Traditions and the fan experience at Lightning home games
by John Fontana on Nov 5, 2010 11:00 AM EDT
in Enhance Your Experience
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What's one thing that stands out and makes the fan experience at Tampa Bay Lightning games unique? One thing that sets apart the St. Pete Times Forum crowd? Something Bolts fans cling to proudly and rally around?
I draw a blank.
Other NHL clubs have their quirks that fans rally behind: Calgary rocks out Saddledome with their "C of Red" on a rather consistent basis. It comes off annoying, in a rivalry related fashion, that the Florida Panthers fans still cling to the rat-related stuff... Detroit has it's weird Octopi fetish... And Vancouver has Salmon. And you can't forget to "Throw the Snake" in Phoenix. Chants of "Here we go Rangers" (and the five claps that follow the phrase) echo through Madison Square Garden in New York to support their beloved Blueshirts. Montreal celebrates with chants of "Olé". And lets not forget Dallas Stars fans accentuating "Stars" during singing of the national anthem.
Maybe this comes off manufactured and contrived, but these things are distinctive identities with those respective clubs. They are rallying points for fans and serve as a bond building tool and tradition in their ways.
With all that in mind, my question is this: where's ours? What's ours? What could our tradition that makes the experience at the St. Pete Times Forum unique?
If there is anything from memory that seemed to be taken as an attempt to unite the crowd at Times Palace, it was hearing Harry Belafonte on the arena speakers and seeing "Day-o, Day-o" flashing across the jumbotron over center ice. Why The Banana Boat Song was used, I have no clue. What was the connection? DJ selection? I couldn't tell you. But that was the "rallying cry" during lulls. Or it was just an attempt to stave off boredom of those in attendance during the Lightning's down-years.
Whatever the case, if you're thrown at a loss as much as I am in recollection, you can understand why it didn't catch on.
Really, does it seem odd that after 18+ seasons of Tampa Bay Lightning hockey, there hasn't really been one item or another that differentiates how we act in our arena from fans anywhere else? Oh, maybe you can cite the celebrity / fan introductions to games ("Lets play hockey!") but the apex of that little idea was during the 2004 Stanley Cup playoffs. It's faded from memory and from fan consciousness since then.
Thunderstix? That's not unique to us in the least bit, as the gimmick propagated throughout pro-sports over the past decade. Same can be said about cowbells that have been a mainstay at Tampa Bay Rays games for several years now - it's not like they aren't used in other sports or by other teams.
What's ours? What could be ours?
CEO Tod Leiweke may stress raising expectations and the in-arena experience at the St. Pete Times Forum, but it must be made clear that most fan traditions don't get started by executive or marketing choices. They happen naturally and grow organically.
The "C of Red" was a natural occurrence, originating during the 1986 Stanley Cup playoffs. The "White-out" in Winnipeg (and Phoenix) in the playoffs was an answer to that, and an attempt to counter it. It's become a manufactured tradition at playoff time that fans don't always buy into, and results in teams handing out T-shirts of one specific color or another to accomplish the goal of a (color)-out effect.
It's also up to the attendees at Lightning home games to help make anything a tradition. It's one thing to attend games regularly, cheer loudly, and enjoy yourself over and over again. It's another to habitually participate in one thing or another - a chant, an odd reaction - that involves the rest of the crowd without the urgings of the Jumbotron or the PA announcer... Something that becomes more than just an inside-gag.
What would be ideal?
Something different. We get the building loud all on our own, but I'm continually brought back to something Lightning defensive prospect Radko Gudas said in an interview regarding North American fans as compared to European fans:
"Czech fans have drums at hockey games and they punch the drums all through the games and sing songs. In the US, it's more like the fans are cheering when someone scores or make a good move. Czech fans cheer for scores, too, but they sing all through the games."
