If you are planning on going to a sports game at UMass but are not exactly subscribed to ESPN’s important fantasy happenings and major event updates, Her Campus has the survival guide for you:
1. Know the dress code
Wear your UMass gear! If you don’t have any or want to dress up a little more, at least wear some maroon. Wearing your team’s color is the most basic level of support and enthusiasm and it will help you blend in, especially if you choose to watch from the student section.
2. When your team scores, stand up
Even if you have no clue what just happened or just don’t really care, stand up when everybody else does. Hopefully, you will get in the spirit throughout the game, and especially in sports like hockey where scoring occurs less often, your team making that goal is a big deal. Get on your feet!
3. If you get bored with the game, check out the jumbotron (big screen in the arena) rather than your phone
The announcer and his helpers will put lots of entertaining things up here. You’ve got the Kiss Cam, trivia, funny/dancing fans, and the occasional cute kid or puppy. There are camera people all over the arena/stadium, and they have a proclivity for capturing some pretty funny stuff, so check it out.
4. Go with a group of people who understand the game
If you don’t know the cheers associated with certain elements of the game, you’ll learn them, and for now, you can just clap. Your knowledgeable friends will likely be super hype about the game, and it can be contagious. Also, if they are anything like me, you’re bound to learn a thing or two. They will be so enthusiastic about what is going on that they’ll want you to understand it too.
5. Use this opportunity to get on the campus snapchat story
Whether you record your best friend embarrassingly dancing to every song the band plays, or you catch a video of a sweet dunk, this could be your moment. The snapchat story gods love a good score update, selfies with Sam the Minuteman, and more. There are even game-specific geotags!
6. Know the basics
Since football season is almost over, let’s go over the etiquette for hockey and basketball. When attending a hockey game, you can sit anywhere you want, and you actually sit the whole time, that is of course, until your team scores. When UMass does score, STAND UP and brace yourself for the boat horn to sound in celebration, followed by the infamous “hey, you suck” cheer that us game-goers live for. The other thing you should be prepared for is the student section yelling at the opposing team’s goalie. No, he isn’t actually Swiss cheese, but as soon as he lets in a goal, the diehard hockey fans in the student section are going to scream that at him throughout the entire game. When attending a basketball game only go to the student section (behind the basket) if you want to stand for the entire game. Since we score so frequently in basketball, the fans don’t bother sitting down during the action (only during timeouts and between periods). If you do choose to stand in the student section be ready to engage in the foul shot rituals. This means that when one of our players is taking a foul shot you lift up your hands and silently wiggle your fingers, and when he makes it, you follow that with a “swoosh” as you drop your hands. However, when the opposing team is on the foul line, we yell as loudly as possible, waving your arms around, trying to distract him. Don’t worry, you’ll catch on.