By Cameron Tillett–
You’ve been waiting for this moment: a return to the inside of Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium for a viewing of this year’s spectacular version of cardinal football. After fighting through the crowd to reach your section, you eventually get to your assigned seats to find a couple of jabronis not only taking your spot but being a general nuisance to those around them. If you’d like to avoid any type of football fiasco that might result from such situations, here a few pieces of crowd etiquette you might want abide by.
First and foremost, go to your seats. If you do nothing else on this list, park you fanny in the seats that you purchased before the game. Seat stealing is a huge pet peeve of any regular attendee of football games. It causes a general disturbance as fellow game viewers have to move in order to let the perpetrator leave and the rightful owner of the seats take their place. And then they have to walk away with the tailbetween-the-legs shuffle and that
just looks silly.
Be loud! It’s a football game. When senior running back Victor Anderson breaks through the gap and makes a crazy forty yard run, stand up and unleash a primal roar of triumph for all to hear. If your natural reaction to Will Stein, junior quarterback, throwing a touchdown is to immediately break out into the guitar solo of “Don’t Stop Believing” via your own mouth, then do it. Go crazy, but…
Don’t be obnoxious. People will understand a fan’s enthusiastic screaming for his or her team. But when you’re berating the terrified child next to you into doing the CARDS cheer for the 14th time in a row, you have to realize you’re overstepping a few boundaries. Don’t scream profanities or any other sort of vulgar language into the open air because you’ll probably have security on you faster than you can say, “don’t tase me, bro.” Once a moment has passed, let it go and watch the rest of the game. Sit down or stand depending on what the crowd is doing. If the whole student section is standing, accept it for what it is: a student body is generally excited about its university’s football program. This is especially true for those individuals who have been tailgating for six hours in order to prepare for the game.
Interact with those around you. Obviously, if you’re sitting with a group of friends, this is pointless advice. But if you’re sitting next to an unknown, but fellow U of L fan, don’t be afraid to celebrate with them. Slap hands after strong defensive showing, or if you’re really ambitious, go for the chest bump.
Finally, just support your team. Pay attention to what’s going on in the game. Stay until the game is over. Don’t disappear on your team when they still have a chance to make a great comeback. There are a lot of people who love Louisville football and would love to have the chance to see as many games live as students do. Just be aware of that fact and realize the opportunity you have to see a great team come together this year.
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Photo: Shelby Stafford/ The Louisville Cardinal