Singing... Drumming... I don't know if you could get away with the drumming part (getting one into the building to begin). Singing is something that carries over to the world of European football (aka Soccer), or even college football fight songs. It's a sign of dedication, of unity, tradition, and support. And unlike just getting the decibel levels extremely high with white-noise from cheering, it's a message that's clearly shared among fans and the team on ice.
The addition of a tradition of our own, something that unites us as fans and fills us (and our players) with pride... That's how I want to see the fan experience at the St. Pete Times Forum improve.
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Bring back Bingo Bob!
Booing the daylights out of him was more fun than the games themselves back then.
I think that Tod Leiweke ought to import some of those Seattle Sounder FC chants down to Tampa Bay.
Vinny, and Marty, and Steven, and Simon - oh my!
Raw Charge, an SBN Tampa Bay Lightning community. Follow me on Twitter: @dagmar27.
by Cassie McClellan on Nov 5, 2010 1:13 PM EDT reply actions
Great Post
Anyone remember our playoff series against the Flyer’s in ‘96? I was really hoping the droned chanting of the opposing goalie’s name during the following shift after a home goal would become tradition in Tampa Bay. Heeeextalllll…. Heeeeextalllll…. Heeeeextalllll….
Would be great to get inside the heads of division opponents goalies after we score in the forum…
Vohhhhhkooon…. Vohhhhhkoooon…. Vohhhhhkooon….
Neuuuuuvirrrth… Neuuuuuvirrrth… Neuuuuuuvirrrrth…
Another chant I’d like to see is a single “Ouuuuuuch!” when we lay a big hit on someone.
Oh jeez, I forgot this (Goalie taunting)
I experienced this during the down years. Guys int he upper deck were doing it and I didn’t know WHY. And the goalie in question was getting irled up. I just forget who…
"The Force is strong with this one..." Yzerman is Jedi
Raw Charge.
Another thing...
I understand that we can’t use the jumbo-tron to have the fans do such things during play, but why not use the Bolt Brigade to teach the chants….seriously we’re all tired of the T SHIRT toss… Use the time to teach the crowd chants… and be bold about it….
Todd you reading this???
Are you suggesting that the cheerleaders actually teach…gasp…cheers? Why, that’s revolutionary! Why didn’t I think of that?! /sarcasm :oD
Vinny, and Marty, and Steven, and Simon - oh my!
Raw Charge, an SBN Tampa Bay Lightning community. Follow me on Twitter: @dagmar27.
by Cassie McClellan on Nov 5, 2010 1:38 PM EDT up reply actions
Sorry, that wasn’t directed at you, tankerkevo – that was meant for all professional sports that employ cheerleaders. Basically, they’re just eye candy that serve no useful purpose. And while I don’t begrudge men their eye candy, it annoys me that they really don’t serve any useful purpose.
Vinny, and Marty, and Steven, and Simon - oh my!
Raw Charge, an SBN Tampa Bay Lightning community. Follow me on Twitter: @dagmar27.
by Cassie McClellan on Nov 5, 2010 1:53 PM EDT up reply actions
It's all good Cassie
I know you didn’t mean to make me cry, things have just been so rough in my life lately. I mean, have you seen our scratch list lately? ;-) I actually thought your sarcasm was spot on and effectively gets the point across about how certain staff at the forum can be better utilized.
by tankerkevo on Nov 5, 2010 2:19 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Seriously, wouldn’t it be nice if the cheerleaders were more like college cheer squads? It’d give the Lightning games more of a college football feel. And didn’t they have a live pep band playing there at times the past couple of seasons? I liked that.
Vinny, and Marty, and Steven, and Simon - oh my!
Raw Charge, an SBN Tampa Bay Lightning community. Follow me on Twitter: @dagmar27.
by Cassie McClellan on Nov 5, 2010 2:46 PM EDT up reply actions
Not that they should strive to make hockey like college football. Just keep it very basic, let the cheerleaders teach and lead chants and cheers. And maybe have a live pep band play every so often – like invite local high school and college bands in to play at home games.
