Confession: I Hate The Seven Nation Army Cheer at OPACY

[weams]

He loves it.

Army...Gaaaah!

[Barnfather]

I first heard the 7 nation army chant at OPACY so kinda assumed it was Orioles related due to the 'Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh' thing, but since then I have heard it at the World Cup, and even tonight on a Scottish football (soccer) match on TV.

Personally, I am all for songs and chanting at sporting games. As a seasoned football (soccer) fan, chanting is part of the DNA of the game and part and parcel of the match-day experience. We chant the name of the club, the names of players, chant for the manager to 'give us a wave' (they usually do), chant when we score and inevitably chant insults at the opposition supporters. Of course, we have crowd segregation in football which is of course to stop fans kicking each other to bits, but actually improves the atmosphere as supporters trade chants with each other during the game.

I know comparisons with baseball are made to more song-free sports like Cricket (and even Rugby) but I think the moments when you do hear the crowd come together are amazing and make it far more enjoyable. Whether thats chanting 'cruuuuze' or the 7 nation army or whatever. Hearing a home (or away) support in unison makes the hairs stand up on the back of my head, and I think its way underused in baseball. I think it was the Pirates vs Reds game back towards the tail end of last season where Pirates fans were chanting 'Cueeeeto Cueeeeto' every time he pitched and it put him off his game completely. The crowd can, and should really be the extra man.

That said, I do like originality. At football games there is a lot of samey stuff in amongst it all, but most clubs have their 'own' songs or traditions (rather like the 'Oh' in Star Spangled Banner)...Liverpool have their 'You'll never walk alone' song, Forest sing a version of Mull of Kintyre before each song with lyrics changed to sing about the stadium ("Oh City Ground, Mist Rollin' In from the Trent"), and whenever we score a goal to go ahead the entire crowd sings "You've lost that loving Feeling"......

So yes, I'm all for it - in summary.

[weams]

I first heard the 7 nation army chant at OPACY so kinda assumed it was Orioles related due to the 'Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh' thing, but since then I have heard it at the World Cup, and even tonight on a Scottish football (soccer) match on TV.

Personally, I am all for songs and chanting at sporting games. As a seasoned football (soccer) fan, chanting is part of the DNA of the game and part and parcel of the match-day experience. We chant the name of the club, the names of players, chant for the manager to 'give us a wave' (they usually do), chant when we score and inevitably chant insults at the opposition supporters. Of course, we have crowd segregation in football which is of course to stop fans kicking each other to bits, but actually improves the atmosphere as supporters trade chants with each other during the game.

I know comparisons with baseball are made to more song-free sports like Cricket (and even Rugby) but I think the moments when you do hear the crowd come together are amazing and make it far more enjoyable. Whether thats chanting 'cruuuuze' or the 7 nation army or whatever. Hearing a home (or away) support in unison makes the hairs stand up on the back of my head, and I think its way underused in baseball. I think it was the Pirates vs Reds game back towards the tail end of last season where Pirates fans were chanting 'Cueeeeto Cueeeeto' every time he pitched and it put him off his game completely. The crowd can, and should really be the extra man.

That said, I do like originality. At football games there is a lot of samey stuff in amongst it all, but most clubs have their 'own' songs or traditions (rather like the 'Oh' in Star Spangled Banner)...Liverpool have their 'You'll never walk alone' song, Forest sing a version of Mull of Kintyre before each song with lyrics changed to sing about the stadium ("Oh City Ground, Mist Rollin' In from the Trent"), and whenever we score a goal to go ahead the entire crowd sings "You've lost that loving Feeling"......

So yes, I'm all for it - in summary.

I am for all kinds of ritual, and spontaneous crowd performances. Just not the wave.

[Barnfather]

Indeed. Agree with you on the wave. It's usually a sign that the game has become too dull.

