The weekend of February 2 saw the men’s hockey team suffer two losses on the road to Dartmouth and Harvard. Despite that, the team has been on an upward slope for the past few weeks, and the games have been truly enjoyable to watch.

One thing that hasn’t improved much since RPI’s slump over winter break is fan excitement and involvement. Yes, we had a big turnout for the Clarkson game and Freakout!, but that’s a given for any year. Two weeks ago, the Red Army sponsored a trip out to the Harvard game to support the team on the road. The Pep Band was excited to have the company and extra support at the game.

The beginning of the game was fantastic, with the band, the Red Army, and quite a number of local alumni doing their part to make RPI’s presence felt in Harvard’s rink. We out-cheered the home fans for nearly two periods and it was a great feeling.

When Harvard took a two-goal lead early in the third period, however, it was as if the members of the Red Army had stood up and left, though they were still clearly occupying their seats. For the final 19 minutes of the game, they were silent and disinterested while the band and alumni tried their hardest to prompt a bit of a spark from the team. Even after RPI scored to bring the game within one goal with four minutes to go, their cheers fizzled out after the initial excitement and wouldn’t return for the remainder of the game.

When a team is facing a tough game on the road, the fans that are present help it overcome an often loud and hostile home crowd. This support should not be dependent on a lead on the scoreboard. When your team is behind, it doesn’t deserve any less support; you should be yelling louder than ever to remind the team that you’re there for them. A one or two goal deficit should never be treated as a lost cause, causing you to count down the time until you can climb onto your warm bus and head home. We’ve come back from worse, but a boisterous crowd that suddenly goes dead doesn’t do anything to help that effort.

We’re all fans of RPI hockey, and that means giving the team our support whether or not it is ahead, behind, on a slump, or on a roll. It’s something we’d all do well to remember in the games yet to come.

Chris Behrens, PHYS ’07