TV Fans Should Make Other Fans Green With Envy
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
Anyone who says that the class basketball system has killed attendance at basketball games hasn't been to a Tippecanoe Valley game lately.
After good attendance during the regular season, the Valley fans surprised almost everyone at the Plymouth Sectional by showing up in droves wearing bright yellow Tippecanoe Valley shirts. It's been quite a while since I have seen such enthusiasm from both students and adults in a high school game.
To date, more than 850 bright yellow Valley shirts have been sold by the Valley Booster Club, and glancing at the crowd last week, I would say 80 to 85 percent of the fans were cloaked in the eye-catching garb.
After good regular-season attendance, the Vikings had an even better showing at the sectional, selling 600 tickets before the game. After just one afternoon of ticket sales for the regional, more than 570 tickets had been sold.
The large following at Valley games is impressive, but the most memorable of all Valley fans are a set of six guys who don't wear the canary yellow shirts. In fact, they don't wear shirts at all.
Eric Carlin, Lucas Cox, Chad Derf, Derek Domenico, Derek Eby and Matt Shilling, brave souls that they are, paint their upper bodies and go shirtless to show their school spirit at most Valley games.
"The two Dereks, Lucas and Eric, started it last year," said Eby. "We painted ourselves for the last home game last year."
"At the beginning of this year, we put our heads together and decided to do it again," said Cox.
"We started it because we thought there was a a lack of school spirit," said Domenico.
At almost every Valley game this season, a combination of the group, who I have dubbed the Viking Six, has painted their chests with varying themes. One night they spelled out "VIKES"; another they were covered with green and yellow polka dots; yet another they were striped like green and yellow Zebras; and on Senior Night, they painted the senior basketball players' jerseys on themselves.
While the body painting is a great attention getter, it is not without its disadvantages. Cox, the light-skinned, reddish-haired member of the Viking Six, is still living with remnants of last week's sectional festivities. His hair is tinted green from the colored hair spray the Viking Six used last week, and he says the skin under his arms is tinted green from the body paint as well.
The Viking Six are also famous for wearing their Viking horns and getting into the heads of Valley opponents. One game that sticks out in my mind is the night Valley played Three Rivers Conferene opponent North Miami. One player, Derek Nolley, felt the wrath of the Viking Six.
Each time Nolley stepped on the court or got his hands on the ball, they chanted his name. These guys were so in Nolley's grill, he didn't hit a shot all night.
And of course they help start the chants the cheerleaders are not allowed to say. For instance, there's the infamous "Nuts and bolts (you fill in the rest)" cheer, as well as the "Airball" chant and the newly coined "Elevator, elevator, we got the shaft!"
But that is not all these No. 1 fans do to show their support for their Vikings.
Cox's mother goes to a local party store and picks up noisemakers, foam fingers, megaphones and various other visual aids to help the guys lead the crowd. One night they passed a green bowler hats (another one of their props) through the crowd and raised $150 to put toward buying new "toys" for the fans.
But that is not the most surprising thing they have done. Before Tuesday's first round sectional game, the guys ran to Plymouth. Yes, I said ran.
They picked up some basketballs and made a 25-mile trek. However, they had to ride the last five miles in order to get to the game on time.
For Saturday's game, the group helped organize a tailgate party outside an RV, lovingly dubbed "the Viking Van," in the Plymouth parking lot. For regional they plan to be part of the Valley caravan and take the Viking Van down to West Lafayette.
"We plan to do pretty much the same stuff for regional, I guess," said Shilling.
"We never know what we're gonna do until the day of the game," Derf said. "It's something we decide on the spur of the moment, usually the day of the game."
Whether they plan for weeks or join forces for the day of the game, these guys have the right idea. They have fun and support their team without causing any major problems. They, along with the cheerleaders, have found a way to get the crowd involved and excited about going to games.
Hopefully the Viking Six will be able to take their special brand of spirit all the way to Conseco Fieldhouse for the state finals to show other fans what real school support is like. But one thing is sure, with fans like these, the Vikings can't go wrong. [[In-content Ad]]
Anyone who says that the class basketball system has killed attendance at basketball games hasn't been to a Tippecanoe Valley game lately.
