When the Big Green men’s hockey team takes on Princeton this weekend, Thompson Arena will be filled to capacity with students anxiously awaiting the first Dartmouth goal, prepared to unleash a tennis ball frenzy. For the past three years we have perfected the act of smuggling in seemingly innocuous fuzz-balls into the arena.
While the ridiculousness of hundreds of tennis balls bouncing around on the ice never fails to raise the Big Green spirit in the crowd, we question student’s motives when this tradition starts to interfere with the game. The initial onslaught is all in good fun, with the baseball team ready to practice their infielding skills out on the ice. If it ended there, this tradition would seem harmless.
The reason that this game draws so many fans is because of the opportunity to take part in this 15-year-old tradition. In 1998, a single tennis ball was tossed at the Dartmouth goalkeeper down in New Jersey, but somehow over time this turned into the colossal ambush that we are all looking forward to this weekend.
As the saying goes, “It’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt.” While tennis balls aren’t likely to cause any physical injuries, they do have the potential to rack up some penalties for the Dartmouth team.
Throw two balls after the first goal if you really want to, but when a Dartmouth player has to spend time the penalty box because of your choice, how will you justify your action? How are you supporting your team and the traditions of your school when you are objectively being a bad fan by interrupting the game?
Dartmouth isn’t the only Ivy League school where students throw things from the stands. At the Cornell vs. Harvard hockey game, Big Red fans throw dead fish onto the ice (or they try to, at least). You think it’s hard to sneak in a tennis ball, try getting past security with a stinky, slimy fish!
The hockey arena isn’t the only place where Ivy Leaguers make it rain from the stands. At the end of the third quarter at home games, Penn students fling toast onto the field, singing “Here’s a toast to dear old Penn,” a tradition dating back to the 1970s. This has become such an ingrained part of school tradition that a group of engineering students modified a turf cleaner into the “Toast Zamboni,” which cleans up the mess. ENGS 21 project anyone?
Since most of us will never be on the other side of these traditions, think of it this way: Imagine you are beginning a final exam when streakers come through singing and dancing. Now imagine they keep coming through every time you finish a problem. Talk about disruptive! The same principle holds. The first time it is amusing. After that, you’re ready to move on.
We will head to CVS with you this week to pick up our ammo, but we won’t be the ones sending players to the penalty box after they spent all week training. We don’t know about you, but we want Dartmouth to win. And we don’t understand why anyone would do anything to get in the way of that.
We know Dartmouth students are overachievers, but for once, the bare minimum suffices. The tradition is to throw a tennis ball after the first goal ONLY. To quote our parents, “Are you going to be part of the problem, or part of the solution?”
