Every school has their own traditions at athletic events, and we have our own here at ISU. Here is a list of things we do for each sport, although we are constantly adding new ones for specific games/scenarios, etc., but these are the staples. And hey, this list may be daunting, but if you come to the games you'll figure it all out.

General

• Keep it clean! Heckling is okay, but don't get out of hand. No swearing or lewd personal attacks on opposing players or officials. Things like that can not only get you ejected from the game, but it makes us all look bad. And technically it can also penalize our team.
• Wear red! Wear your Red Alert shirt to every game if possible, or at least always wear something red.
• Stand up! When the game is in play, there should never, ever, be anyone sitting in the student section, ever! Sit at halftime and during timeouts, but otherwise get on your feet and cheer!
• Go Crazy! When you're at a game, get into it! Don't just go through the motions or talk with your friends. We are there to cheer our teams on and yes, we do make a difference in the games! So get to the games and be loud and rowdy!
• Never leave early! Always stay until the end, no matter what. You never know what can happen. Plus, leaving early shows disrespect to our teams and it just plain looks bad.

Volleyball

• When the other team is serving the ball, join the cheerleaders in yelling a constant, "OOOOOHHHHH," until the ball is served, just like on a kickoff in football.
• When we score a point, after the announcer says, "point, Illinois State," the entire arena shouts, "POINT! ILLINOIS STATE! WOO!" It may seem a little hokey at first but when the whole crowd does it, it sounds cool.
• When we are on Game Point, the students/cheerleaders/dancers will start to stomp and clap slowly and then faster and faster while the whole arena joins in. We keep clapping until we score the winning point.
• After a win, stay in your place and join the players, cheerleaders, dance team and band in singing the fight song.

Football

• During kickoffs, jingle your keys in the air while simultaneously jumping up and down and yelling a constant, "OOOOHHHHH," until the ball is kicked.
• When the visiting team has the ball deep in their own territory near the Zoo (usually anywhere inside the 20 yard line), go nuts! You'll see our defense raising their arms to us and that's our cue to start making as much noise as possible so the opposing offense can't hear their own cadence. This can really disrupt them and often leads to a false start, a botched play or a timeout by the visitors.
• When we get a first down on offense, the band will start a rumbling, "OOOHHHHH..." which then will build up into all of us yelling, "OOOHHHH FIRST DOWN!"
• After a win, stay in the Zoo as the entire team and coaches, cheerleaders and dancers all gather in front of the Zoo, and we sing the fight song.

Men's/Women's Basketball

• During the visitor's starting lineups, turn your back on them. Sometimes there will be newspapers to pretend to read, but usually we just turn around and ignore their introductions. Occasionally we'll even start a cheer during their intros to disrupt them.
• When the visitor's lineups are over, turn back around immediately and start cheering. For the Men's team, the intro music is "Where the Streets Have No Name" by U2. Clap along with the beat. For the Women's team, the music is Guns N' Roses' "Welcome to the Jungle" and again, clap along to that.
• Sometimes after the lineups when the teams walk on the floor, you'll hear the pep band drummer start the drum beat to "We Will Rock You." At this point, clap along and chant "I-S-U" over and over.
• Just before the ball is thrown into the air for the opening tip-off, jump up and down and yell the constant, "OOOOHHHH," again just like a kickoff in football.
• When we are on defense, especially in the 2nd half when the visiting team has the ball near our sections, hop up and down and yell, "OOOHHHH," as loud as you can. This is just to make a lot of noise to disrupt the other team. If the cheerleaders start the "DE-FENSE" cheer, do that. But otherwise, we are hopping and yelling.
• When one of our players commits a foul that we think is a bad call, one of the band members or a Red Alert member will start off a cheer which we all join in on. It wil either be the old, "Nuts and bolts, Nuts and bolts, WE-GOT-SCREWED," or an old favorite song: "When I get old, and I can't see, I wanna be a referee, JUST. LIKE. YOU!!!"
• Before our free throws, one of the band members will shout, "1-2-3-4!" Everyone then does the following motions. This can confuse new fans, but it's really easy to learn:

1. Clap once.
2. Tap your legs.
3. Cross your arms.
4. Raise your arms in the air.

• In the 2nd half, it won't always be "1-2-3-4" as the band will change up the combination of numbers. It will, however always end on "4," at which point everyone's arms need to be raised. When we make the free throw, drop both of your arms and yell, "WHOOSH!" and then pump both arms back in the air individually while yelling, "GO STATE!" It may sound complicated but after doing it a few times you'll have it down.
• If the band drummer starts the rhythm before an opponent's free throw, the crowd sings, "You're not gonna make it! No, you ain't gonna make it! You're not gonna make it, anymore!"
• Just like Volleyball and Football, after a win stay put as the team, cheerleaders and dancers will gather in front of the student section to sing the fight song.