Back to School: Being a Stealth Fan 201

March 25, 2010
Author: tfitch

This is going to be a cross-posted article with the Everett WA blog to help grow Stealth fan awareness.

Now to today’s topic. We’ve survived the five week break without a Washington Stealth home game in Everett. It was no easy task, but thanks to the free live video steams on NLL.com we made it. If you missed any of the action be sure to checked out highlights on the Stealth channel.

Hopefully everyone has completed their Stealth Fan 101 work. It was pretty simple (so simple that it is not even written down anywhere), all you had to do was go to a Stealth home game at the Comcast Arena in Everett. You’ve now seen the boys play between 1 and 5 games and are getting comfortable with the flow of game play and can recognize players on the floor maybe even by their position on the floor, if they’re tall or short and if they’re left or right handed, not just their name or number. It’s a big step. If you’re really good, you might even recognize them in the Ice Box after the game without the name and number on their back.

Now lets look at the three steps that comprise the “Being a Stealth Fan 201” course.

Step 1: If you have a favorite player, let them know it! Get to know them!
Hopefully you’ve got a favorite player by now. This is one of the prerequisites for completing the Stealth Fan 201 course work. Or you’ve maybe narrowed your list down to a couple of favorites, possibly one on Offense and one on Defense so you can always have a favorite on the floor no matter which team has the ball. This is the plan I agree with, plus it is too hard to pick just one.

<figcaption id="caption-attachment-295" class="wp-caption-text">Stealth Rookie Matt Beers</figcaption></figure>

For my example I’ll say that Matt Beers is your favorite player on defense. Does Matt know that he is your favorite player? You’ll make his night if you come up to the Ice Box after the game and let him know that he’s your favorite and you love watching him play. The same goes for all the other players on the team. If you go up and tell them that they are your favorite you will make their night, especially if your favorite player is a defender because they all tend to think that nobody is really watching them.
All the players are very approachable. Do not be intimidated by their size or the fact that they are pro athletes, they are just guys that love lacrosse like you do. You’ve already got that in common. If you see your favorite player huddled together with the rest of the team don’t take that as a sign they don’t want to talk to you. They are probably only doing that because they don’t know you’re there to say hello. Just walk right up to them, tap them on the shoulder (or tug at their arm if you’re a shorter/younger fan) and get their attention and let them know that their play matters to you. If you’ve got a question for them like “What do you do when you’re not playing?” now is the time to ask and start a conversation or get an autograph.

Step 2: LOUD ON OFFENSE and quiet on defense
The Comcast Arena in Everett is primed to be a great home field advantage for the Stealth. It’s a smaller arena and the noise the fans make can’t escape up to the rafters, it all goes down on to the floor. Bring your cow bells or other noise makers and be loud and proud.
The rule for optimal noisemaking in lacrosse is as follows. LOUD ON OFFENSE, quiet on defense. This is the exact opposite of other sports we’re more familiar with like football where the quarterback needs to audible so being quiet helps on offense. In lacrosse the players that need to communicate are the defenders to call out screens and slides. When we are LOUD ON OFFENSE then the opposing defense can’t hear the calls and it is good for the Stealth offense. So say it with me, LOUD ON OFFENSE, quiet on defense.

Step 3: Be Proud and and a little bit Crazy
Check out the first 15 minutes of video from a Rochester at Buffalo game from earlier this season. Watch the crowd from the opening shots, at the 10 minute mark during a timeout and again at the 15 minute mark after a fight. The crowd is covered in orange and/or Buffalo Bandits gear. If you ran a store in Buffalo and sold anything orange I have to think you must do well. The Stealth game on Saturday March 27th is against arguably our biggest rival, the Colorado Mammoth, so as fans we need to be prepared to make the Woolies feel very unwelcome in Everett. If you don’t have pink to wear then dig out your red.

Watch live streaming video from nll at livestream.com

That concludes class for today! Thanks for attending and I’ll see you on Saturday in Everett to watch the boys beat the Mammoth! Go Stealth!