War Chant has been retired

#1      

Illiniwek66

Illiniwek66
Illiniwek66
Hearing that the university admin has banned the war chant. Thank goodness. A song with NO WORDS is soooo racist. Sorry, I know that these forums are not meant to be political, but where does it stop? One professor thinks about tomahawks and our idiot president changes decades of tradition.


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#2      

mattcoldagelli

mattcoldagelli
The Transfer Portal
mattcoldagelli
Unpopular opinion: War Chant is bad for in-game. Just make noise instead of botching an attempted clap-in-unison.
 
#3      

DrewD007

DrewD007
Woodridge, IL
DrewD007
The only positive of this is that it takes so long to build up, so not much noise actually gets made on 3rd down. Just worries me that if they get rid of this they'll come after the 3 in 1 next.
 
#4      

Trakis

Trakis
Chicago, IL
Trakis
I guess I don't mind seeing it moved off 3rd down... always felt a tad awkward for me there.

An outright ban sucks so much though.
 
#5      

Illiniwek66

Illiniwek66
Illiniwek66
Agree with both your points. It's not a good third down cheer. Why do we need to eliminate it though?


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#6      

Trakis

Trakis
Chicago, IL
Trakis
I'm not Native American. I want to make that clear. However what they basically banned was clapping, and music that one could consider to be thematic of Native American styles. If that's considered offensive, then sure. It's tough to support... Personally though, as a 3rd party, I am having a hard time seeing how music can be considered offensive.
 
#7      

mattcoldagelli

mattcoldagelli
The Transfer Portal
mattcoldagelli
Another unpopular opinion: I'm pretty much fine with all of it (War Chant, 3-in-1) being phased out. The Chief was the connecting thread for all of those, and he's gone.

I wonder what a current freshman, who likely had no clue about the Chief, thinks of these. Probably a pretty giant ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

And before you ask "Where does it end?"....for me, I want to keep the name Fighting Illini. I know it's arguable whether there's even a factual case to warrant a change, but that's a battle I would just as soon not fight. And if it means stripping away anything that even hints at NA heritage or culture, well, that's unfortunate, but that's also a trade I am super ready to make.
 
#8      

illinifan4249

I
Space Coast, FL
illinifan4249
Reasons for them banning it non-withstanding. I do think it wasn't the best 3rd down cheer. It was certainly better for when they would announce starting lineups in basketball or when the team was coming down the tunnel in football.

Also as I saw some people say on Twitter it does seem like a bad time to do this when they are trying to raise more money for the new football center and a possible hockey program.
 
#9      

mossimo142

M
mossimo142
If this is true I won't be renewing my tickets or donation. Granted it wasn't the best 3rd down noise maker but it could be used at other times.
 
#10      

SixthandWhite

SixthandWhite
SixthandWhite
I'll be honest, I love the war chant, it gets me pumped up. I totally get the complaints though, you gotta cut it off earlier so people can scream while the defense is getting set.
 
#11      

redwingillini11

redwingillini11
White and Sixth
North Aurora
redwingillini11
I am outraged. Tomorrow I am writing letters and making phone calls. This administration has absolutely zero understanding of what political correctness is supposed to be about. Not one more cent of my money is going to this school if this assault continues.
 
#14      

FiveStar

F
FiveStar
People, it doesn't matter what song is playing or not playing, who is dancing or not dancing, what is being chanted or not chanted. It is about those 100+ guys on the sideline who bust their !!! everyday to represent our university. Focus on what matters.
 
