Almost three years ago, November 6, 2010, I discovered that the Brigham Young University student section was not as awesome as I thought it was. I had started to realize it earlier in the season, but it didn't fully hit me until a buddy of mine from Colorado joined me for that year's game against UNLV.
He had attended BYU as a student, and he was a little disappointed with the decline of the student section. Sure, it was against an awful opponent and ended in a 55-7 rout, but still, why did the stands feel so empty? Attendance for that game is listed as almost 2,500 below capacity and at least from where I was standing it felt like a whole lot more than that were missing. And I was standing in the student section.
Well, I was standing in one of the student sections.
You all remember the old student "section." It had some of the students in the south end zone, some scattered throughout the east sideline, and some in the south end zone. That sure is a lot of sections for the singular student section.
That old student section was the cause of another interesting issue my friend and I observed that day: we repeatedly sang one of the worst renditions of BYU's fight song imaginable. And it didn't just happen that one game, it was a problem I noticed time and again. We were unbearably out of sync with each other. The way it sounded to me was that the older folks had the fight song down, and us students were scattered and unintentionally trying to sing it in a round. It was awful. Being on three different sides of the stadium certainly did not help our cause to be unified.
But rest assured, it's been fixed.
Beginning with men's basketball during the 2012-2013 season the student section experienced a major overhaul. The two major changes were the name and the location, and both, in my opinion, were long overdue.
Branding of the Student Section
Duke has its Cameron Crazies, Pitt has the Zoo, Texas A&M has the 12th Man, San Diego State has the Show, Michigan State has my personal favorite, the Izzone.
And now BYU has the Roar of Cougars, or ROC.
I'll admit, it took some getting used to. I thought there could have been some better options out there. But now I'm convinced, the ROC is the best name for the student section at Brigham Young University.
First of all, the video introducing students to the ROC starts off with Sean Connery saying "Welcome to the ROC," and that is awesome.
It also gives us an identity. We belong to something, and we are a part of the game itself. Our presence bothers opponents. They are afraid to face the ROC. We intimidate them almost as much as facing Kyle Van Noy or Tyler Haws intimidates them. Why do you think BYU has a hard time getting big schools to play us in Provo? It's because of us. It's because we ROC.
We no longer have an All Sport Pass. That was lame. Now we have a ROC pass. That is cool. And not only does it sound cooler, the ROC passes look sweet, too.
And you know what? The ROC isn't just for football and basketball. It's for every sport. Naming the student section didn't just unify the students. It unified every BYU team by unifying the student section with something as simple, yet powerful, as a name.
We have an identity, we have a name, and we are part of something great. We are the ROC.
Unity and Movement of the ROC
The culture at BYU is one that pushes back against change. I get it. We liked our sideline seats at basketball games.We You liked that we you could show up five minutes before after kickoff. Well guess what? It was awful for everyone else.
Okay, so for basketball it wasn't awful, it just wasn't as good as it could be. Think about it. We have a chance to influence games to a greater degree than ever before.
Imagine a scenario with two seconds left in the second half. BYU has a one point lead. Gonzaga's Kevin Pangos goes up for the go ahead layup and gets hacked by Nate Austin just before time expires. The whistle blows and Pangos goes to the line for two free throws and a chance win the game. Behind the backboard the ROC goes wild. Pangos looks up at the backboard and tries to focus, but sees the Dick Vitale signs up in the crowd just as he's about. He thinks, "What on earth does Dicky V have to do with BYU?" Clank. Right off the front of the rim. (And for the record, Dicky V has everything to do with every college basketball team. He's Dicky V!) Then it all comes down to his second shot and a chance to force overtime. Of course, between the pressure and the noise from the ROC, the poor kid doesn't stand a chance. BYU wins the game, and it was because of us!
Will that scenario ever happen? Who knows. But we can be a factor in free throw shooting and a team's communication and a myriad of other things to affect the outcome of the game in that crucial second half.
And now to football. I don't think the moving and unifying is so much where the complaints have been, although there certainly have been some who didn't like that either. I mean students will no longer have seats at the 50 yard line, but let's be honest, when we got 50 yard line seats before they were nosebleeders, so it's not like it was spectacular anyway.
The biggest complaints I have heard have been from the people who like to show up to games right around the time of kickoff and usually end up missing kickoff. They like to show up late and still enjoy their seats on the fifth row that they landed for the big game against that school up north. And now you have to show up to the game early or at least before kickoff in order to get anything even remotely "decent."
Exactly.
Now we reward the loudest and craziest and most dedicated fans. Seems fair to me!
Now we fill the stands before game time. Do you know how much that means to the team? A lot! And if you've ever played in front of a crowd you know the incredible feeling of looking up in the stands and seeing it feel up before the game.
Students now line the tunnel as the team comes out of the locker room and that gets the noise level and energy up in the stadium as the team runs onto the field. Sure it was loud before. But were you there against Texas? It was unreal.
The ROC showed up early and greeted the team as they arrived at the stadium. Then the gates opened for the game and everyone rushed to get the best seats. Then a monsoon happened, and so did something really special.
The ROC stood still.
The harder it rained, the louder the students got. It was electrifying. The PA announcer told everyone to head under the bleachers. But nobody in the ROC could hear because everyone was there in their shorts and t-shirts screaming their heads off. Eventually the message was put up on the video board and everyone realized how bad of a storm it was so they took cover. But the energy didn't die down. Nearly everyone stayed, and under the student section bleachers it got loud with the fight song breaking out along with the occasional Seven Nation Army chant. It was fantastic.
That would not have happened a year ago. People would have been at home, and by the time kickoff rolled around there would have been as many Texas fans as BYU students. Instead, the ROC supplied some serious energy to the team in a 40-21 domination of the 15th ranked Longhorns.