No chintzy over-the-top attempts at trying to convert college football fans to hockey fans. Make it more like a college hockey game, if anything else, but still keep it professional like an NHL team should. Sometimes, professional sports teams take a good idea and try to do far too much with it. You should always start small and work your way up to more interesting things if people like what you did to begin with.
Vinny, and Marty, and Steven, and Simon - oh my!
Raw Charge, an SBN Tampa Bay Lightning community. Follow me on Twitter: @dagmar27.
by Cassie McClellan on Nov 5, 2010 2:52 PM EDT up reply actions
Usually in pregame, outside. Or post-game, in arena.
The pep bands, I mean
"The Force is strong with this one..." Yzerman is Jedi
Raw Charge.
Interesting query
Perhaps the closest we’ve ever gotten to a tradition was the “We want Roy!!” chant. Those were some great times…even though I only remember it happening in a handful of games.
by ShacklefordRusty on Nov 5, 2010 1:24 PM EDT reply actions
This has been something I've missed
As a follower and fan of the Blues, one of my favorite crowd-unifying activities is the post-goal celebration. The organist plays an excerpt of “When the Saints Go Marching In”, followed by the crowd yelling “Aaaaaaa!” (think college football as the home team kicks off), then counts out the score in unison with a bell marking each score.
It’s classic, it’s electrifying (especially if the score is large for the Blues) and it’s something missing from the SPTF.
how bout a chant like the jets?
B-O-LTS B-O-LTS GOOOOOOOOOO BOLTS. something like that. i mean we have the lets go Light-ning but everyone does that. and i noticed in the Anaheim game they did like a light show with sounds during the center ice puck drop and had like a strobe light go off when they scored highlighting the players. we need to have black outs or blue outs wen we wear our blue jerseys since we dont wear them all the time. thunderstix fit us well but i havent seen them passed out for the past few years. how crazy would it be if everyone jumped up and down yelling ohhhhhhhh like they do at the duke basketball games? what happened to the lightning bolt dropping down from the jumbotron? thats what i remember from when i was little. like lazer light show and the bolt droping down while the players came out with smoke and stuff. i think the players coming out to center ice after a home game saluting the fans is a good thing too. we have songs for specific players like louie louie for marty and hammertime for stamkos but why dont we get a song like the blackhawks have? everytime i hear that song now i wanna hit someone cuz i heard it so much last year in the playoffs but they played it everytime so all the fans sang it.
Off the wall cheers...
Something zany and unique and themed all chanted in a quick unison would be fun.
Examples:
Za Za Za Za Zap!
DAAAAA-THUNDA!
GRRRRR-BOOMYA!
SteeeeeeeRike! (Like a baseball umpire)
It would be cool if we could play outside, on real ice…oh wait.
by Meredith Qualls on Nov 5, 2010 3:21 PM EDT via mobile reply actions 2 recs
Well, how about on that synthetic ice? Panthers vs Lightning outside in Jax or something? Of course, 60º weather is maybe a bit hot to play in, but I would think it’d be manageable. I wonder if the NHL would allow synthetic ice….
Vinny, and Marty, and Steven, and Simon - oh my!
Raw Charge, an SBN Tampa Bay Lightning community. Follow me on Twitter: @dagmar27.
by Cassie McClellan on Nov 5, 2010 3:35 PM EDT up reply actions
Side Note
I think now is the time to get the ball rolling on something like this. The core fans are the ones currently going to the games, and are the ones that will propagate these ideas at the game the quickest. If the Lightning can manage to keep up their solid play the forum will soon start to see more of the casual fans coming to the games. It would be cool if when they showed up the fanatics showed them by example the new atmosphere. It would certainly help turn some of the casual fans into the aforementioned fanatics. Some of the promotional contracts may have to be re-visted. IE “This Bolt cheer learning session brought to you by the St. Petersburg Times” in lieu of “This stupid T-Shirt toss brought to you by the St. Petersburg Times”.
