I would like to take a moment to address last week’s “Top Hat” article. First off, this “fan of laziness” is not trying to attack the Red Army. History tells me I should not mess with people who use the words “fanaticism,” “red,” and “army” in the same sentence. Instead, I would like to at least propose a few reasons why the Red Army is fighting an uphill battle and perhaps present some solutions.

Several factors combined during the hockey pre-season to produce a somewhat explosive reaction. The Red Army (a student-formed body of artificial school spirit) blocked out somewhere around 200 seats in the student section of the Houston Field House, displacing other groups and organizations that have sat there for years. When the men’s hockey season tickets went on sale, these seats were unavailable to students—unless they joined a group that sounded more like a Soviet rights group. The Red Army got these seats (and the free, stylish t-shirt) for half as much as everyone else. Half the price means half the sitting, apparently. Now, I know that standing during the games gives the appearance of school spirit and all that, but don’t you think it is disrespectful to take these seats away from others and then not use them, consequently blocking the view of the full paying fans? Yes, sporting events at much larger universities are full of rowdy fans, who at the very least stand during the game. The Red Army looks more like a tall, alien, and solemn obstacle, than any sort of “Cameron Crazies.”

Now, I am not sure about anybody else, but I think the Houston Field House would be better off without a red Berlin Wall separating the rest of the fans from the game. As a solution, I suggest that the Red Army picks up its act. I agree that fanaticism is exactly what we need at RPI sporting events. As for those RPI “Cameron Crazies,” they were the ones sitting behind the Red Army doing all the cheering and yelling and heckling.

In the Red Army’s defense, I understand that the undergraduate members of the Army will be constantly changing, graduating, going on co-op, and whatnot. The best way to educate the new soldiers in your squad, I would think, would be by example. Standing silent and getting screamed at to sit down by several hundred people behind you, I think we can agree, is not the greatest way to do this and might seriously affect morale among the ranks.

So, to the members of the Red Army, my advice (not being a professional myself) is to pick up the intensity, actually cheer for our teams, sound like an army, be a little considerate to fellow fans, and then, just maybe, the rest of the crowd will stand up with you. But to assume that RPI was completely without any sort of spirit before you came around would be a grave mistake.

Nathan Anderson