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How to fix the R - U chant

Scarlet16E

Scarlet16E

All American
Nov 22, 2005
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Stoddard, NH
What they did last Saturday with Big E and Mo Sanu was not a bad idea, but aside from how it was promoted, it got me thinking about what they could have done differently to make it really effective.

- Get 2 people to lead the cheer. (check)

- Make that 2 former players who are legends among the fanbase. (check)

- Do it during the break between 1st and 2nd quarter. Pre-game is just too busy and the entire thing last week was as confusing as could be.

- Have the 2 cheer-leading former players and their purpose introduced CLEARLY by the PA announcer, not by DJ Yoshi or anyone on the field who is shouting over an already begun R-U chant from the student section.

- This is important: Position the 2 cheer-leading former players at either end of the field. One behind each end zone. The fans are instructed by the PA announcer to not begin their part until lead by their guy.

- Have an event director, with a stopwatch with each of these two cheer-leaders. The R is lead by the guy at the south end (and joined by the student section). The guy in the other end waits a full 3 seconds FROM THE END OF THE R, before leading the U. The R is similarly delayed by a full 3 seconds of silence.

What do you think?
I think physically separating the cheer-leaders to opposite ends of the field could have an enormous impact on how this thing plays out. The stopwatch helps prevent the cheer from speeding up to quickly as it tends to.
 
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Scarlet16E said:
What they did last Saturday with Big E and Mo Sanu was not a bad idea, but aside from how it was promoted, it got me thinking about what they could have done differently to make it really effective.

- Get 2 people to lead the cheer. (check)

- Make that 2 former players who are legends among the fanbase. (check)

- Do it during the break between 1st and 2nd quarter. Pre-game is just too busy and the entire thing last week was as confusing as could be.

- Have the 2 cheer-leading former players and their purpose introduced CLEARLY by the PA announcer, not by DJ Yoshi or anyone on the field who is shouting over an already begun R-U chant from the student section.

- This is important: Position the 2 cheer-leading former players at either end of the field. One behind each end zone. The fans are instructed by the PA announcer to not begin their part until lead by their guy.

- Have an event director, with a stopwatch with each of these two cheer-leaders. The R is lead by the guy at the south end (and joined by the student section). The guy in the other end waits a full 3 seconds FROM THE END OF THE R, before leading the U. The R is similarly delayed by a full 3 seconds of silence.

What do you think?
I think physically separating the cheer-leaders to opposite ends of the field could have an enormous impact on how this thing plays out. The stopwatch helps prevent the cheer from speeding up to quickly as it tends to.
Click to expand...
Funny I had the same exact conversation with my brother and our group at the game. Position one legend at one end of field and the other at the opposing end if they still want the student section to lead the cheer. If they want to return to east/west they need to have the legends on opposing sidelines. East/west will be the only way to make it work was my groups opinion
 
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From sitting in section 129, I looked across the stadium and did not see many fans responding "U" and pointing towards the students. An all around better effort needs to be maintained.

Sorry this post did provide any suggestions, lol.
 
Scarlet16E said:
What they did last Saturday with Big E and Mo Sanu was not a bad idea, but aside from how it was promoted, it got me thinking about what they could have done differently to make it really effective.

- Get 2 people to lead the cheer. (check)

- Make that 2 former players who are legends among the fanbase. (check)

- Do it during the break between 1st and 2nd quarter. Pre-game is just too busy and the entire thing last week was as confusing as could be.

- Have the 2 cheer-leading former players and their purpose introduced CLEARLY by the PA announcer, not by DJ Yoshi or anyone on the field who is shouting over an already begun R-U chant from the student section.

- This is important: Position the 2 cheer-leading former players at either end of the field. One behind each end zone. The fans are instructed by the PA announcer to not begin their part until lead by their guy.

- Have an event director, with a stopwatch with each of these two cheer-leaders. The R is lead by the guy at the south end (and joined by the student section). The guy in the other end waits a full 3 seconds FROM THE END OF THE R, before leading the U. The R is similarly delayed by a full 3 seconds of silence.

What do you think?
I think physically separating the cheer-leaders to opposite ends of the field could have an enormous impact on how this thing plays out. The stopwatch helps prevent the cheer from speeding up to quickly as it tends to.
Click to expand...

I will pass this along.

I'm of the opinion that it really should be east/west, but that's not happening anytime soon, from what I can tell.

I usually sit in the upper deck, but during Ohio State I made the trip down to where the rest of Riot Squad sits, and I have to say, the U comes FAST.

