Seattle has the 12th Man. Cleveland has the Dawg Pound. South Africa has those weird vuvuzela horns they used during the World Cup. And now, Indian River High School has their own official student section cheering on the Indians this basketball season.
And just like Ron Burgandy, it’s kind of a big deal.
For one, it brings a completely different element to the game. The gym gets loud — especially during foul shots. Where Queen Bratton’s famous “hot dogs and baked beans, apple pie and Chevrolet” (or is it scrambled eggs? I can never tell), chant used to reign supreme, now she has hundreds of stomping feet on the bleachers and bellowing voices helping her break the concentration of opposing shooters.
When I asked Shaquille Hall and DeAndre Cooper how the new student section affected the Sussex Tech game last week, they both agreed that it helped. When Kei Juan Major hit KiAnté Sturgis with a no-look, behind-the-back pass for a score that sparked a late fourth-quarter comeback, you didn’t just see the momentum swinging the Indians’ way — you could hear it, too.
Looking at some of the more notable sidelines in sports, it’s obvious that fans can have an impact on the game. The Seahawks have won 24 out of their last 26 games in Seattle, where their 137.6 decibel loud stadium accounts for an average of more than two false starts by opposing teams per game and registered as an earthquake after a Marshawn Lynch touchdown in 2011.
The “Lambeau Leap” has had to inspire a few touchdowns since its 1993 inception, and we all know how Yankees fan Jeffrey Maier made his mark on the 1996 ALCS (or at least Tony Torasco does).
For the Indians, the new student section and increased fan support couldn’t have come at a better time. It was just over two seasons ago that the Indian River basketball team finished 0-17. Last season, however, they made the playoffs for the first time in 15 years — thanks in large part to third-year head coach Mike Fabber, who has completely revamped the program’s culture during his tenure. Now the squad has the support to go along with what looks to be the return of a winning tradition.
If you watched an Indian River basketball game last season, chances are you noticed Major out there at some point. But if you were at the Indian River vs. Sussex Tech game last week, there’s no way you left without knowing his name — not just because he put up 34 points, but because the entire student section was chanting “Major problem,” over and over. The phrase not only serves as the Indians’ star player’s Twitter handle but also did a pretty good job summing up what Sussex Tech was dealing with at the time.
Right now the Indians are 2-2, but if the way they played against Tech and the support they got from the rest of the school is any indicator, Queen Bratton won’t be the only one with reason to yell, “I like that! Do it again!” come playoff time.