Top 10 Chants at Sporting Events
When you walk into an arena there are a few standard chants you know you’ll most likely be partaking in. “Yankees Suck” if you’re at Fenway, “Yankees Suck” if you’re at Foxboro, and “Yankees Suck” if you’re at a Stones’ concert at The Garden, to name a few. But there are a few others that come to mind other than “Yankees Suck.” And today I will rank them from 10-1, for no reason whatsoever, based on my experiences as a fan either at the game, or watching and listening on TV.
10. “D-FENCE!” (clap clap) “D-FENCE!” (clap clap) – I for one think the “Defense clap clap” chant is an underrated chant. Straight, direct, and to the point. You can’t really fuck it up. The problem with it, and why you it’s not ranked higher, is that you can’t use it a baseball game. Anyone who starts chanting “D-FENCE!” when the home team is in the field should be tasered. Football – yes. Basketball – yes, if your team actually plays defense. You didn’t hear many “Defense clap-clap” chants for the ’91 Nuggets. It really wouldn’t do any good when the score’s 137-134 in the 3rd. And hockey, it would just be impossible unless you’re killing a penalty, but even then it’s tough. Either way, “D-FENCE!” (clap clap) is still a solid, solid chant.
9. “Let’s-go TEAM NAME (clap, clap, clap-clap-clap)” – I hate to get into disputes about stupid shit like this but I’m 90% sure the first teams’ fans to ever do this were Ranger fans at Madison Square Garden in 1994. I could be wrong but I’d never heard it pre-‘94. “Let’s-Go-Mets” never had the “clap, clap, clap-clap-clap” so that doesn’t count. It was just “Let’s-Go-Mets”. You need the clap-clap-clap. Once Ranger fans started doing it, then Yankees fans followed suit and now pretty much everyone is using “Let’s-go TEAM NAME”. Even Tiger fans who weren’t even paying attention to baseball in 1994 are using it now, so you know it’s really caught on.
8. “Jump! Jump! Jump!” – A personal favorite of mine, this is a Yankee Bleacher special directed at little children 300 feet up in the right field Upper Deck. This first time I heard it in 1992 I couldn’t believe my ears -- grown men were yelling up at these 10 year olds and literally telling them to jump. “Jump! Jump! Jump!” was the chant. That was it. You could see the utter confusion on the kids’ faces. It was kind of priceless/scary. Finally their parents or guardians would come by and grab them to ensure they actually didn’t listen, but it usually took a good 2 minutes. I brought some Red Sox fans out there one game and they fully enjoyed this chant… (Other Yankee bleacher classics include “Take the Wave to Shea” and “Box Seats Suck”.)
7. “Over-rated!” – This is a dangerous, dangerous chant and should only be used with extreme caution. Sometimes fans use this at the absolute wrong times. For example, in college basketball if you play the team twice, you don’t want to chant “Over-rated” after you beat them at home in the first meeting of the season. Even in the NFL. They’ll obviously remember that. That’ll go on the mental bulletin board for sure. “Over-rated” works best on the LAST meeting of the season between 2 teams, especially if the visiting team is ACTUALLY overrated. Again, a lot of inexperienced fans will haphazardly use “Over-rated” and it’s up to the veterans in the group to show them the way. You can’t just be throwing around “Over-rated”.
6. “Potvin Sucks” (or any player sucks) – This is another one from bitter Ranger fans, directed at the Islanders. Supposedly, Islander defenseman Dennis Potvin cheap-shotted a Ranger player early in his career (I don’t know the specifics) and ever since Ranger fans have been chanting “Potvin Sucks” whenever the 4-time Stanley Cup champs come to town. Even when Potvin wasn’t on the ice, NOR on the team – NOR in the league, they still did it. The man’s retired 15 years and you’ll still hear “Potvin Sucks” today at MSG. Telling the PLAYER he sucks rather than the TEAM is more effective. An all-out “AROD SUCKS” at Fenway would be deadly.
5. “Asssshooooole…. Assssshoooooole…..” - “Asssssshoooole…Aassshooooole” is great because the player, whoever he may be, obviously knows when 10,000 people are calling you an asshole, you probably are one. That can’t be good. If he’s mentally unstable he’ll probably motion towards the crowd and maybe even flip the bird, which is even better. That’s when you start getting really nasty and make fun of his wife. As a side note, I don’t like “Bulllllshit Bulllllshit” because it’s too whiny. It’s a bad call – get over it. “Assshooole”, on the other hand, is clearly a top 10.
4. “Darrrrrrrrryllllllll….. Darrrrrrrrrrryllllll” (or any players name) – I’ve come full circle on this. When Sox fans started doing it in the ’86 World Series I thought it was great, then I kind of thought it was stupid, now I think it’s great again. The reason being because it was clearly a trend setting chant. Everyone does it now. “Aaaaaaarod…Aaaaaarod” or even Mets’ fans during Game 1 last week… “Weeeeeeeaver”. You really might as well be calling the guy an Asshole. I’d recommend “Mannnning” for Peyton next time he comes to Foxboro…
3. “O-leeeee, Ole Ole Ole…” - I don’t know what the hell it means but “Ole Ole Ole” has gotta be the most popular chant in the world. I know soccer might not be recognized as a sport yet in this country but I have to include it on the list. It sounds kind of fun. “Oleeee, ole ole ole!” No? As a side note, “JO-seeee, Jose Jose Joseeee” for Jose Reyes at Shea Stadium is ridiculous. NOT a top 10 chant. Neither is “J-E-T-S” at the Meadowlands. Hey, it’s my list.
2. “Calling out the Year of the road teams’ last championship.” Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on who you root for, the 2 most famous “Year chants” are long gone. “19, 40!” directed at the New York Rangers and “19,18!” obviously, aimed at the Red Sox. The thing was (past tense) the Year HAD to end in a 0 or a number between 13-19 or else it wouldn’t work. “19, 85!” sounds stupid if you happen to be a rabid anti-Kansas City Royals’ fan. But “19,18!” was almost the perfect chant. The year was so far in the past that it was funny, AND it ended in “18” which gave it a nice little ring. “Year 2000” – just doesn’t work. (Side note: the “Who’s Your Daddy” chant in the ’04 ALCS would’ve made this list if the team hadn’t blown a 3-0 lead and lost the series.)
1. “Nah Nah Nah Nah” – I’m ranking “Nah Nah Naah Nah, Nah Nah NAAAH Nah” number one for a few reasons: A., you’ve obviously won the game and possibly the series. You can’t really say that about any of the others, B., everyone knows its coming, especially the other team who’s just fought their guts out for 3 hours and C., it’s really a great song by the band “Steam”. I didn’t even have to look that up. I knew “Steam” was the artist. The only downside is a few stragglers usually drag it out a little longer than it should be, but we’ll let that slide. “Nah Nah Nah Nah” is just a great way to wrap up a series and send the visiting team home crying.