When Sports Crowds Are Awesome

One thing that makes a stadium better than another is the atmosphere.

From the tailgating in the parking lot to the ridiculousness of the chants and cheers inside, when you attend a game with a rowdy, clever crowd, it can be the most memorable experience ever.

While everyone can get drunk and yell profanities, though, it takes a special group to bond together and do something that is really awesome.

For that reason, I wanted to honor those fans, adding them to this piece of sports crowds being awesome.

This High School Football Crowd

After watching this video of an entire high school football section going nuts, it got me thinking that I may have gone to the wrong school growing up.

Although I couldn't find any background info on these kids who show the best school spirit I've seen in a long time, I just had to give them some love.

It's pretty dope when, seemingly, every student is cheering on their team—so hopefully they helped motivate their classmates to a win.

Na Na Hey Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye (Vancouver Canucks)

I don't know what it is about the song "Na Na Hey Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" chanted by a group of sports fans that makes me smirk, but it just gets me every time.

It might be the fact that it's one of the best subtle insults a team can hear, with fans not shy in waving goodbye to an opposing team after a loss.

One of the most classic chants in sports, when an entire arena of Vancouver Canucks fans sung it to the Toronto Maple Leafs, was just a little salt in their wounds.

Fake High-Five (Los Angeles Lakers)

Oh snap, what a major diss this is by a Los Angeles Lakers fan to former Laker big man Dwight Howard.

We probably all remember being kids and pulling away a high-five so slyly that we thought we were cooler than we really were—and seeing a grown man do it to a athlete is just hilarious.

After leaving for the Houston Rockets in the summer of 2013, Howard has remained public enemy No. 1 from Laker fans, with this the cherry on top of all the chants the crowd gives him when he returns.

Ultra Extreme Fanatical Atmosphere (Legia Warsaw)

So how do a bunch of fans for Polish team Legia Warsaw respond to a fine issued by UEFA? In kind, of course.

During a match between its team and Steaua Bucharest in 2013, Lega supporters put on an insane pyrotechnic display in the stands, spelling out "UEFA Ultra Extreme Fanatical Atmosphere" and, no doubt, scaring the wits out of opposing players who were forced to play in the ridiculous atmosphere.

It was certainly frowned upon—and dangerous as hell—but it made for one incredible moment for fans.

Toilet Paper Toss (John Brown University)

One of the oddest traditions in sports, the toilet paper game at John Brown University is just about the most amazing thing ever.

After the team's first bucket during each home opener during a new season, fans come armed with loads of TP, littering the court with rolls of the stuff to celebrate—almost always resulting in a technical foul.

It might cause a head coach headaches, but seeing how the team has lost only once in the 34 years of the tradition, the technical is a little easier to cope with.

R.I.P. Lennay Kekua Sign (Oakland Raiders)

Ben Margot/Associated Press

It might be an old, worn-out joke by now—well, if you ask Manti Te'o, anyway—but the whole Lennay Kekua thing is still a pretty bad burn.

So when a group of Oakland Raiders fans showed up in full force to a game against the San Diego Chargers a couple of seasons ago with a sign that read "R.I.P. Lennay Kekua," it had to piss off Te'o a little bit—even if he would never admit it.

Teddy Bear Toss (Calgary Hitmen)

Going on for over two decades, fans who attend the Petro-Canada Teddy Bear Toss Game between the Calgary Hitmen and Medicine Hat Tigers have some fun following the Hitmen's first goal.

And, as you can see in this video, it's a pretty amazing scene, as fans toss stuffed animals onto the ice, which then get donated to a local charity.

Throwing a hat onto the ice for a hat trick is cool, but making it rain teddy bears is even better.

You Let the Whole Team Down (Duke University)

Let's be honest, I could have probably just done a top-100 list of the best chants and cheers from the Duke Blue Devils' Cameron Crazies, but I chose this one as, possibly, their best moment.

Never quite crossing the line, the Dukies are like a gnat that athletes just can't shake, coming up with some clever sayings as a group that are enough to get under the skin of opposing players.

Why do you think the Blue Devils are so tough to play at home? Because they have the biggest college hoop nutcases backing them.

Jump Around (University of Wisconsin)

A tradition that has been going on between the third and fourth quarters of Wisconsin Badgers home football games since the '90s, watching the entire stadium go crazy to House of Pain's "Jump Around" encapsulates what college Saturdays should be.

And with Camp Randall Stadium shaking as if it's being hit by an earthquake, it proves that a group of Badgers are pretty powerful.

Who's Your Daddy? (New York Yankees)

Unless you're former Boston Red Sox pitcher Pedro Martinez, you can't help but think this is awesome.

Seriously, what better way to punk out one of the most hated opponents in recent memory for New York Yankees fans than this?

After getting rocked in a late-season start against the Yanks in 2004, Pedro made the mistake of calling New York "his daddy."

From then on, nearly anytime Martinez stepped foot in Yankee Stadium, the Bronx faithful were reminding him who his daddy was, chanting the phrase even after he left the Sox and pitched against the team in the 2009 World Series as a member of the Philadelphia Phillies.

Glory Glory Man United (Manchester United)

It's no secret that European soccer fans take their sport—and favorite clubs—pretty darn seriously, with chants and wild celebrations occurring for 90-plus minutes during matches.

One of the best scenes in sports is when famed English Premier League club Manchester United fans show off their pipes by singing "Glory Glory" together, sending chills down anyone who gets to witness it.

Singing the words in unison since the song's release in 1983, this is something that proves how powerful sports can be.

National Anthem (Boston Bruins)

Following the Boston Marathon bombings in 2013, the entire country was rallying around the city and claiming to be Boston Strong.

And with the people in Beantown proud and passionate, they showed how united they were during the national anthem of the Boston Bruins' game against the Buffalo Sabres—the first game since the attack—by singing the words together in grand fashion.

You can't watch this and not get teary-eyed with a proud smile on your face.

Speedo Guy (Duke University)

For all you Duke haters out there, I apologize for encouraging the behavior of their Cameron Crazies with two separate mentions on this list, but they're just so freakin' creative.

And one of the most hilariously effective Cameron Crazies ever was Speedo Guy, who made his only appearance during a game against the rival North Carolina Tar Heels in 2003 by showing lots of skin during a free throw.

Seeing a guy, unexpectedly, pop up and shimmy in a speedo proved to throw off Tar Heels shooter Jackie Manuel, who missed both attempts after being so distracted.

Shot Clock Countdown (Virginia Commonwealth)

Occurring just last week, this shot-clock violation by the UMass Minutemen is one of the funniest fake-outs any of us will ever see in sports history.

With its home crowd counting down the seconds left on the clock, Virginia Commonwealth fans were so raucous and intimidating that UMass players and, yes, even referees were confused as to how much time there really was left, with the opponents tossing up an ill-advised shot and the refs having to check the monitor to see what the hell had just happened.

Talk about a home-court advantage.