7 Memorable Sports Chants

Does your favorite team have a special chant? If not, here are seven examples that might inspire you to write one of your own.

1. "Two World Wars and One World Cup!"

You might have heard English fans reviving this old cheer if you watched the recent England-Germany World Cup match. The two countries have a long-standing rivalry—England won its only World Cup in 1966 in a final against West Germany—and it's hard to comment on their soccer battles without bringing up their military history. Another English cheer goes, "If you won the war, stand up!" In 1966, their rivalry inspired this gem of sportswriting:

"If, on the morrow, the Germans beat us at our national game, we'll do well to remember that, twice this century, we have beaten them at theirs."

2. "Pericles, Sophocles, Peloponnesian War; "¨X-Squared, Y-Squared, H2SO4; "¨Cosine, Tangent, Secant, Line; "¨Three point one four one five nine!"

I call this one The Great Nerd Chant.

A number of very geeky schools claim to have come up with it; some school-specific variations on the last two lines include: "Three point one four one five nine/ Come on Williams, hold that line!" and "Cosine, Tangent, Secant, Ray/ Swarthmore, Swarthmore, all the way!" I've also heard it attributed to University of Chicago. Or try these last verses:

"Two, Four, Six, Eight / God is dead and Nietzsche's great!"
"Kant, Hegel, Marx, Spinoza / "¨Come on team, hit 'em in the nosa."

3. "He's got a pineapple on his head!" (x4)

Sung to the tune of "He's got the whole world in his hands" (obviously). Another British footie chant, this one was used to make fun of Jason Lee of Nottingham Forest and his dreads.

4. "Oh ORU
Oh ORU
Oh OR University
Ordained for holy destiny
May your torch still burn
At the Lord's return
And count for eternity"

Oral Roberts University's "spirit song" is sung at sporting events to instill college pride. It has the tempo and verve of a football fight song, but morphs from sports cheer to hymn pretty quickly, seemingly more concerned with eternal salvation than the Golden Eagles' win-loss record.

5. "Drink Blood, Smoke Crack, Worship Satan, Go Mac!"

Macalester College, on the other hand, takes a slightly more cavalier approach to its ultimate destiny.

6. "Fight, Fight, Inner Light!
Kill, Quakers, Kill!
Knock 'em Down, Beat 'em Senseless!
Do It 'til We Reach Consensus!"

The origins of this one are unknown, but just about every Quaker college in the country uses this classic chant - Earlham, Goshen, Guilford, Haverford, and Swarthmore all claim it as their own. "Blood makes the grass grow! Kill, Quakers, Kill!" is another variation that appeals to the pacifist sensibilities of the Society of Friends, and then there's the old chestnut, "Stop multinational corporations from raping third-world countries. Go team."

7. "Fight exuberantly!
Fight exuberantly!
Compel them to relinquish the ball!"

This chant used by Earlham football cheerleaders in the 1970s might be my personal favorite. Persuasive, elegant, to-the-point—this cheer has it all. Interestingly enough, Earlham's mascot has changed from the Fightin' Quakers to the Hustlin' Quakers to simply the Quakers. The earlier two names were deemed too violent.
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Did your high school or college have any amusing cheers, songs, or chants? What are some of your favorites?