After good attendance during the regular season, the Valley fans surprised almost everyone at the Plymouth Sectional by showing up in droves wearing bright yellow Tippecanoe Valley shirts. It's been quite a while since I have seen such enthusiasm from both students and adults in a high school game.
To date, more than 850 bright yellow Valley shirts have been sold by the Valley Booster Club, and glancing at the crowd last week, I would say 80 to 85 percent of the fans were cloaked in the eye-catching garb.
After good regular-season attendance, the Vikings had an even better showing at the sectional, selling 600 tickets before the game. After just one afternoon of ticket sales for the regional, more than 570 tickets had been sold.
The large following at Valley games is impressive, but the most memorable of all Valley fans are a set of six guys who don't wear the canary yellow shirts. In fact, they don't wear shirts at all.
Eric Carlin, Lucas Cox, Chad Derf, Derek Domenico, Derek Eby and Matt Shilling, brave souls that they are, paint their upper bodies and go shirtless to show their school spirit at most Valley games.
"The two Dereks, Lucas and Eric, started it last year," said Eby. "We painted ourselves for the last home game last year."
"At the beginning of this year, we put our heads together and decided to do it again," said Cox.
"We started it because we thought there was a a lack of school spirit," said Domenico.
At almost every Valley game this season, a combination of the group, who I have dubbed the Viking Six, has painted their chests with varying themes. One night they spelled out "VIKES"; another they were covered with green and yellow polka dots; yet another they were striped like green and yellow Zebras; and on Senior Night, they painted the senior basketball players' jerseys on themselves.
While the body painting is a great attention getter, it is not without its disadvantages. Cox, the light-skinned, reddish-haired member of the Viking Six, is still living with remnants of last week's sectional festivities. His hair is tinted green from the colored hair spray the Viking Six used last week, and he says the skin under his arms is tinted green from the body paint as well.
The Viking Six are also famous for wearing their Viking horns and getting into the heads of Valley opponents. One game that sticks out in my mind is the night Valley played Three Rivers Conferene opponent North Miami. One player, Derek Nolley, felt the wrath of the Viking Six.
Each time Nolley stepped on the court or got his hands on the ball, they chanted his name. These guys were so in Nolley's grill, he didn't hit a shot all night.
And of course they help start the chants the cheerleaders are not allowed to say. For instance, there's the infamous "Nuts and bolts (you fill in the rest)" cheer, as well as the "Airball" chant and the newly coined "Elevator, elevator, we got the shaft!"
But that is not all these No. 1 fans do to show their support for their Vikings.
Cox's mother goes to a local party store and picks up noisemakers, foam fingers, megaphones and various other visual aids to help the guys lead the crowd. One night they passed a green bowler hats (another one of their props) through the crowd and raised $150 to put toward buying new "toys" for the fans.
But that is not the most surprising thing they have done. Before Tuesday's first round sectional game, the guys ran to Plymouth. Yes, I said ran.
They picked up some basketballs and made a 25-mile trek. However, they had to ride the last five miles in order to get to the game on time.
For Saturday's game, the group helped organize a tailgate party outside an RV, lovingly dubbed "the Viking Van," in the Plymouth parking lot. For regional they plan to be part of the Valley caravan and take the Viking Van down to West Lafayette.
"We plan to do pretty much the same stuff for regional, I guess," said Shilling.
"We never know what we're gonna do until the day of the game," Derf said. "It's something we decide on the spur of the moment, usually the day of the game."
Whether they plan for weeks or join forces for the day of the game, these guys have the right idea. They have fun and support their team without causing any major problems. They, along with the cheerleaders, have found a way to get the crowd involved and excited about going to games.
Hopefully the Viking Six will be able to take their special brand of spirit all the way to Conseco Fieldhouse for the state finals to show other fans what real school support is like. But one thing is sure, with fans like these, the Vikings can't go wrong. [[In-content Ad]]