The ROC is a part of the team. And they showed up big time two weeks ago. We need to do the same again this Saturday.
We're playing that school up north, and we need to show up in a big way. The players are wearing royal, and we should be, too. If you don't want to spend the 25 bucks on the sweet Nike "Royal Strong & True" shirts at the BYU Bookstore, that's fine. Wear any royal shirt you have, even if it doesn't have a BYU logo or anything on it. And if you don't have a royal shirt, go to Macey's and buy a cheap shirt for something like four dollars. Be a part of the team. It's going to be awesome. And if you can't handle that, at least wear blue. No green, white, yellow, or pink shirts. And never, under any conditions, show up in red.
Well, I was standing in one of the student sections.
You all remember the old student "section." It had some of the students in the south end zone, some scattered throughout the east sideline, and some in the south end zone. That sure is a lot of sections for the singular student section.
That old student section was the cause of another interesting issue my friend and I observed that day: we repeatedly sang one of the worst renditions of BYU's fight song imaginable. And it didn't just happen that one game, it was a problem I noticed time and again. We were unbearably out of sync with each other. The way it sounded to me was that the older folks had the fight song down, and us students were scattered and unintentionally trying to sing it in a round. It was awful. Being on three different sides of the stadium certainly did not help our cause to be unified.
But rest assured, it's been fixed.
Beginning with men's basketball during the 2012-2013 season the student section experienced a major overhaul. The two major changes were the name and the location, and both, in my opinion, were long overdue.
Branding of the Student Section
Duke has its Cameron Crazies, Pitt has the Zoo, Texas A&M has the 12th Man, San Diego State has the Show, Michigan State has my personal favorite, the Izzone.
And now BYU has the Roar of Cougars, or ROC.
I'll admit, it took some getting used to. I thought there could have been some better options out there. But now I'm convinced, the ROC is the best name for the student section at Brigham Young University.
First of all, the video introducing students to the ROC starts off with Sean Connery saying "Welcome to the ROC," and that is awesome.
It also gives us an identity. We belong to something, and we are a part of the game itself. Our presence bothers opponents. They are afraid to face the ROC. We intimidate them almost as much as facing Kyle Van Noy or Tyler Haws intimidates them. Why do you think BYU has a hard time getting big schools to play us in Provo? It's because of us. It's because we ROC.
We no longer have an All Sport Pass. That was lame. Now we have a ROC pass. That is cool. And not only does it sound cooler, the ROC passes look sweet, too.
And you know what? The ROC isn't just for football and basketball. It's for every sport. Naming the student section didn't just unify the students. It unified every BYU team by unifying the student section with something as simple, yet powerful, as a name.
We have an identity, we have a name, and we are part of something great. We are the ROC.
Unity and Movement of the ROC
The culture at BYU is one that pushes back against change. I get it. We liked our sideline seats at basketball games.
Okay, so for basketball it wasn't awful, it just wasn't as good as it could be. Think about it. We have a chance to influence games to a greater degree than ever before.
 |
| Can you imagine shooting a free throw with that in your field of vision? |
Will that scenario ever happen? Who knows. But we can be a factor in free throw shooting and a team's communication and a myriad of other things to affect the outcome of the game in that crucial second half.
And now to football. I don't think the moving and unifying is so much where the complaints have been, although there certainly have been some who didn't like that either. I mean students will no longer have seats at the 50 yard line, but let's be honest, when we got 50 yard line seats before they were nosebleeders, so it's not like it was spectacular anyway.
The biggest complaints I have heard have been from the people who like to show up to games right around the time of kickoff and usually end up missing kickoff. They like to show up late and still enjoy their seats on the fifth row that they landed for the big game against that school up north. And now you have to show up to the game early or at least before kickoff in order to get anything even remotely "decent."
Exactly.
Now we reward the loudest and craziest and most dedicated fans. Seems fair to me!
Now we fill the stands before game time. Do you know how much that means to the team? A lot! And if you've ever played in front of a crowd you know the incredible feeling of looking up in the stands and seeing it feel up before the game.
Students now line the tunnel as the team comes out of the locker room and that gets the noise level and energy up in the stadium as the team runs onto the field. Sure it was loud before. But were you there against Texas? It was unreal.
The ROC showed up early and greeted the team as they arrived at the stadium. Then the gates opened for the game and everyone rushed to get the best seats. Then a monsoon happened, and so did something really special.
The ROC stood still.
The harder it rained, the louder the students got. It was electrifying. The PA announcer told everyone to head under the bleachers. But nobody in the ROC could hear because everyone was there in their shorts and t-shirts screaming their heads off. Eventually the message was put up on the video board and everyone realized how bad of a storm it was so they took cover. But the energy didn't die down. Nearly everyone stayed, and under the student section bleachers it got loud with the fight song breaking out along with the occasional Seven Nation Army chant. It was fantastic.
 |
| Look at the ROC. That's amazing. |
That would not have happened a year ago. People would have been at home, and by the time kickoff rolled around there would have been as many Texas fans as BYU students. Instead, the ROC supplied some serious energy to the team in a 40-21 domination of the 15th ranked Longhorns.
The ROC is a part of the team. And they showed up big time two weeks ago. We need to do the same again this Saturday.
We're playing that school up north, and we need to show up in a big way. The players are wearing royal, and we should be, too. If you don't want to spend the 25 bucks on the sweet Nike "Royal Strong & True" shirts at the BYU Bookstore, that's fine. Wear any royal shirt you have, even if it doesn't have a BYU logo or anything on it. And if you don't have a royal shirt, go to Macey's and buy a cheap shirt for something like four dollars. Be a part of the team. It's going to be awesome. And if you can't handle that, at least wear blue. No green, white, yellow, or pink shirts. And never, under any conditions, show up in red.
