Raising hell
Yell Like Hell brings excitement, letdown
Greg Grisolano, Collegio Reporter
Issue date: 10/13/05 Section: Campus Life
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Despite cold weather, this year's Yell Like Hell competition started out with excitement. Students, faculty, staff, alumni were ready to make waves and get in the homecoming spirit. Even a canine got into the act. A stray terrier wandered around the bleachers, then onto the field during the two-hour display in which campus groups performed dances, made human pyramids and led cheers for other Gorilla fans to get pumped for the homecoming game. University police officer Dennis Jameson had no problem with the four-legged fan. "As long as he's not vicious, we'll let him stay," he said. Spectators bounced beach balls around the bleachers early on, but these were soon confiscated so as not to interfere with the dance routines. Doug Wright, a member of Phi Sigma Kappa who brought some of the beach balls, wasn't happy about that decision. "That's B.S.," he said. "We're trying to have fun at a pep rally." For Amanda Lutjen, chair of the Yell Like Hell committee, the dog, the beach balls and everything else was par for the course. "You always have your glitches along the way," Lutjen, senior in commercial graphics, said. "But it worked out great." With this year's theme of "Be a Kid Again," many groups incorporated songs to reflect a spirit of youthful abandon. Music for the routines ran the gamut of pop culture through the last 50 years, from Sigma Phi Epsilon's "Thriller" routine, complete with zombie dance, to the Pink Panther and Flintstones theme songs in the Phi Sigma Kappa dance. Between dance numbers, the groups led the audience in cheers, holding signs and forming pyramids. One student was injured during a routine and required medical care. Rachael Barney suffered a broken arm during her sorority's dance routine. Barney, freshman in nursing, says she was tumbling and landed roughly on her right arm.
"My radius went into my elbow and cracked both bones," she said. In spite of the pain, Barney finished her dance and was later driven to Mt. Carmel Medical Center by university police, accompanied by her sisters from Alpha Gamma Delta. Edie McCracken, homecoming adviser, says Barney's injury is a rare occurrence. "This was my sixth Yell Like Hell, and that's the first injury that's been reported to us," she said. Members of the Gorilla cheerleading squad stayed on the field for the routines, acting as spotters during the pyramid portion of the event. Squad members Yuri Knight and Matt Long picked a different winner. "Titus house," Knight, senior in recreation, said, after the competition concluded. "Titus did something different." The nine members of Titus house incorporated some football moves into their routine, which drew cheers from the crowd. Judges miscalculated the men's division scores at the end, and upon review it was determined that Titus House and Sigma Phi Epsilon finished in a tie for second place. Freshman Alan Winkler says the event was everything he hoped it would be. Winkler, automotive technology, says he expected plenty of screaming at his first Yell Like Hell. Soon enough, he joined them, screaming with laughter at some of the males' dance moves. "I've never really seen guys do that," he said. The audience was made up of not only of students like Winkler, but parents who came to watch their sons and daughters perform. Teri and Steve Reist drove more than six hours to watch their son Garrett perform during the Sigma Phi Epsilon routine, but said they were disappointed in the judges' decision. "We got a raw deal," said Teri Reist, laughing. "I'm not partial or anything, but the first two teams were the best."
But McCracken says controversy over the outcome is pretty common. "There's always hurt feelings afterward when the results are announced," she said. Nine judges presided over the event: three community members, three faculty and staff members and three students. Each group is scored on dance, use of theme, synchronization, pyramid appearance and stability, group enthusiasm and clarity of chants. After placing first in the co-ed division, RHA members Kris Floth, junior in business management; Ron Rice, junior in history education; and Mike Carroll, senior in graphics imaging technology; were still celebrating their group's victory. "I'm still dancing in my head," Carroll said. "You spend a month in practice, thinking you look like an idiot, then go out there and win ..." "It's all worthwhile," Floth said. During the event, SGA conducted a canned-food drive, collecting 570 cans to be donated to Safehouse and 300 Ramen noodles. Sigma Sigma Sigma turned in almost 300 cans. Members of CAPS 13 videotaped the performance and are selling VHS tapes and DVDs. |
