally unnecesary.
GU's unique, the BS chant is not...
The stereotypical chants are for high schools, not college.
I remember seeing an interview with a St. Mary’s player from years ago…he told a story about coming to play GU and hearing students shouting questions about his Grandmother’s cataract surgery (or something of the sort) – and it got into his head during the game – how would GU students know about this?! Deluging Omar Samham with emails is another example of a story that was funny, unique, and adds to the lure of GU. Each done with a sense of fair play and perspective.
I am not trying to be critical of the students – they are the best part of attending a game (as demonstrated with their absence during Christmas break), I just love it when they find ways to separate themselves from other Universities.
I do agree
The KC needs to do their homework. Find out about opposing players, check their facebooks and myspaces. Google their names. Find anything that will get under their skin. Granted the mushrooms chant was to be expected when heytvelt was shooting free throws, but that kind of stuff is FUNNY, and its the kind of stuff that the KC can do to help Gonzaga win.
last time..
last time they did that…they dug up a photo of a SMC player kissing another man…which led to the clever (if in poor taste) Brokeback Mountain chant that got this student section in trouble in the first place…its a no-win situation
so try again
sure you got a slap on the wrist who cares. Do the research and if you find something like that…..you dont even need to say anything just hold up a picture of if, or a big picture of it….he will get the point. Or hit on him the whole time. Its the little thngs that get into peoples heads, rarely the big chants
by DanielwMathews on Dec 9, 2009 1:42 PM PST up reply actions
Thank God for the Kennel Club
I went to a couple of games when the students were on Christmas break and it was a very different atmosphere.
I could hear myself think, not good, and I started noticing all of the people just sitting with glazed looks on their faces. Not cheering or clapping. Just sitting there like they were wondering what they were having for dinner. Or with a mild look of curiousity, kind of like people at a zoo watching the animals. Eating popcorn and such, sitting at home watching a movie.
I LOVE going to the games where people BRING IT. It is so much more exciting. It gets our Zags pumped, and gets into the heads of opposing teams.
When the Kennel Club is there…the place is ROCKIN, and I love it.
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