PLEASE READ: NEW GOPHERS TRADITION: Kickoff - SKI-U-MAH!!!

I yell Ski-u-Mah after they kick the ball, but so far I'm the only one doing it where I sit.

Me too, then the guys I sit with started to rip on me and ask why I wasn't doing it on later kickoffs. That's it, I'm doing it every kickoff this week, and the guy I'm giving a ticket to better join in. On at least 1 of the later kickoffs, I thought I did hear something though, so let's keep this up!

But seriously, when we were discussing before the game how to do this, the cadence of how to do it is still unknown. It would help to have cheerleaders on the field holding up 3 signs. But, that might be against the rules - are cheerleaders, etc., prohibited from organized cheers during plays?

Anyway, so let me get this straight, it's just straight beats for the cadence, right? So it should be OoooooAhhh! (pause) SKI (pause) U (pause) MAH

Is this it? How fast? I'm thinking a bit slower than spelling out MINNESOTA in the rouser so each part of it is heard - not quite twice as slow, but a bit slower.

Finally, the MAH stand for Minnesota for the one guy who asked. Ski - U - Mah Victory U of M!
 

I believe its oooooooOOooooooOOOOOOOOO pause SKI-U-MAH fairly quickly. Ball in flight the whole time.
 

All - i will try togeta video posted on youtube with the simple instructionsand cadence to tryto eliminate some confusion(suggestions to improve upon the way we do it will be welcomed)...i will share the link later this week once my internet connection at my building is fixed...stay tuned...andwe got to get thisgoing!!! And good work by Golden Elephant...make your buddy chant it since you are givinghim the ticket!!!
 

I believe its oooooooOOooooooOOOOOOOOO pause SKI-U-MAH fairly quickly. Ball in flight the whole time.

Use the same pace the fans use for spelling Minnesota at the end of the Rouser. (not the pace the band uses, they're cripplingly slow)

Three such beats should conclude well before the ball reaches the ground (on a normal kickoff).

And for those of you who are at the game and doing it, use the same arm motion as the Minnesota spelling from the rouser too. This will help it spread throughout the stadium faster as it gives some sense that it is a legitimate cheer, and not something that a random guy does because he's crazy.
 

Use the same pace the fans use for spelling Minnesota at the end of the Rouser. (not the pace the band uses, they're cripplingly slow)

The band spells it in tempo with the Rouser. That's the way is intended to be. That should keep everyone together.
 


The band spells it in tempo with the Rouser. That's the way is intended to be. That should keep everyone together.

Probably one of those folks who drives exactly the speed limit too. Face it, you will be left behind by everyone who does it at the pace that feels natural.

And if the band was actually concerned about keeping things the way it was intended, you would have been marching down University Avenue by now. So don't give me that garbage.
 

Okay, I've been silent to now...

Myself and Mrs. Billd did it for every kickoff...both WMU and Gophers...for the entire game.

Based on a very limited, one-game sample I believe it will take the student section to get this going.

We will do it every home game from here on out too but this is not a natural thing for your typical fan.

Oh, BTW, we did the relatively quick cadence for it at the speed like spelling 'M-I-N-N-E-S-O-T-A" in The Rouser.

So to know that not all is lost, we have got people around us to start singing the words to The Rouser when it's played, with special emphasis/volume on the "Rah Rah Rah for Ski-U-Mah" line...so there's hope.

Go Gophers! In Kill I Trust! Ski-U-Mah!
 

I hate to say it, but I would like to throw out another idea for the Ski-U-Mah cheer. If we can get over half the people in the stands to do "the Gopher" in just 2 weeks, we can surely get this cheer going. But, we need the help from the announcer and score board. We should do this after each scoring drive and before Goldy does his push-ups. The scoreboard can show a picture of the stadium with "Ski" in the south section, "U" in the student section, and "Mah" in the north section. Also, last year the cheerleaders had Ski-U-Mah flags that could be used. With the help of the announcer, I think we could get everyone doing this which would lead into Goldy clapping before his push-ups.
 

Gopher fans - I know this isn't a GOPHER.NATION. game, but it will provide an example for anybody who has any questions on how I chant SKI-U-MAH on the kickoff. This is how I chant SKI-U-MAH with my fellow Gopher fans sitting in section 236. Please leave comments and suggestions . . . thanks!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joXOx7tFKXs

on a side note: WE HAVE TO GET THIS GOING!!!
 