I’ve also emailed this thread to Lightning management.
—My apologies for mispelling your name earlier, Tod. :-D
Oh, the Lightning already know about this story
I am going to get into that on a reply I am posting below.
"The Force is strong with this one..." Yzerman is Jedi
Raw Charge.
TomK91
I’ve often thought a “B-O-LTS” chant would be cool myself.
by ShacklefordRusty on Nov 5, 2010 3:36 PM EDT reply actions
The Lightning are aware of this story and comments
I had someone with the team contact me this morning about the story. It’s featured on the Lightning’s aggragated news feed, as well as mentioned on their In The News blog…
And with how that post closes, I want to stress somethign I gave scant mention to in the post, and was encouraged with by the team: Drums. Fans bringing drums to the game and beating them at proper times — during power plays, penalty kills, and at other rallying points.
I don’t mean the white-noise, mass-appeal, given-out-free thunderstix like drumming. I mean POUNDING, slow beats that people clap along to or cheer along to.
Because you know what? WHere there is thunder, there’s lightning…. And something beyond the white-noise thunder would be awesome.
"The Force is strong with this one..." Yzerman is Jedi
Raw Charge.
Sweet Caroline……….. that is all.
[IMG]http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a33/elimstuff/elimsigsimple-1.jpg[/IMG]
Oh please, no.
Vinny, and Marty, and Steven, and Simon - oh my!
Raw Charge, an SBN Tampa Bay Lightning community. Follow me on Twitter: @dagmar27.
by Cassie McClellan on Nov 5, 2010 5:03 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Great article;
I don’t have much experience with going to live hockey games, but there was a soccer team that started in Wellington about 3 years ago.
They very quickly built a strong tradition and introduced chanting (and taunting) through a an unofficial fan club called ‘Yellow Fever’, and the area they sit in (The ‘Yellow Zone’). Even if there are only 4,000 people in the 32,000 capacity stadium, they make it sound like it is sold out.
I do not think there is any formal agreement the Yellow Fever fans and the team they support, the ‘Yellow Zone’ is a family area and anyone can get tickets there (if there are seats), but you at least get the idea of what kind of person you may be sitting next to.
Not knowing the setup of the Bolts home-games and who goes (it may already exist); something like this may work. Bring like-minded fans into one spot so they have a united voice that will spread to the rest of the area. Give one area of the area a ‘party’ or ‘committed fan’ status, but don’t make it exclusive or elite. I think something like ‘The Thunder Zone’ would sound pretty cool and imply noise.
Admittedly there was a lot of organization on the part of the fans, (including writing the chants and handing out chant sheets to fans in the area) so it does require commitment by a large number of people to regularly turn up and plant the seeds of support.
We’d have that in college – it was the Blue Crew. My university’s school colors, funny enough, are very similar to the Lightning’s: blue, silver/grey, and white. Not sure how the school would take to the name “Blue Crew” being used by an NHL team, tho it certainly fits.
Vinny, and Marty, and Steven, and Simon - oh my!
Raw Charge, an SBN Tampa Bay Lightning community. Follow me on Twitter: @dagmar27.
by Cassie McClellan on Nov 5, 2010 5:31 PM EDT up reply actions
jazz band?
Now they brought in that band thing that played where the cheerleaders stood the last year or two that was different but that was a bad idea. stay away from things like that. what about passing out rainmakers? and then explaining how to make them to the fans too. easy enough. a hollow cardboard or PBC pipe. fill it with rice or dry corn or something. close up either side and shake it. talk about loud in that arena. either shake it or flip it all at once b4 the faceoffs or something. along with the bolt brigade standing somewhere hitting those old style drums to make the thunder.
Fantastic!
I’m headed to the music store in 5 to get a couple kick ice drums!
