This column originally was published in Volume 6 - Issue 8 of the February 7, 2007 Cardinal Courier.
This was my attempt to go where no Fisher fan had been before. The plan was to venture into the enemy’s territory and get a new perspective on the Fisher-Naz rivalry. So, on Feb. 2 I attempted to do the unthinkable and go behind enemy lines and sit among the Naz faithful during the men and women’s double-header.
I entered the Nazareth side at around 5:30, getting to the game is always essential especially in order to get a front row seat in the heart of the Golden Flyers cheering section. I sat down in front of a row of Nazareth ladies and removed my coat to reveal my Cardinal red ‘crazies” shirt. The Naz people didn’t seem to notice (or care) about my Fisher alliance at this point, they were more focused on screaming for a member of the women’s team like a group of crazed Teddy Geiger fans.
As more purple clad students filed into the gym, the more awkward I felt sitting amongst the Naz faithful by myself (at this point no one else would join me). This was the point were a particular Naz fan found a seat next to me. After being around this kid for a few minutes I came to the conclusion that he was borderline crazy (not to mention, he said he was kicked out of the last Naz game and later in this game he would end up throwing a bottle down at the scorer’s table).
He said that he was saving his energy for the men’s game as he almost completely ignored the women’s game and just listened to his iPod and drank from an ambiguous red drink (considering he’s a Naz guy it was probably a wine cooler). It also needs to be mentioned that he reeked like a mixture of Aqua Velva and booze.
At halftime of the woman’s game, I decided to go back to the Fisher side. I figured I could find my inner rowdiness with my fellow Crazies as opposed to sitting next to some music major wearing a “friends don’t’ let friends go to Fisher” shirt.
After the Fisher ladies dispatched of Naz, I knew it was once again time to cross over to hostile terrain. This time I brought some backup with me as Sports Editor handball Mike joined me in the crowd of purple and gold.
Entering the Naz section this time was a lot different then earlier. First off, there were a lot more people this time and these people did not appreciate our Cardinal Crazies attire. The insults quickly rained down upon us, the crowd especially didn’t appreciate our “go Fisher” cries.
Of course, their insults were as weak as some of their chants. They taunted us about having a football team that was only D-III and couldn’t quite win a championship. This taunt may have been more affective if Nazareth actually had a football team of their own. Another Naz faithful told me I needed Hooked on Phonics. I didn’t really get why this was supposed to be demeaning. But I guess nothing is more intimidating then: “Hey Fisher student, your basketball team is going to lose and you suck at reading!”
My reason for entering the enemy territory was not to be an instigator (although security gave me a few suspicious glances), but to experience the other side of a great rivalry. With that being said, there was some minimal pushing and shoving. Mostly from one particular Naz fan who sat in the front row. He was dressed in a white polo shirt (surprisingly the collar was not popped) and had a permanent scowl on his face the entire game. Maybe someone just informed him that this was actually a basketball game and not a Zoolander style dance-off between East Ave. rivals (of course, it goes without saying that the Fisher cheerleaders were way better than Naz’s dance team).
When all was said and done, I ended up back where I belonged: in the Fisher student to help cheer on the victors. But this experience helped me think about the nature of rivalries. It's funny how normal people will act to one another simply because they’re rooting for a different team.
I love the rivalry with Naz. I think it’s a healthy competition between the two schools. Hopefully more games like this can help to improve the intensity of the rivalry. It may seem from this column that absolutely despise everything about our sister school, but that’s not true. In fact, I’m heading down the road to make my peace with the Naz ladies as we speak.
This was my attempt to go where no Fisher fan had been before. The plan was to venture into the enemy’s territory and get a new perspective on the Fisher-Naz rivalry. So, on Feb. 2 I attempted to do the unthinkable and go behind enemy lines and sit among the Naz faithful during the men and women’s double-header.
I entered the Nazareth side at around 5:30, getting to the game is always essential especially in order to get a front row seat in the heart of the Golden Flyers cheering section. I sat down in front of a row of Nazareth ladies and removed my coat to reveal my Cardinal red ‘crazies” shirt. The Naz people didn’t seem to notice (or care) about my Fisher alliance at this point, they were more focused on screaming for a member of the women’s team like a group of crazed Teddy Geiger fans.
As more purple clad students filed into the gym, the more awkward I felt sitting amongst the Naz faithful by myself (at this point no one else would join me). This was the point were a particular Naz fan found a seat next to me. After being around this kid for a few minutes I came to the conclusion that he was borderline crazy (not to mention, he said he was kicked out of the last Naz game and later in this game he would end up throwing a bottle down at the scorer’s table).
He said that he was saving his energy for the men’s game as he almost completely ignored the women’s game and just listened to his iPod and drank from an ambiguous red drink (considering he’s a Naz guy it was probably a wine cooler). It also needs to be mentioned that he reeked like a mixture of Aqua Velva and booze.
At halftime of the woman’s game, I decided to go back to the Fisher side. I figured I could find my inner rowdiness with my fellow Crazies as opposed to sitting next to some music major wearing a “friends don’t’ let friends go to Fisher” shirt.
After the Fisher ladies dispatched of Naz, I knew it was once again time to cross over to hostile terrain. This time I brought some backup with me as Sports Editor handball Mike joined me in the crowd of purple and gold.
Entering the Naz section this time was a lot different then earlier. First off, there were a lot more people this time and these people did not appreciate our Cardinal Crazies attire. The insults quickly rained down upon us, the crowd especially didn’t appreciate our “go Fisher” cries.
Of course, their insults were as weak as some of their chants. They taunted us about having a football team that was only D-III and couldn’t quite win a championship. This taunt may have been more affective if Nazareth actually had a football team of their own. Another Naz faithful told me I needed Hooked on Phonics. I didn’t really get why this was supposed to be demeaning. But I guess nothing is more intimidating then: “Hey Fisher student, your basketball team is going to lose and you suck at reading!”
My reason for entering the enemy territory was not to be an instigator (although security gave me a few suspicious glances), but to experience the other side of a great rivalry. With that being said, there was some minimal pushing and shoving. Mostly from one particular Naz fan who sat in the front row. He was dressed in a white polo shirt (surprisingly the collar was not popped) and had a permanent scowl on his face the entire game. Maybe someone just informed him that this was actually a basketball game and not a Zoolander style dance-off between East Ave. rivals (of course, it goes without saying that the Fisher cheerleaders were way better than Naz’s dance team).
When all was said and done, I ended up back where I belonged: in the Fisher student to help cheer on the victors. But this experience helped me think about the nature of rivalries. It's funny how normal people will act to one another simply because they’re rooting for a different team.
I love the rivalry with Naz. I think it’s a healthy competition between the two schools. Hopefully more games like this can help to improve the intensity of the rivalry. It may seem from this column that absolutely despise everything about our sister school, but that’s not true. In fact, I’m heading down the road to make my peace with the Naz ladies as we speak.
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