UConn's Battle Cry

[GemParty]

There is nothing that opposing fans hate more than hearing the U! C! O! N! N! UCONN! UCONN! UCONN! chant.

Opposing fans really do hate the cheer. You can see it on their faces when the UConn faithful break it out, and you can especially tell by the parody versions you hear (most common: U! S! U! C! K! You Suck! You Suck! You Suck!). It just gets under opponents skin. I think it's a combination of the fact that A) It sounds awesome and B) It is only released at the most crippling, back-breaking moments of a game, thanks to UConn's first super-fan, Big Red.
If you're reading this blog, I imagine you're familiar with Big Red. But just in case, here's a primer: Big Red is, with the possible exception of Blue-and-White Kid, UConn's most recognizable fan. At the XL center he sits on the first level behind the basket opposite the student section. At Gampel (at least the last time I was there), he sits in the upper deck to the right of the students, in one of the center sections. Whenever UConn makes a big run that forces their opponent to call a timeout he stands up, spells out U-C-O-N-N with his arms and leads the crowd in a deafening cheer. He is big. He has red hair. He looks like this:

​

The reason Big Red's cheer has caught on and become a marker of UConn's success for the past 20 years is because, unlike so many things at UConn games, it is organic. There is no sponsor. It is not forced. It is not pre-packaged. No, instead it is a reflection of pure joy at the success of the young men who step out on the court wearing the jerseys that say "UConn." It is beautiful, and cheering along with Big Red is one of my favorite parts of being a UConn fan.

Credit to Andrew Porter, I read his blog a while back and recently bumped into this article again. One of my favorite descriptions of our Fan base.

 

[UCHuskies08]

Big Red is the man, used to sit near him back in the day

 

[Deepster]

Two things I hate about our game day traditions:

1) Every road game when some drunk from a bus trip decides he's going to be "Big Red' for the day. He proceeds to stand up and do the cheer after every single timeout or stoppage in play. If you are reading this and you are "that guy", please stop doing it. It's embarrassing to all of us.

2) I cannot stomach how we stand and clap until the first points are scored. There is always such a letdown seeing 10,000-15,000 people go from standing and noisy to sitting down and quiet. I would be really curious to hear what some players or what Coach Calhoun think of this one.

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

Two things I hate about our game day traditions:

1) Every road game when some drunk from a bus trip decides he's going to be "Big Red' for the day. He proceeds to stand up and do the cheer after every single timeout or stoppage in play. If you are reading this and you are "that guy", please stop doing it. It's embarrassing to all of us.

2) I cannot stomach how we stand and clap until the first points are scored. There is always such a letdown seeing 10,000-15,000 people go from standing and noisy to sitting down and quiet. I would be really curious to hear what some players or what Coach Calhoun think of this one.

LOL...Its NOT me! Pretty hilarious post because I agree with everything you said on point #1. What are your opinions and thoughts to rectify the point #2 issues? As to the BIG RED MACHINE his seats at the UConn games indicate the value the University puts on his loyalty. You don't get points for being a super fan and with this trifecta we have in place now expect the point system to change drastically. That is great for those who can simply buy points and get priority seating. I remember last year looking up at BIG R pre game at Storrs and seeing him look down at John Rowland court side. Something didn't feel right about that. That is UConn...

 

[CL82]

Two things I hate about our game day traditions:

1) Every road game when some drunk from a bus trip decides he's going to be "Big Red' for the day. He proceeds to stand up and do the cheer after every single timeout or stoppage in play. If you are reading this and you are "that guy", please stop doing it. It's embarrassing to all of us.

2) I cannot stomach how we stand and clap until the first points are scored. There is always such a letdown seeing 10,000-15,000 people go from standing and noisy to sitting down and quiet. I would be really curious to hear what some players or what Coach Calhoun think of this one.

One the funniest things at a UConn game is if UConn rims out the first couple of shots and you can see the faint of heart start to waiver. Few sit down, however. As I often sit in the opponents section, I annoy quite a few people. They are usually cool after I saw "First basket" and tradition if necessary.

 

[babysheep]

I remember my first attended game was Providence at Gampel during the 08-09 season when Hash got his triple double and we took the #1 ranking since Pitt and Duke lost that week. Took me the entire game to realize where/who the entire student section was yelling at.

I gotta say though, Dale (Blue and White guy) is definitely a better (which is in no way a knock on Big Red's spirit, of course) super fan.