As in, really fast. The second the R ends, it already sounds like U is coming at the students, just because of the way sound travels.
 
Sir ScarletKnight said:
I will pass this along.

I'm of the opinion that it really should be east/west, but that's not happening anytime soon, from what I can tell.

I usually sit in the upper deck, but during Ohio State I made the trip down to where the rest of Riot Squad sits, and I have to say, the U comes FAST.

As in, really fast. The second the R ends, it already sounds like U is coming at the students, just because of the way sound travels.
Click to expand...

For it to go East-West, you'd have to get many of those same season ticket holders who sold their tix to OSU fans to actually start it....
 
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IMHO all it would take is a couple of cheerleaders who understand what we want, and a couple of R and U signs........... The first cheerleader holds up the R, then the second one waits the appropriate amount then holds up the U....... The students and fans should be told ahead of time to wait till the see the U.....

The problem would be to get the second cheerleader to pause properly, not to be too anxious to hoist it up..... After a while maybe you don't need signs.... My guess is that the lesson would be quickly forgotten
 
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It has been stupid since the students get to say RRR and everyone else has to say UUU... it was much better when it was started randomly by groups on either side shouting RRRR until someone answered UUUU.. then you knew what side you were on.

The Ohio State people did it that way.. on the road.. with people shouting OOO and pointing to get an answer.
 
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Someone had a great idea to fix this sometime ago so I'll leave it here.

Change the number of every section in the stadium by adding the letter R or U to the front of it. This way everyone knows what letter to chant.

To take it a step further; just throw one sentence on the back of tickets - RU Chant: "R" 1 second pause "U".
 
Love the idea of getting two RU celebrities to lead with one being the R and one being the U - perfect!!!! The catch is they need to be coached for the few minutes it will take to do it right - explain to them that it's being done wrong. Heck the RU celebrities can even allude to that when talking to the fans. I don't have much confidence this simple, great idea will get done right once it gets through the RU screwup machine but kudos to the OP for a great idea.
 
Was talking to a buddy who recently went to a Texas A&M game. I never knew this, but apparently before every home game, they have a "practice" for fans.

From what he told me, basically the night before every home game, they allow fans into the stadium and they meet with the "Yell Leaders"- a group of upper classmen who plan out cheers for each game. Supposedly people "tailgate" before hand and it is kind of like a big party/pep rally.


Now I know A&M fans are on an entirely different level, but thought that was a really neat idea.

 
RUsojo said:
Someone had a great idea to fix this sometime ago so I'll leave it here.

Change the number of every section in the stadium by adding the letter R or U to the front of it. This way everyone knows what letter to chant.

To take it a step further; just throw one sentence on the back of tickets - RU Chant: "R" 1 second pause "U".
Click to expand...

Absolutely love this. Passing it along.
 
How about telling the students to say RRRRRR when the sign goes up and to hold the RRRRR until it comes down. And everyone else to answer U when they stop hearing the RRRRRR.

Then, on the first one, exaggerate how long you hold up the RRRRRRR... that should slow everyone down.
 
the chant should be east west, but it is too confusing for the student section to split in halves. the chant has to start from a non student part of the stadium- the student section is passionate but not organized. the same section will chant both parts of the RU.

Also, as many of the old timers would agree with, the constant music between breaks doesnt provide many opportunities for an organic cheer to start.
 
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It's beyond fixing at this point. Students are shown the chant at the beginning of each game then the first time they get to do it on their own they screw it up. It is destined to fail forever because previous generations never showed this generation how to do it. They believe their way is now correct and how dare anyone correct them. Guess what, whatever generation your way SUCKS!!!!!
 
i think the Student section and the whole Home Sideline should be R

The Visiting Sideline and the opposite endzone should be U

OR

similar to the O-H-I-O chant we heard in our stadium (embarrassing), we send the R-U around the stadium with each quadrant taking the lead from their neighbors.
 
The cheerleaders could really fix this by actually leading, and having placards facing each section with either an R or a U. I thought that the chant worked well this past Saturday, but would have been better had the students been there on time. The U sounded awesome, perhaps better than ever. It just kinda rumbled from one end zone to the other.

When a visiting fan base has a certain critical mass - perhaps a few thousand - they can more readily get their cheer going. RU often does this quite well on the road and players have often commented about this in the past, whether in Florida, North Carolina, at Syracuse, Navy, Temple, and Army, etc. It may happen less often from now on since we will have few convenient road games and will be playing in much bigger stadiums.
 
koleszar said:
It's beyond fixing at this point. Students are shown the chant at the beginning of each game then the first time they get to do it on their own they screw it up. It is destined to fail forever because previous generations never showed this generation how to do it. They believe their way is now correct and how dare anyone correct them. Guess what, whatever generation your way SUCKS!!!!!
Click to expand...