[OrangeJerseys]

This brings up an interesting question. If you move permanently to a new city would you continue to root for Baltimore teams? I mean its not like the players are actually from Baltimore. I would probably root for the Ravens and Orioles until most of my favorite players left or retired and then would root for the new local teams. Unless I moved to NYC... Can't see rooting for the Yankees or the Mets.

Two things you don't choose in life. Your height and your baseball team.

[FlipTheBird]

I don't get the allure of traveling to see your NFL team on the road. It is different though if you live in or near an NFL city that your team is visiting. When I lived in Southern California I took every opportunity to see the Ravens play (meaning lose) in San Diego. As for baseball, I do occasionally go to O's games on the road. It is a great way to see the team take batting practice and interact with players as stadiums are typically only open for the visiting team's batting practice. Players and coaches appreciate those that make the trek and I typically get a BP ball tossed my way. I will wear an O's hat but usually not a jersey on the road, especially if it is an AL East rival. Clap for good plays by both teams and don't be too boisterous.

Really? That seems like a foreign concept to me.

I've seen the O's play in half a dozen cities over the years, New York and Boston included, and never run into any problems. I wear a hat and a jersey, and have no problem cheering loudly for the O's. Obviously getting hammered and screaming at other fans would probably be a gateway to a bad situation, but I've never gotten more than the occasional heckle just for being a passionate fan of my team.

[FlipTheBird]

This brings up an interesting question. If you move permanently to a new city would you continue to root for Baltimore teams? I mean its not like the players are actually from Baltimore. I would probably root for the Ravens and Orioles until most of my favorite players left or retired and then would root for the new local teams. Unless I moved to NYC... Can't see rooting for the Yankees or the Mets.

I'm the polar opposite. I've lived in multiple cities in my life, and have no intention of giving up the O's. They're my team, from now until they don't exist or I die.

[Barnfather]

All this talk of switching allegiances and not showing partisan support to your team when visiting other ballparks seems like madness. Really....are people that disconnected with the team you support that such things would seriously be entertained?

I only started watching baseball religiously recently, and my first task was to select a club to support, and ended up with the Orioles for reasons I've talked about previously. Even now, I find my enjoyment of watching other teams have been significantly diminished and I have grown a rapid dislike for other AL East Teams - deriving almost as much pleasure from their misfortunes as the O's fortunes.

But then perhaps because I'm from a UK/football background, it's programmed into my psyche to be like that. Over here you support a team - perhaps support two if, like me, your birth-town team plays at a very low level in comparison - and you really can't imagine not supporting them or showing your support to a rival. You could move to the other side of the world and you would trawl the internet for snippets of audio commentary on match-day rather than actively support a different team that happened to be local or happened to be on TV.

But I guess its a different culture....

[frankpembleton]

All this talk of switching allegiances and not showing partisan support to your team when visiting other ballparks seems like madness. Really....are people that disconnected with the team you support that such things would seriously be entertained?

I only started watching baseball religiously recently, and my first task was to select a club to support, and ended up with the Orioles for reasons I've talked about previously. Even now, I find my enjoyment of watching other teams have been significantly diminished and I have grown a rapid dislike for other AL East Teams - deriving almost as much pleasure from their misfortunes as the O's fortunes.

But then perhaps because I'm from a UK/football background, it's programmed into my psyche to be like that. Over here you support a team - perhaps support two if, like me, your birth-town team plays at a very low level in comparison - and you really can't imagine not supporting them or showing your support to a rival. You could move to the other side of the world and you would trawl the internet for snippets of audio commentary on match-day rather than actively support a different team that happened to be local or happened to be on TV.

But I guess its a different culture....

No - that's generally how things work here. There may be a few randoms on here who would change allegiances, but I don't know anyone like that personally. i've lived outside of Baltimore for over 10 years, would never consider rooting for any team other than the Ravens or Orioles.

[weams]

I like Jack White

[SteveO]

I like Jack White

Yea me to.