[tangent] I’ve got a friend coming over tonight who just this season shocked me when she showed up to watch the Montreal game at the pub in a Lightning sweater. She’s originally from Montreal and in the past always rooted for the Habs. She said it was time to make Tampa officially home. Needless to say I had much respect for that.[/tangent]
So I’m going to buy one for her too. It’ll be fun fun painting them tonight in preperation for Tuesday’s show down against the Leafs at the forum.
Dum Dun…
GUIIIGERRRRRE
Dum Dun…
GUIIIGERRRRRE
Dum Dun…
GUIIIGERRRRRE
Dum Dun…
GUIIIGERRRRRE
The tension these will create in the buildng on the power play!
Excellent idea! I’m all in!
by tankerkevo on Nov 5, 2010 7:33 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
rec'd
"The Force is strong with this one..." Yzerman is Jedi
Raw Charge.
by John Fontana on Nov 5, 2010 11:01 PM EDT up reply actions
I kinda like the Black and Blue squad
Many of the Bolt fans aren’t traditional hockey fans but the team colors are easy to understand.
Don in St Pete
Ah memories, good ol’ Bingo Bob… “Hi Tampa Bay, I’m Bingo Bob!” Booo!
How about getting a thunder (stomping) vs lightning (clapping) duel going in the Forum?
One side of the bldg vs. the other… Though I kinda wanna have yelling involved also… Doesn’t feel like I went to the game if I am not quasi-hoarse as I am leaving the bldg.
Less Paul Porter in between the action/intermissions
It’s almost impossible to hear yourself think with the constant rambling. I can read the jumbotron for myself, I don’t need someone to do it for me. If you want to announce a contest winner or that there’s a missing child or a fire in section 312, great, otherwise I’ll figure it out myself.
As for things to do. Maybe have the Lightning get involved with local hockey more, maybe promote some high school teams, and have “shootouts” between teams in between periods, and you can never go wrong with the mites.
Execellent Idea
10 minutes of no PA announcements would be a welcome feature during intermission. It feels like a constant barrage of noise that sometimes makes me head to the smoke decks just to get some respite from all the noise.
SPOT ON QUOTE
“…it must be made clear that most fan traditions don’t get started by executive or marketing choices. They happen naturally and grow organically.”
Fabulous article, John.
Only nitpick: the rats are “annoying”? Really?
Litter Box Cats - Your Panthers Colossus. Hit me up at Twitter and our Facebook FanPage
Not as a team deliberately marketing to out-of-town fans, though ;-)
"The Force is strong with this one..." Yzerman is Jedi
Raw Charge.
I like the idea of the drums.
Reminds me of that one dude at the Cleveland Indians games. Except, hopefully we can get a whole stadium of them.
And they should be deep, booming drums, not some annoying “Ratatatata” stuff. The biggest issue would be to find drums that are relatively small with more or less the same sound. But I think this is something we can build on and make work.
Drums plus Lightning?
I really like the idea of big, booming drums resonating throughout the forum. How about adding a bit of electrical work as well? I have two thoughts, though I don’t really know the best way to go about them since I’m not an electrical engineer or anything close.
1. Have actual electrical flashes towards the ceiling of the arena. I would think that a wire would have to be involved for the safety of the people, but I think that would be fine. Again, not an electrical engineer. To have a bunch of lightning flashes above everyone’s heads in combination with the thunderous drums would be exciting. Besides, wouldn’t some accidental electrical burn marks on the roof be intimidating? (Or pre-burn them there) Sorry, Mr. Vinik :)
2. I really don’t think my second idea could be used with the first idea. Basically, if there was a way to safely put a static charge in the air, that could be a cool experience. Let’s say for example the team is about to be on the powerplay. Not only do the drums start their thunder, everyone’s hair would start standing on end. Ok, so parents may not like this one with their kids starting to go around shocking everyone… but you get the point.
if we're talking chants
there is a line from MC Hammer that would make a good chant
Uhoh, Uhoh Uhoh Uhoh Uhoh Uhoh Here comes the Hammer!
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