That's really not the problem. It's the way that sound travels which is the problem.
 
Sir ScarletKnight said:
That's really not the problem. It's the way that sound travels which is the problem.
Click to expand...
What you guys aren't shown how to do it every single game at the start? You get it right once when you are shown to Slooooowwwww Dowwwnnnn. Then when you try to do it yourselves you speed it up for some unknown reason. Sound has nothing to do with it you guys say R then 2 seconds later say another R. It's really not hard to comprehend, students in the past did it correctly but your generation can't. You're fellow peers think they are doing it correctly and I admire the Riot Squad trying to fix it but they will never listen. It's hopeless at this point and broken forever. Because the next generation will listen to those who have broken it, your generation..
 
Why not just start a new tradition.....Students say RRRRRRR the U response starts as a wave response near home side closest to student section and the wave of UUUUU's ends around section 101. The UUUUUwave will slow down the chant as students next R won't start till the UUUU wave reaches back to them from the opposite side. This would best be done with stadium U seated and rising as a wave. This would also be symbolic as the shape of stadium opposite students is a giant U.
 
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bigbirdRU said:
the chant should be east west, but it is too confusing for the student section to split in halves. the chant has to start from a non student part of the stadium- the student section is passionate but not organized. the same section will chant both parts of the RU.

Also, as many of the old timers would agree with, the constant music between breaks doesnt provide many opportunities for an organic cheer to start.
Click to expand...


Try it. split up the middle of the band. E&W follows. North/south does not work. Need big visual cues. It worked slightly better when the message boards were used.

For what its worth, OHIO had a hard time getting their cheer right.
 
koleszar said:
What you guys aren't shown how to do it every single game at the start? You get it right once when you are shown to Slooooowwwww Dowwwnnnn. Then when you try to do it yourselves you speed it up for some unknown reason. Sound has nothing to do with it you guys say R then 2 seconds later say another R. It's really not hard to comprehend, students in the past did it correctly but your generation can't. You're fellow peers think they are doing it correctly and I admire the Riot Squad trying to fix it but they will never listen. It's hopeless at this point and broken forever. Because the next generation will listen to those who have broken it, your generation..
Click to expand...

No, seriously. I went down to the student section, and it sounds like the "U" is coming back almost immediately. It's not a "we don't know what to do" problem, it's a "Student section is hearing U before the other end finishes hearing R problem."
 
iReC89 said:
Try it. split up the middle of the band. E&W follows. North/south does not work. Need big visual cues. It worked slightly better when the message boards were used.

For what its worth, OHIO had a hard time getting their cheer right.
Click to expand...

I was laughing. They sounded like they were saying "O-H-O" or "O-O-A". Even the Ohio State fans around me acknowledged it sounded really bad.
 
Please stop using the word cheerLEADERS at RU - we just have rogue cheerers. This is no offense to the individual cheerleaders, but instead to the heads who can't get this stupid thing right.
 
koleszar said:
It's beyond fixing at this point. Students are shown the chant at the beginning of each game then the first time they get to do it on their own they screw it up. It is destined to fail forever because previous generations never showed this generation how to do it. They believe their way is now correct and how dare anyone correct them. Guess what, whatever generation your way SUCKS!!!!!
Click to expand...
I've been saying this for years. Someone made an attempt to get the student section to fix the RU chant in 2007 or 2008 by basically covering the student section with confetti that explained that there should be a pause between each letter, and everyone around me picked it up, read it, and then scoffed at it because they didn't want to be told that they are doing it wrong.

Unfortunately, the young alumni section includes many people who were students during those years, such as myself, and are the first ones to respond to the students' R. This makes the problem worse than ever because at this point, nobody in the student section has ever heard it done correctly, so most of them think they are doing it right, and even the young alumni think that this is correct, so they aren't likely to change anytime soon either.

Also, the idea of having people lead the chant on either side at the start of the game may help, but I can see them also being completely ignored once the chant gets going. All it takes is a few people to say the R or the U too early and it will get everyone else to speed up. Even if this does get it to happen the way it's supposed to, it will probably only be that one time per game when the fans are prompted. I'm sure it will be butchered again the next chance we get. With that said, as pessimistic as I am about this, I am open to any attempt at fixing the chant.
 