[brianod]

Now this is complete BS. 25k Packer fans is so absurd I don't even know what to say. There were as many Steeler fans in that stadium last year as Bengals fans, which is to say not many at all. I was at both games and you obviously were not there if this is what you believe. Again, Steeler fans haven't had a presence in well over a decade. I don't understand how this narrative still exists. It's just strange.

Ravens fans travel just as well. We don't have fans all over the country but routinely fill 25 % of stadiums out west and down south. For the last Ravens game at Lambeau, Packers fans indicated the Ravens had more fans there than any other team. I was at the game in Chicago this year - same thing. By far more Ravens fans in Chicago than Packers fans at M&T - it was not even close.

Bandwagon Steeler fans just live all over the country. They may fill stadiums better, but they certainly don't travel better.

I was at the game and I'm confident in my estimate. We'll have to agree to disagree.

[SteveO]

BS. The top two traveling fan bases are #1 Green Bay and #2 Steelers. Ravens fans don't compare to either when it comes to traveling. There must have been 25,000 Packer fans in Ravens stadium last year and Pittsburgh usually has about 15,000

Dude I have no clue what your talking about here lol I am a season ticket holder and the only games I do not go to are the preseason ones as I give them to family members. I can only conclude your going based on what some Packers fan said because if you were really there you would know that is just utterly ridiculous to say.

There was not even half that number of Packer fans at that game...it was a sea of purple man. Squeeler fans have not invaded M&T Bank in years now. They have a presence just as we do at many road games but its more like 5-10k max and that is being generous. Years ago when we were down and they were up they did show up in more force. Not so much now. No different than when the O's were down and the Yanks up the number of MFY fans in Camden was higher than today. Ravens fans travel just fine, their core fans travel just as well as any other team in the NFL including the Steelers. Pittsburgh has a longer history and more bandwagon fans than most other NFL teams. Them and the Cowboys are like the Yanks and BoSox in MLB, people latch on when they are good and suddenly want to pretend like they are lifelong fans

[atomic]

All this talk of switching allegiances and not showing partisan support to your team when visiting other ballparks seems like madness. Really....are people that disconnected with the team you support that such things would seriously be entertained?

I only started watching baseball religiously recently, and my first task was to select a club to support, and ended up with the Orioles for reasons I've talked about previously. Even now, I find my enjoyment of watching other teams have been significantly diminished and I have grown a rapid dislike for other AL East Teams - deriving almost as much pleasure from their misfortunes as the O's fortunes.

But then perhaps because I'm from a UK/football background, it's programmed into my psyche to be like that. Over here you support a team - perhaps support two if, like me, your birth-town team plays at a very low level in comparison - and you really can't imagine not supporting them or showing your support to a rival. You could move to the other side of the world and you would trawl the internet for snippets of audio commentary on match-day rather than actively support a different team that happened to be local or happened to be on TV.

But I guess its a different culture....

So you are.saying if your.permanently moved to Munich you wouldn't root for Bayern Munchen or if you moved to Madrid you wouldn't root for Real Madrid? Seems like you would miss out on a lot of fun.

[brianod]

Dude I have no clue what your talking about here lol I am a season ticket holder and the only games I do not go to are the preseason ones as I give them to family members. I can only conclude your going based on what some Packers fan said because if you were really there you would know that is just utterly ridiculous to say.

There was not even half that number of Packer fans at that game...it was a sea of purple man. Squeeler fans have not invaded M&T Bank in years now. They have a presence just as we do at many road games but its more like 5-10k max and that is being generous. Years ago when we were down and they were up they did show up in more force. Not so much now. No different than when the O's were down and the Yanks up the number of MFY fans in Camden was higher than today. Ravens fans travel just fine, their core fans travel just as well as any other team in the NFL including the Steelers. Pittsburgh has a longer history and more bandwagon fans than most other NFL teams. Them and the Cowboys are like the Yanks and BoSox in MLB, people latch on when they are good and suddenly want to pretend like they are lifelong fans

wrong, but dream on.