This Saturday is the 28th annual Big Red Freakout!, live from the Houston Field House. This represents a proud tradition of a packed house, lots of noise, and RPI wining. It all began on February 25, 1978, when Engineer fans were encouraged to wear red, be loud, and make banners, all with the incentive of a free gift for attendance. With free hats adorning their heads, the crowd cheered RPI on to a 6-5 overtime victory against UNH.
Freakout! went from local lunacy to national notoriety in 1987. That year, against Brown, fans were given long plastic foghorns. The noise was too much for the Brown coach to handle—his complaints prompted the NCAA to adopt rule 6-29-b, known in hockey circles as “The RPI Rule:” “Spectators are not permitted to use artificial noisemakers, air horns, or electronic amplifiers while the game is in progress.”
While the NCAA halted the Freakout!’s unnatural noise, it hasn’t been able to stop the Engineers. Despite suffering three consecutive Freakout! losses after beating Brown in the fateful horn year, the Engineers have not lost a Freakout! game since 1990, when they fell to St. Lawrence.
This year, once again, Brown comes to town. The Bears have been a perpetual whipping boy against the Engineers. They are 0-6 against RPI in Freakout!; the most recent loss coming in 2003, when a late-overtime desperation pass into the crease by Ryan Shields bounced off of Brown captain Tye Korbl, and past goalie Yann Danis. The puck crossed the line with just 7.1 seconds remaining, and Freakout! magic was clearly alive and well.
The team can always get psyched for Freakout! “That’s something you look forward to every year,” said team captain Nick Economakos, adding “we’ve got a lot of energy right now.” And if the past is any indication, RPI will likely vanquish Brown once again.
RPI is going Brown Bear hunting this Saturday, Houston Field House: Be there.