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Sir ScarletKnight said:
No, seriously. I went down to the student section, and it sounds like the "U" is coming back almost immediately. It's not a "we don't know what to do" problem, it's a "Student section is hearing U before the other end finishes hearing R problem."
Click to expand...

Well that sort of explains the problem, but not how you intended I think. The students need to understand that the R is the charge or challenge. The U is the response. There is no need to respond to a U. They should wait for the UUUUUUUuuuuuu to finish completely before launching another charge with the R.
 
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Scarlet16E said:
Well that sort of explains the problem, but not how you intended I think. The students need to understand that the R is the charge or challenge. The U is the response. There is no need to respond to a U. They should wait for the UUUUUUUuuuuuu to finish completely before launching another charge with the R.
Click to expand...

Along the lines of what you're saying, i.e. a charge, I agree and think it should be treated like a call. The folks yelling R (i.e south end zone) may have to call out 2-3 times, which is probably what's happening organically anyway as more join in. By the 3rd/4th time it's probably the loudest/most vocal as more of the south end zone latches on and gets behind 'the call'. Each time it can just be the 'R' with the balance of the stadium taking a "we can't hear you" approach to the first couple of 'calls'.....waiting in essence for the build up of multiple 'R' calls. Then when that 3rd/4th louder call finally gets the rest of the stadium tuned into the R call and there's a sufficient pause, it should return a booming U. Frankly, I think even if you had a good 5-7 seconds in between, the substantial pause before responding gives the booming 'U' a more chilling or howling effect (and as long as it's not trounced over by a new 'R' call). I think with the chant having sped up too much in recent years, there's too much of an emphasis on the cadence of the back-and-forth, which only works marginally better during hoops games at the RAC (I find it's still a bit too fast there too, i.e. basically same students doing the same thing they know from football games). The pause at the RAC should be at least 2-3 seconds for maximum effect, if not 5-7 like at the stadium.

On a separate but related note, the U should boom (and then just let the echo occur naturally by the laws of physics/sound). I hear too many people around me trying to howl/echo the U themselves but their individual 'U' is way too soft sounding so their contribution is self-limiting. No individual should be trying to howl the back end of the U sound, rather each person should be shouting a hard and deep U. The accumulation of thousands doing it that way automatically creates the residual echo (which can then linger for a second or two as long as the next 'R' call doesn't come back too soon).
 
ddsmugs said:
Why not just start a new tradition.....Students say RRRRRRR the U response starts as a wave response near home side closest to student section and the wave of UUUUU's ends around section 101. The UUUUUwave will slow down the chant as students next R won't start till the UUUU wave reaches back to them from the opposite side. This would best be done with stadium U seated and rising as a wave. This would also be symbolic as the shape of stadium opposite students is a giant U.
Click to expand...
That would be cool.
 
This is a unsolvable problem, It will never be resolved. people just don't care about how long to wait to say U....let it go.
 
Unless the RU chant is east-west, it's not worth doing. As someone mentioned above, the students and young alumni have never heard it the right way. As long as the students are in the end zone, it will never work.
 
Section124 said:
Unless the RU chant is east-west, it's not worth doing. As someone mentioned above, the students and young alumni have never heard it the right way. As long as the students are in the end zone, it will never work.
Click to expand...
Not true. I sit in the young alumni section, and was in undergrad from 2006-2009 when the chant was still done correctly. My seat mates also went to school during and before that time period, and therefore know how to do the R-U chant correctly. We try to help those around us, but good luck getting the whole student section to stop being so eager to quickly repeat the 'R'.
 
RUsSKii said:
Not true. I sit in the young alumni section, and was in undergrad from 2006-2009 when the chant was still done correctly. My seat mates also went to school during and before that time period, and therefore know how to do the R-U chant correctly. We try to help those around us, but good luck getting the whole student section to stop being so eager to quickly repeat the 'R'.
Click to expand...
Incorrect. The chant hasn't been done correctly since early in the Schiano years. And even then it was rushed. The only good thing about the Shea years was the R U chant.
 
Don't worry about fixing this with the students and fans because there will not be enough in the stadium for the last 2 games to get any kind of chant going!
 
Section124 said:
Incorrect. The chant hasn't been done correctly since early in the Schiano years. And even then it was rushed. The only good thing about the Shea years was the R U chant.
Click to expand...
It must have been impressive, seeing as the difference between the chant today and even 7-8 years ago is clear. Even assuming that what you say is true, I'll take a well-done R-U chant by 40,000+ fans in lieu of a perfectly done chant by, say, 15-20k people.
 
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