#16      

KrushCow31

KrushCow31
Former Krush Cow
Chicago, IL
KrushCow31
I have also heard this from someone on campus so I'm assuming this is a campus rumor/unreleased news. This song is like the signature environment song from basketball and football. It's pathetic that this is being removed for political reasons. The song has no words and people clap in unison. And for whoever said the entering student body is apathetic to these traditions, if that were true then the polling they do every few years would go down and support for the chief etc is still around 87% last I saw. Not that the university really cares as I am a small fry, but this is a move that makes me apathetic to donating to the university. From a recruiting standpoint, this really hurts us I think. Without this, what really sets us apart from any other generic stadium experience? What atmosphere do we have? What traditions? What culture? We basically have none at this point. Oh cool, their band plays some old 90s and 80s song, and they play living on a prayer in the 4th quarter. Who is this upsetting? Who is this making feel better? Is it whiny little non-native american snowflakes that will feel better? I highly doubt this was a point of major contention at the Illinois Confederation in Oklahoma.
 
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#19      

KrushCow31

KrushCow31
Former Krush Cow
Chicago, IL
KrushCow31
mattcoldagelli said:
Are you guys serious with this "I'm canceling tickets" stuff? That's embarrassing.
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Product on the field stinks, atmosphere will stink, songs that are played that make me reminisce of my time in undergrad are gone. What exactly is the appeal at this point for some people? I could see why this would make some people not want to go to games. I personally would still go, just have no desire to donate any money to the university.
 
#21      

ugottabjoshinme

ugottabjoshinme
ugottabjoshinme
mattcoldagelli said:
Another unpopular opinion: I'm pretty much fine with all of it (War Chant, 3-in-1) being phased out. The Chief was the connecting thread for all of those, and he's gone.

I wonder what a current freshman, who likely had no clue about the Chief, thinks of these. Probably a pretty giant ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

And before you ask "Where does it end?"....for me, I want to keep the name Fighting Illini. I know it's arguable whether there's even a factual case to warrant a change, but that's a battle I would just as soon not fight. And if it means stripping away anything that even hints at NA heritage or culture, well, that's unfortunate, but that's also a trade I am super ready to make.
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This is a great post and I agree completely. The 3-in-1 has tradition, but it is pretty much used as a memory that the chief danced around to it. There is really no reason to keep it since the university has moved on from the chief.

:shield::shield:

KrushCow31 said:
Product on the field stinks, atmosphere will stink, songs that are played that make me reminisce of my time in undergrad are gone. What exactly is the appeal at this point for some people? I could see why this would make some people not want to go to games. I personally would still go, just have no desire to donate any money to the university.
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The product on the field and on the court are improving. The athletic department is definitely headed in the right direction. If people only attend the games to hear the band play a couple songs, then I don't know what to tell them.
 
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#22      

IlliniOllie

I
IlliniOllie
KrushCow31 said:
Product on the field stinks, atmosphere will stink, songs that are played that make me reminisce of my time in undergrad are gone. What exactly is the appeal at this point for some people? I could see why this would make some people not want to go to games. I personally would still go, just have no desire to donate any money to the university.
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The product on the field (as well as the basketball court) has stunk for years. For the people still around buying tickets, I highly doubt that this will be the straw that breaks the camel's back.
 
#23      

KrushCow31

KrushCow31
Former Krush Cow
Chicago, IL
KrushCow31
IlliniOllie said:
The product on the field (as well as the basketball court) has stunk for years. For the people still around buying tickets, I highly doubt that this will be the straw that breaks the camel's back.
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For a lot, yes. But to pretend that there isn't a measureable amount of people that will say screw it because of the loss of every tradition this university has isn't fair either.
 
#24      

FollowTisdale

F
FollowTisdale
I had always used the words "This is my Indian song, why don't you sing along" so obviously i made the connection.

My reaction to this probably fake news is, yes it's dumb to ban a song because 5 people think it's racist towards American Indians. Any song with drums could be reminiscent of Indian war chants if you want to stretch that far. I do not think it's a huge slippery slope to assume the oppositions goals were 1. ban the chief, 2. ban war chant/ 3-in-1, 3. change "Fighting Illini".

With that being said, the song wasn't that good for 3rd down or at basketball timeouts and it gives the talented musicians at Illinois a chance to create something better. So really, I find it hard to get worked up about. Plenty of changes to traditions end up working out just fine if not better.