Tipped Off
11-30-2007, 10:45 AM
http://heraldnet.com/article/20071130/SPORTS/711300103/1003/SPORTS08
Tips fans know how to remedy their fever
"I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell" -- Christopher Walken on Saturday Night Live
By Nick Patterson
Herald Writer
EVERETT -- It all began innocently enough.
A couple dozen young hockey players. A long bus ride. A best of Will Ferrell DVD. Sounds like the formula for a few chuckles, maybe one or two bad imitations, but not the seeds of a regional phenomenon.
But sometimes, from such humble beginnings, a phenomenon is born. For the city of Everett, the chance circumstances on that bus ride created a sensation.
Now, nearly four years later, the Everett Silvertips' cult of the cowbell lives stronger than ever, and tonight the Tips pay tribute to the tradition with cowbell night.
The Tips, in association with radio personality Jeff "The Fish" Aaron, will be handing out 1,000 cowbells prior to tonight's game against the Seattle Thunderbirds at Comcast Arena. But those 1,000 will be just a drop in an enormous bucket of cowbells, objects that became synonymous with being an Everett Silvertip fan.
"If somebody had said we needed bells for whatever reasons I would have thought they were crazy," Tips director of business operations Zoran Rajcic marveled. "Then to see the volumes of bells we sell in our team store and then to see the volume of bells in various shapes and sizes and sounds people bring to the games, I never would have imagined it in my wildest dreams."
It all dates back to January 2004. The Tips, in their inaugural season, were headed to Prince George, B.C., for a pair of games. To pass the time on the 12-hour bus trip, the team brought several DVDs. The selection happened to include the "Saturday Night Live: The Best of Will Ferrell" DVD. That DVD includes the infamous sketch with Christopher Walken as a record producer guiding Blue Oyster Cult during a recording session, during which Walken constantly implores: "More cowbell!"
The players adopted "more cowbell" as their personal mantra, the local media picked up on the story and the rest, as they say, is history. The team began selling cowbells with a Tips logo on it, and the first shipment sold out in a day. The Tips had difficulty restocking because the local farm equipment stores also ran out.
"It doesn't matter how many times I see that skit on Saturday Night Live, I still think about watching it on the bus," Everett coach John Becanic said. "Everett has a lot of things that are unique in its fans. It's what makes it special to play here and to coach here and to be part of it, and the cowbells are something that will always go with Everett."
Nowadays, bringing a cowbell to the game is a standard part of being a Tips fan. During home games, it's normal to hear thousands of bells ringing simultaneously at key junctures. Fans who travel to away games announce themselves with their cowbells, making themselves easily identifiable as Everett fans and drawing the annoyance of the home crowd. Ask a diehard supporter of any other U.S. Division team about Everett fans and invariably "cowbell-waiving" will be one of the adjectives used -- probably the only one fit for print.
But while the cowbells might anger the opposition and its fans, they seem to inspire the Tips. Since the beginning of the 2004-05 season Everett is 55 games over .500 at home and just four games above .500 on the road, and the enthusiasm of the cowbell-clanging fans is no doubt part of the reason.
"It's great," center Zach Hamill said of the fans and their cowbells. "The fans are so loud here, no matter what they use, and when they come up with ideas it's always something. It energizes the players."
The choice of tonight's game for the cowbell giveaway is no accident. When the Tips played their first game in Seattle this season on Sept. 29, the T-birds handed out horns to the fans, one suspects in an effort to counter the effects of the cowbells. Consider tonight a reply.
"It's always part of the rivalry between us and Seattle," Rajcic said. "They started the season off with noisemaker night there and it was pretty loud. So 'The Fish,' in all his wisdom and trying to make things exciting, came up with the idea of doing the cowbells. Might as well give a few away as people come into the building, make it maybe a little louder than it normally is, and have a little fun with it."
So, is Becanic surprised the tradition has lived on?
"Not at all," he said. "Our fans, it seems like everything they do, they do louder. They still chant Mitch Love's name during every Canadian national anthem. I keep thinking some year it's going to stop, but it doesn't. What a special thing for Mitch to come back every once in a while and hear that and realize he's a part of the culture. The Silvertips organization and the fans really have a culture of our own, where you fell like you're a part of it every night."
Especially when there's more cowbell.
Slap shots: Everett expects its two injured overagers, right wing Dan Gendur (shoulder) and defenseman Dane Crowley (concussion), back in the lineup tonight. ... With No. 1 goaltender Leland Irving playing in the Canada-Russia Challenge game in Medicine Hat on Thursday night, backup Shayne Barrie is expected to get the start tonight. ... Everett has a pair of prospects, 15-year-old goaltender Kent Simpson and 16-year-old center Byron Froese, on standby should either Irving or center Vitali Karamnov not make it back from the Canada-Russia Challenge in time to suit up tonight.
