Confession: I Hate The Seven Nation Army Cheer at OPACY

[joedogg9999]

Ive hated it for years now. I recall it being a ravens thing and then it spread through the nfl and then suddenly you heard it at every american sporting event. I evwn heard it during team USAs game st the world cup

[brianod]

I'm a little tired of it. As for bandwagon fans, God bless all those who gave up their season tickets over the years! I moved closer every year as more and more gave up their good seats. Today, my 13 game plan is in section 36, row 22. Ie, 22 rows up, directly behind home plate.

Trace, I'm a Packer owner. Go Pack Go! But, I have season tickets to the Ravens. There is no better crowd in the NFL than the Ravens fans, no need to hate on em!

[mdbdotcom]

I'm not a football fan, so I thought it was an O's cheer -- since the only sound is 'O.' I actually thought that O's fans started if for Darren O'Day.

[OFFNY]

So, my anger at the Seven Nation Army cheer has been simmering ever since it first appeared at OPACY in 2012. If it was there before then, I don't remember it. It certainly wasn't present in what I'll call the lean years in the 2000s.

Here are my issues:

#1 - I view this as a Ravens cheers and a Maryland Terps cheer. It seems that the cheer only surfaced at OPACY was in 2012, when the bandwagon fans who weren't in the stand the prior 14 years decided to include the Orioles back into their sports lives.

#2 - The chant is often started at what seem to me to be inappropriate times. Specifically, the chant often comes before we have delivered the proverbial "dagger." I am not a believer in the "jinx," but I also view this cheer as a definitive "We Have Destroyed You" cheer, so why are people doing it before the real damage has been done?

My irritation at hearing this cheer at OPACY is rivaled only by my dislike of the wave and small children in attendance.

Am I the only one who despises the Seven Nation Army cheer?

The wave, I don't care about, one way or the other.

Small children in attendance ???

I used to be a small child in attendance.

The first game that I ever went to when I was 5 and-a-half years old. It was a doubleheader at the original Yankees Stadium in 1971. The Yanks won both games. I STILL VIVIDLY REMEMBER White Sox' manager Chuck Tanner tossing his red hat about 50 feet in the air, and getting ejected from the second game.

Tanner's red cap went flying in the air so friggin' high, my older brothers were both laughing their asses off. We talked about that hat toss and ejection for years in my family.

The following year (1972), I went to lots of games at Shea Stadium to watch the Mets play. I was 6 and-a-half years old at that time.

So ...... I have no problem at all with small children in attendance. How could I ???

[Loophole]

The wave, I don't care about, one way or the other.

Small children in attendance ???

I used to be a small child in attendance.

The first game that I ever went to when I was 5 and-a-half years old. It was a doubleheader at the original Yankees Stadium in 1971. The Yanks won both games. I STILL VIVIDLY REMEMBER White Sox' manager Chuck Tanner tossing his red hat about 50 feet in the air, and getting ejected from the second game.

Tanner's red cap went flying in the air so friggin' high, my older brothers were both laughing their asses off. We talked about that hat toss and ejection for years in my family.

The following year (1972), I went to lots of games at Shea Stadium to watch the Mets play. I was 6 and-a-half years old at that time.

So ...... I have no problem at all with small children in attendance. How could I ???

I'm guessing it's just a cheeky reference to that old O#5F drama.

[Dr. Unk]

I got sick of it really quickly at M&T.

[OFFNY]

I'm guessing it's just a cheeky reference to that old O#5F drama.

Oh. Thanks.

I whiffed on that one.

[LookitsPuck]

Personally I hated it with the Ravens. It's unoriginal. Just all around lame.

[Outlander]

I feel like it fits, i could be completely wrong but dosnt the "O" hymn work more for us over the Ravens/Terps considering we're actually The O's??

I do agree with the OP's point #2. We should be using a chant to hype up our offense for a rally, not after the damage has been done.

Has anyone every asked a player their perspective? Id imagine being pretty pumped up if the fans were chanting it prior to my AB.

I think the o makes it ours, as in Baltimore. I think the ravens and os should embrace it. It's ours. It's o....it's perfect. Even at raven games you hear oooo in the national anthem.

[JDubs]

I think the o makes it ours, as in Baltimore. I think the ravens and os should embrace it. It's ours. It's o....it's perfect. Even at raven games you hear oooo in the national anthem.

I disagree that it belongs to Baltimore to any degree, but I respect your opinion.

[Johnny]

I'm not a football fan, so I thought it was an O's cheer -- since the only sound is 'O.' I actually thought that O's fans started if for Darren O'Day.

EA sports has added it to their college football game for 2014. Pretty universal.

[ShaneDawg85]

I actually much prefer it for the Orioles and not the Ravens. It's overdone at every football stadium no matter the level. At least with the Orioles it kind of makes sense since the chant is "O!"

[jaege]

I am a Packer fan and a Terp so I don't hate either one.

I have not liked the way some Ravens fans have treated the Orioles and their fans as the red-headed stepchild of Baltimore over the past fifteen years.

Things are a little different now, though. The Orioles have "Baltimore" on the road jerseys, are fielding a competitive team for a sustained period of time, and are actually the talk of the town in my opinion. The Ravens on the other hand only seem to be in the news when someone gets arrested.

The Os have been the "red headed step child" for those 15+ years, whether we like it or not. At least the Ravens kept some sort of a winning attitude in B'More for the last few years when the Os were not capable of doing so for over a decade.

All that negative press comes from the same reason that the "talking heads" rarely talk about the Os right now, a team that is the third highest in the whole league who are further ahead of their division than any other team. Small market. We do not generate as much interest as the Yankees or Red Sox, any more than the Ravens do vs the Steelers or the Patriots. Come on, they won the SB and were still treated like the other "red headed step child" I fully expect that should the Os pull off a win in the WS that they will be little more than a footnote. The joy of being a Baltimore fan.

[Outlander]

I disagree that it belongs to Baltimore to any degree, but I respect your opinion.

Fair enough, and I think that's why it will never catch on fully. Because a lot of people don't really like it, so the chants now have a hard time sustaining. A chant only works if everyone is going balls to the wall. I wish it would catch on because I think it could be just ours, but I know it won't.

[incubus]

Seven Nations Army is a sports replacement for Rock and Roll Part 2.

It does not belong to the Ravens or the Orioles.

They do it in "Happy Valley" and in Winnipeg.

Yeah, but I think Baltimore and Wichita have a right to use it as they are the two cities named in it.