Fans respond to 'Catman' plea

Online Extra | Fans respond to 'Catman' plea

From staff reports




Last week, Observer sports columnist Scott Fowler received an interesting question on his online Q and A. It was from Greg "Catman" Good, the well-known, blue-haired Panther fan who sits in one end zone (and who was tricked on national TV by Fox Sports announcer Tony Siragusa during a 2006 Panther exhibition game and ultimately received a new truck personally from the network chairman due to Scott's help, but that's another story).
Good wrote, in part: "I have said for years that the crowd is worth 3-7 points every home game! We can't make decisions for the team, the coaches do that. But we can pump up the secondary players on our team to play at a higher level. Does anyone have an idea on how [to] inject more enthusiasm in our stadium on gameday?"
Turns out a lot of people did, including Good. In an interview, Catman said he would like some of the Carolina players to "tell us when to make noise. They haven't done that consistently enough. If the players would wave their arms, that'd be the cue."
Good also said fans need to learn that it's most important to make noise when the Carolina defense is on the field. "Sometimes our offense is going for it on fourth down and everyone is being real noisy," Good said. "Fans really shouldn't do that."
Here are some other responses from Panther fans about what the team and fans should do to improve the overall gameday experience. These responses have been edited for clarity, brevity and grammar. You can add your own comments below.

 

• A few ideas to improve the home games: have a die-hard fan section, bring back or create new fight song, have an original chant (Panther Pride!), improve the music, bring back the grrowl towels. The key, I believe, is originality. Something that separates us from the rest. Fans resort to just standing and screaming and complaining when they have no way to channel their enthusiasm.

• Can you please teach our fans some basics about how/when to cheer at home games? One of the reasons the Panthers' record at home is so bad (besides just playing poorly) is that the crowd is hardly ever a factor. As fans, we can have an impact on the game, but we need to be loud while the opposing quarterback is trying to hear the play call from the sidelines and while they're in the huddle. Our crowd usually doesn't get loud until the opposing team breaks the huddle. Too late! Also, whenever we go for it on 4th down, the crowd makes tons of noise - making it difficult for our own team to hear! I know it's frustrating for me. Imagine what it's like for the players. We need to do our part as the twelfth man to improve our record at home!

• Is the Panthers' fan problem caused by the PSL approach to building the stadium? By selling the PSLs at the prices that were required, we got the richest people in the area, NOT the best fans. These rich people are used to instant gratification. They don't love the PANTHERS, they love [themselves]. They did not stand in line for tickets & they will not stand in the stadium & yell unless we are already winning!!

• I agree that our "pump up music" is sorry. We need a song of some sort. I think that song... "Here kitty kitty, here kitty kittay" is a great song. They hardly every play it during the games. I know we're a beach music state...but beach music does not make for pumping up. But I do think that the song, "Nothing could be finer than to be in Carolina" -- a pumped up version -- should be considered.

• Fans look at you funny when you do make noise. When I cheer for the Panthers, kids look at me like I'm crazy and their parents look at me like I'm crazy. People don't seem to want to stand up when exciting things happen. Panthers fans are just too darn polite. It would also help if the cheerleaders actually led cheers and didn't just dance (boring).

• I'm a season ticket holder and I really get tired of the diatribe that fan support is why the Panthers fail. Granted, the fan base is fairly new (compared to most teams), but it is solid when the team plays well. I'd venture to say that bad play calling, stupid penalties, missed tackles and dropped passes account for the 3-7 points Catman suggests the fans are worth. Or maybe, Keary Colbert couldn't hear me from my nosebleed seat.

• Hey, about the crowd noise. Don't blame the people in the fandom seats, (500 section). It gets loud up there. It is really hard to yell over that bubble of silence that exudes from the grey seats below.

• It would be a lot easier to get loud if the Cats would give us something to get loud about. On the other hand, if the Panthers want to stop paying players millions for (poor) performances and give it to the fans for cheering, I bet there would be 73,367 people with laryngitis all season!

• In reply to Catman -- the team needs to give us something to make noise about. Notice that the stadium is loud at the beginning of the game, and as the level of play on the field decreases, so does the noise

• OK Catman, I was at the game myself sitting way up in section 500 and I was one of MANY who revved up the crowd and made noise especially EVERY time we were asked to by Jenkins or Lucas waving their arms asking for the crowd to get louder. [Almost] EACH and EVERY 3rd down play they asked us to do that, and time and time again Texans converted on those plays, so how should we feel? DISAPPOINTED!!!.... To say the least, I was definitely one that left early in the 4th quarter, I just couldn't take anymore.

• In response to Catman's question, I say first and foremost, let the fans be FANATICAL if they want. If you look at the majority of stadiums around the country, you see people with chests painted bright colors, cheese heads, guys in drag with pig snouts and folks that look like they are going to a KISS concert afterwards (Raiders fans). But if you look at our crowd, you see people in their Sunday best -- furs, ties and jackets. We are a wine and cheese stadium and the fans whine when the panthers don't play so Gouda (sorry had to make the joke).

• To answer Catman, Panther fans can't get too excited because they know that with the team's laidback -- if not fast asleep -- defensive schemes, there is not much reason to celebrate even when the offense does good because no lead is safe. Talk about an overrated head coach!!!

• The problem with our stadium is the fans, yes, but also the organization. Panther Fans have NO IDEA how to act. The PSLs DON'T help either. The music at the stadium is ridiculous at times and the sound/PA guy could do a lot better job of coaching the crowd too. I am getting sick and tired of flying thousands of miles to see a game to be let down by the team, fans and stadium. That's why this year the wife and I are only going to away games. I'm tired of being around the wine and cheesers and getting asked to sit on 3rd and 4. It's shameful.