Tips fans know how to remedy their fever
"I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell" -- Christopher Walken on Saturday Night Live
By Nick Patterson
Herald Writer
EVERETT -- It all began innocently enough.
A couple dozen young hockey players. A long bus ride. A best of Will Ferrell DVD. Sounds like the formula for a few chuckles, maybe one or two bad imitations, but not the seeds of a regional phenomenon.
But sometimes, from such humble beginnings, a phenomenon is born. For the city of Everett, the chance circumstances on that bus ride created a sensation.
Now, nearly four years later, the Everett Silvertips' cult of the cowbell lives stronger than ever, and tonight the Tips pay tribute to the tradition with cowbell night.
The Tips, in association with radio personality Jeff "The Fish" Aaron, will be handing out 1,000 cowbells prior to tonight's game against the Seattle Thunderbirds at Comcast Arena. But those 1,000 will be just a drop in an enormous bucket of cowbells, objects that became synonymous with being an Everett Silvertip fan.
"If somebody had said we needed bells for whatever reasons I would have thought they were crazy," Tips director of business operations Zoran Rajcic marveled. "Then to see the volumes of bells we sell in our team store and then to see the volume of bells in various shapes and sizes and sounds people bring to the games, I never would have imagined it in my wildest dreams."
It all dates back to January 2004. The Tips, in their inaugural season, were headed to Prince George, B.C., for a pair of games. To pass the time on the 12-hour bus trip, the team brought several DVDs. The selection happened to include the "Saturday Night Live: The Best of Will Ferrell" DVD. That DVD includes the infamous sketch with Christopher Walken as a record producer guiding Blue Oyster Cult during a recording session, during which Walken constantly implores: "More cowbell!"
The players adopted "more cowbell" as their personal mantra, the local media picked up on the story and the rest, as they say, is history. The team began selling cowbells with a Tips logo on it, and the first shipment sold out in a day. The Tips had difficulty restocking because the local farm equipment stores also ran out.
"It doesn't matter how many times I see that skit on Saturday Night Live, I still think about watching it on the bus," Everett coach John Becanic said. "Everett has a lot of things that are unique in its fans. It's what makes it special to play here and to coach here and to be part of it, and the cowbells are something that will always go with Everett."
Nowadays, bringing a cowbell to the game is a standard part of being a Tips fan. During home games, it's normal to hear thousands of bells ringing simultaneously at key junctures. Fans who travel to away games announce themselves with their cowbells, making themselves easily identifiable as Everett fans and drawing the annoyance of the home crowd. Ask a diehard supporter of any other U.S. Division team about Everett fans and invariably "cowbell-waiving" will be one of the adjectives used -- probably the only one fit for print.
But while the cowbells might anger the opposition and its fans, they seem to inspire the Tips. Since the beginning of the 2004-05 season Everett is 55 games over .500 at home and just four games above .500 on the road, and the enthusiasm of the cowbell-clanging fans is no doubt part of the reason.
"It's great," center Zach Hamill said of the fans and their cowbells. "The fans are so loud here, no matter what they use, and when they come up with ideas it's always something. It energizes the players."
The choice of tonight's game for the cowbell giveaway is no accident. When the Tips played their first game in Seattle this season on Sept. 29, the T-birds handed out horns to the fans, one suspects in an effort to counter the effects of the cowbells. Consider tonight a reply.
"It's always part of the rivalry between us and Seattle," Rajcic said. "They started the season off with noisemaker night there and it was pretty loud. So 'The Fish,' in all his wisdom and trying to make things exciting, came up with the idea of doing the cowbells. Might as well give a few away as people come into the building, make it maybe a little louder than it normally is, and have a little fun with it."
So, is Becanic surprised the tradition has lived on?
"Not at all," he said. "Our fans, it seems like everything they do, they do louder. They still chant Mitch Love's name during every Canadian national anthem. I keep thinking some year it's going to stop, but it doesn't. What a special thing for Mitch to come back every once in a while and hear that and realize he's a part of the culture. The Silvertips organization and the fans really have a culture of our own, where you fell like you're a part of it every night."
Especially when there's more cowbell.
Slap shots: Everett expects its two injured overagers, right wing Dan Gendur (shoulder) and defenseman Dane Crowley (concussion), back in the lineup tonight. ... With No. 1 goaltender Leland Irving playing in the Canada-Russia Challenge game in Medicine Hat on Thursday night, backup Shayne Barrie is expected to get the start tonight. ... Everett has a pair of prospects, 15-year-old goaltender Kent Simpson and 16-year-old center Byron Froese, on standby should either Irving or center Vitali Karamnov not make it back from the Canada-Russia Challenge in time to suit up tonight.