OK, yeah GOPHER.NATION's YouTube is how I think it should be done, too. That's about the perfect cadence. You can't go much faster than that because otherwise SKI-U-MAH gets all jumbled together. So I'm forwarding this to all the people I go with. Is everyone on board with this cadence - it sounded like people were talking faster than this.

One more question: we're just doing this when the Gophers kick off, right? We're not doing it when we're receiving the kickoff are we?
 

OK, yeah GOPHER.NATION's YouTube is how I think it should be done, too. That's about the perfect cadence. You can't go much faster than that because otherwise SKI-U-MAH gets all jumbled together. So I'm forwarding this to all the people I go with. Is everyone on board with this cadence - it sounded like people were talking faster than this.

One more question: we're just doing this when the Gophers kick off, right? We're not doing it when we're receiving the kickoff are we?


Right!
 

OK, yeah GOPHER.NATION's YouTube is how I think it should be done, too. That's about the perfect cadence. You can't go much faster than that because otherwise SKI-U-MAH gets all jumbled together. So I'm forwarding this to all the people I go with. Is everyone on board with this cadence - it sounded like people were talking faster than this.

One more question: we're just doing this when the Gophers kick off, right? We're not doing it when we're receiving the kickoff are we?

The more memorable kickoff cheers that come to mind (UGA, Oklahoma, Notre Dame, etc.) all are used on both kicking and receiving plays.
 

I think it is important to do it on every kick off when trying to start something new like this. The more people hear it the easier and quicker it will catch on. I think the speed is perfect. I really hope this catches on.
 



+1

Don't try and limit it to select kickoffs. If everyone does it for every kickoff, the casual fans are more likely to participate. All I know, is that my group of six this weekend will be SCREAMING it on every kickoff.

SKI-U-MAH!
 

What if the band spelled out "SKI U MAH"? That would really help promote awareness of the Ski-U-Mah cheer. The question is where would you put it? In the pregame show, the band spells out "GOPHERS", they could change that to "SKI U MAH", but I can see that that might be unpopular. Perhaps they could spell out GOPHERS and then switch to SKI U MAH, just spell out GOPHERS for less time.
 

Put 'Ski', 'U', and 'Mah' on separate posterboards and lift each one up individually along with the timing of the cheer. The gives everyone a visual aid to the cadence. Easy.
 

What if the band spelled out "SKI U MAH"? That would really help promote awareness of the Ski-U-Mah cheer. The question is where would you put it? In the pregame show, the band spells out "GOPHERS", they could change that to "SKI U MAH", but I can see that that might be unpopular. Perhaps they could spell out GOPHERS and then switch to SKI U MAH, just spell out GOPHERS for less time.

Not really necessary. Its on the new helmets. Its on the big old banner in the student section now. It's in the freaking rouser, and has been for over a hundred years. The next logical step is the either the repetitive ("O-H-I-O"-style) cheer or the kickoff one.

Plus considering the fact that 98% of the people who care enough to truly watch the marching band (pregame or halftime or postgame) already know all about "ski-u-mah" - it really wouldn't be helping all that much.
 

SKI-U-MAH needs to be screamed on every kickoff. Eventually, I could see the student section doing something different for kickoffs after we scored, leading into Goldy's pushups . . .

I like the idea about the band spelling it out . . .

Does anybody know if SKI-U-MAH appears in the gameday programs? And, more importantly, does it give the story behind why we chant it? I think that could help integrate the less connected Gopher fans . . .
 

It would help quite a bit. Yes, it's in the Rouser, but for ages, it's just been a fossil there. It's on the helmets, but people aren't close enough at the game to read the helmets. And they have the big banner that they pull out in the student section, and that's good, but that doesn't mean nothing else should be done. Most people at the game only have a very vague awareness of Ski-U-Mah.
 

I sit a little in front of you and to your right in 235. The Ski-U-Mah sounds goods, did I miss it last game? I definitely remember it from the NH game. I will join in tomorrow as well.
 

This hasn't taken off. I think the timing is hard for everyone to get.

I see no reason why the entire crowd doesn't chant SKI-U-MAH over and over from the time the coin is flipped to the opening kick off. Let's not over think this.
 




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