It seems students will continue chanting “Oh-Wee-Oh” after touchdowns in Tiger Stadium this season. The Golden Band from Tiger Land played music for the now-controversial cheer at Saturday’s game against Vanderbilt, and it went well, according to drum major Rob Dowie. The chant was discontinued during the 2007 season after the student section created its own rendition of the chant involving the words “you suck” and a shortened name of South Carolina’s mascot — the Gamecocks.Student Government promoted a clean version of the chant on Saturday, distributing stickers reading “Oh-Wee-Oh Tigers” outside the stadium.Dowie said he heard more fans screaming “Tigers” than “you suck.””There were definitely people saying both,” Dowie said. “But the majority were saying ‘Tigers.'” Dowie said the chant will remain a part of the touchdown celebration sequence as long as students don’t go overboard with vulgarity. But he said the band doesn’t go out of its way to listen for people adding “you suck” to the traditional cheer. “It’s an awesome chant,” Dowie said. “It keeps the motivation going.”Some students heard “you suck,” while others heard “Tigers” more prominently. “If you were near the band, it was more ‘Tigers,'” said Paul Gillespie, international studies senior. “But I did hear ‘you suck.'” Gillespie said the “you suck” addition to the chant doesn’t bother him, especially when other student section cheers also involve vulgarity.”I don’t think it matters,” Gillespie said. “‘You suck’ is not that big of a deal.”The Tigers play in Death Valley at 6 p.m. Saturday against Louisiana-Lafayette. The game will be aired on ESPNU.————Contact Kyle Bove at [email protected]
Chant to remain as gameday staple
September 14, 2009