 

[epark88]

I dunno if anybody else noticed this, but in the old EA Sports 'NCAA Hoops' games the programmers left out the last 'N' in the cheer. That kinda changed the connotation of things, apparently.

I would hope that they've fixed the 'glitch' by now...

 

[Ts5034]

I noticed the cheerleaders stole the u c o n n chant over the last couple years. They sometimes do it on the court during time outs by holding up signs for each letter to get the crowd into it. It seems more genuine when big red does it though.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

I noticed the cheerleaders stole the u c o n n chant over the last couple years. They sometimes do it on the court during time outs by holding up signs for each letter to get the crowd into it. It seems more genuine when big red does it though.

The cheerleader led U-C-O-N-N chant ranks just below George Mason and probably right above the Nate Miles scandal as far as the worst things to happen to UConn Basketball in the past 25 years.

Big Red is the man. Someday when he eventually steps down, I would love it, if Blue and White kid could take it over. 1 super fan to the next...a passing of the torch!

 

[Migs]

I remember my first attended game was Providence at Gampel during the 08-09 season when Hash got his triple double and we took the #1 ranking since Pitt and Duke lost that week. Took me the entire game to realize where/who the entire student section was yelling at.

I gotta say though, Dale (Blue and White guy) is definitely a better (which is in no way a knock on Big Red's spirit, of course) super fan.

Dale did a great job for seven years(?), give or take, being the face of UConn fandom. It's a shame he wasn't grandfathered into that seat for as long as he wanted. But, Red has been a staple at games since the early 90's, so I put him at a different level. It's a great feeling when 10-15,000 people turn in unison to one man for the purpose of gloating, cracks me up everytime. A 100+ decibel "Take That." Along with the Husky slide, which I wish they would bring back, my first memories of UConn basketball were shoving our cheer down opponents throats while stepping on them and celebrating the coach of the year honor for JC. I guess you had to be there in the 90's when the U-C-O-N-N cheer registered on the Richter scale.

 

[UCDaveD]

I'm 100% in favor of jacking Utah State's 'Winning team, losing team' chant.

 

[tcf15]

I'm 100% in favor of jacking Utah State's 'Winning team, losing team' chant.

Me too. Could work out better for us if either of our student sections ran parallel to the benches, but alas...

 

[babysheep]

See I dunno if anyone remembers that thread where I complained about how lame the crowds are at home games (considering the type of program UConn is and has been for decades), but this is Utah State for , and a cheer like that, with that kind of crowd-wide participation, would never happen at a UConn game. At least I could never see it happening.

 

[Lamb Shake]

Totally agree, our fans need some more life. If fans of Utah State can be this wild and enthusiastic for their team, that has not made it past the first round of the NCAAs since 2001, why can't Uconn fans show a little more. I have season tickets to both xl and gampel and find it puzzling how quiet the xl center can get. The students always keep GP loud and being smaller I feel the fan base is more engaged. Then in Hartford you could forget there was a basketball game going on sometimes. Don't get me wrong though, big games at the xl center get real loud and are great, but it would be nice to have a little more life in the atmosphere during South Floridas, DePauls, and Maines of the world. My opinion is I'm not looking for wild and rowdy but a little more passion and excitement would be awesome. I mean we are one of the top programs in the nation and coming off a season that I will never forget, we have a damn lot to be excited about.

On another note, I love the chant when one person goes: "UCONN" and fans go "HUSKIES" three times and on the forth "HUSKIES" "UCONN on the fourth. It's simple yet classic. It seems that it is not done as much as it was five plus years ago. I remember hearing it the minute you get out of your car in parking garage till the last buzzer, over and over again. It's usually just little sections of people or the students doing the chant now, but think it would be great if the tried to get everyone to do it. Not if its done like the cutout UCONN poster boards the cheerleaders use, but if it was started by the fans. Say if one side yelled to the other, like how MSU does Go Green, Go White back and forth. Just some ideas. Anyways, I'm bored at work and rambling so...the end

 

[nomar]

Two things I hate about our game day traditions:

1) Every road game when some drunk from a bus trip decides he's going to be "Big Red' for the day. He proceeds to stand up and do the cheer after every single timeout or stoppage in play. If you are reading this and you are "that guy", please stop doing it. It's embarrassing to all of us.

2) I cannot stomach how we stand and clap until the first points are scored. There is always such a letdown seeing 10,000-15,000 people go from standing and noisy to sitting down and quiet. I would be really curious to hear what some players or what Coach Calhoun think of this one.

Couldn't agree more, Deep.