• More noise? Like who? The raunchy drunks in Philly? Or Pittsburgh? Or New York City? Or Chicago or Boston? Please .... All this [nonsense] about fans being the 12th player is hocus pocus and mythology.

• The way I see it is that the people that leave the stadium early, are in no part "wrong" for doing so. I myself am as animated a fan as they come. Would I leave? No. But that's just me. But the Panthers are like your favorite TV show. It's been off the air now for several years and you've watched every rerun at least ten times. After awhile you start to be able to act out the scenes, and of course you already know what happens. So why waste any more time watching something you already know the outcome of? Like everybody else, I HOPE for a good season, but I have come to expect mediocrity and blandness.

• Scott, just wanted to respond to Catman's call for the home crowd to help the team. First, I can tell you that I live in Virginia, so I'm not allowed by the Panthers to order tickets [during the first weekend of ticket sales], so any trip to BOA I make is buying tickets online or from scalpers, so I don't make many games. But to have a homefield advantage, I think you have to feel like a home field. Every time I look at the 50 yard line, I don't see a big Panther head, I see the NFL logo. Feels like a generic or neutral field. Also the side walls are bland, nothing that says you're in the home of the Panthers. Make the fans and team feel like they're at home and maybe the home field becomes a bit better. Hasn't Richardson thanked the NFL long enough for giving him a franchise? Let's make BOA the Home of the Panthers and not a tribute to the NFL.

• I'll take on Catman. For one thing, I have never seen a team that can take fans out of a game faster than the Carolina Panthers. It is really hard to STAND AND CHEER FOR THE PANTHERS when they blow lead after lead. Allow opposing offenses to march down the field and score more times than not. Allow opposing offenses to gain first downs when it is 3rd or even 4th and a bunch. How can the fans show emotion when the team, less a couple of players, shows no fight or emotion? Maybe if the Panthers got mad once in a while and played a game to win, the fans would get jacked.

• Inresponse to Catman's e-mail, it's beyond me why Panther fans don't get fired up at games. I've never been to an NFL game before so maybe I'm not the best person to comment on this, but I don't think some of the fans realize how lucky they've got it. They live in a great city which has an NFL team who is a genuine playoff contender, and they play at one of the top stadiums in the league! What's wrong with some people?

• I disagree with comments that our fans are not loud. In 2003, when the players were "fired up" the fans were LOUD. It comes down to winning and how the stadium is administered. While I think the Richardsons have a first-class operation, the stadium is not run in a manner that gets fans excited. There are never replays of key plays or questionable calls but rather we get to watch home security commercials. Timeouts and other breaks are a time for fans to forget where they are, and then before the ball is snapped, to watch players beg fans to get back into the game. The music is what you would hope for at a nice day at the park and let's not mention the fight song deal last year. Fans in this stadium can be LOUD, they just need a little help from the team and the ownership.

• I agree with Catman, there is no "energy" in the stadium. I sit in section 552 and we have "Third Down Man" and he is awesome in rallying the fans to get loud on 3rd down. We need more people to be like that. I attended a game out in Seattle and besides their fans being nasty, they are VERY loud. Do you think it is because we are a relatively "new" team, we don't have the diehards other teams have?

• Why don't Panther fans make more noise? Here's why -- NO PASSION. Eeverybody liked someone else before they liked the Panthers (those who were native here). Relocators could care less about them, and quite frankly, this region cares more about college sports. There might be no other NFL city in America which has so many bars and restaurants for fan bases of other teams. Wouldn't you think after 13 years of existence, the fan base would be more mature? END OF ONLINE THING,

 

I can see my presence is needed in the seats this Sunday

 

nfl rules for crowd noise. The nfl sucks ass in creating atmosphere. Even shitty colleges do a better job.

 

kill me now

 

I like how several people said that the players need to play better or the team needs to win consistently before they'll cheer. How do those people not realize what they're saying? Good lord.

 

We could do better.

 

They get fairly loud for each kick off but that's about it. Most of the time I feel like I'm clapping & cheering alone in 536. Sigh. It won't change anytime soon. But I'll admit by the end of the game I was pretty quiet too. Yeah, BOA is pretty tame. One of the things that bugs me is how many opposing fans have seats on the field rail. I often see more signs for the opponent hanging over the rail then Panthers.

But I even clapped and cheered with stitches in two fingers years ago until they bled. I've screamed as much as I could through various stages of bronchitis over the years, and I'll be screaming through the tail end of a cold Sunday as well.

 

It's contageous and it's gotten worse. The atmosphere was better in 96. I almost don't have fun going anymore.

 

Yeah I remember in 96 almost feeling like the stadium was shaking the noise was so loud. But then again, in 96, we were undefeated at home. So you have to feel team success feeds fan enthusiasm. I still enjoy it, but what sucks most is walking down the ramps with opposing fans after a loss. Maybe the players should have to do that - then they'd do anything in the world to avoid losing. It stinks to hear the chants, cheering and jeers of opposing fans and you really cannot respond without looking like a fool because your team did indeed get their butts handed to them.

Anyone think the change in Division changed anything? I mean once when we beat our Division rival 49ers, it really meant something because they were a force when we joined the league. People everywhere would say "Wow those Panthers beat the defending SB champs". Now the NFC South tends to mostly be a joke now and then.

Of course the game where we stomped Atlanta for the first time (with Vick) in a long time was loud. And Tampa games can get loud-ish at times. Who knows. PSLs did hurt our fan base and there's no doubt about that, but it got us the team/stadium.

We are who we are.