In a 2005 playoff game, then-Minnesota Vikings’ wide receiver Randy Moss scored a touchdown against the Green Bay Packers and proceeded to celebrate by pretending to “moon” the legendary Packers fans at Lambeau Field.

Moss was subsequently fined and was the subject of media scrutiny in the Vikings’ upcoming game. However, it was later revealed that Moss was mocking the Packers’ fans, replicating a tradition in which a large group of fans at Lambeau would actually moon the visiting team’s bus on its way out of Green Bay.

In most sports, it is fan bases like the Packers and New York Yankees crowds, Duke’s Cameron Crazies, or the Cleveland Browns’ Dawg Pound that not only inspire their team, but also strike fear into their opponents and occasionally play mind games, as in Moss’ instance.

But great fan bases often vary by year, here one year and gone the next, leaving with the talented players who “their” team cuts ties with.

Despite each team having 6-10 records in 2005, a study done by Bizjournal.com ranked the fans of the Cleveland Browns, Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles as the top fan bases in the NFL.

But with teams like the year’s Superbowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers and the powerhouse of the decade New England Patriots on the bottom half of the rankings, the survey begs the question: What makes great sport fans?

Some good fan bases are credited with making their stadiums so loud that they will their team into the game or scare the opposition out.

Others, like the Cleveland Dawg Pound, who protested the franchise’s move to Baltimore in the late ‘90s, are known for their loyalty in the midst of losing.

Fan bases such as the local Los Angeles Dodgers are often criticized for their tardiness, while fans in cold weather cities are belittled for not coming during the rain.

At Biola, weather and traffic are not as big of issues in attending games as class schedules and church commitments are.

Of course it is different for Biola students, who often support other local college teams such as UCLA basketball or USC football, while also occasionally attending games in La Mirada.

However, as enrollment has increased over the last three years, so has the attendance in Chase Gymnasium and out on the fields.

That increase has showed up in multiple ways such as last year’s addition of the claw, Biola’s hand signal reminiscent of USC’s fight on symbol, as well as cheerleaders leading the crowd.

Both were welcomed additions alongside the “whiteout” and chants of B-I-O-L-A that accompanied last season’s men’s basketball 51-49 upset over Azusa Pacific, which secured the Eagles’ post-season bid.
Moreover, with both the fall sports season and Midnight Madness behind us, the upcoming season looks to build off success from last season.

The introduction of the Red Sea proved too much for Azusa’s volleyball team on Nov. 11, as Biola’s highest ranked team thrilled the packed house in Chase Gymnasium with a five-set win to throw another cherry on top of their historical season before heading to nationals.

“Red Sea shirts will hopefully create more unity to create an exciting fan environment,” said Brianna Stewart, head of the AS Spirit Board. ”Our goal is to give people a purpose to go to the games.”

Still, with the No. 2-ranked volleyball team finishing their season in Iowa this weekend, the Red Sea will have plenty of work ahead to help one of its teams bring Biola’s first national championship in any sport home.

The Eagles’ women’s basketball has started red hot, knocking off two teams in the top 25 to start the season. However, women’s games in past two seasons have often been only an appetizer for the men’s games with the crowd slowly trickling in through the conclusion of the game.

Stewart has noticed this low attendance and notes, “It is important for the Biola community to support their teams because athletes have to feel like part of the community as well.”

The men’s basketball team is also facing a tough schedule this year with six home games, including the regularly packed out Azusa rivalry game, coming during interterm when most of Biola’s enrollment is not on campus.

When the Red Sea returns to full force in February, the baseball team will open their season ranked fourth in the nation. Fan support will be important for the team’s morale.

“Supporting our athletes gives them and enthusiasm and a new motivation to perform to the best of their ability,” said Stewart.

When it boils down to it, deciding if a sports team is made great by its fan base or if its fan base is made great by the success of the team may be as grueling as debating the argument of the chicken or the egg.

However, with three teams in the top 25 and others on the cusp, fans seem primed to propel Biola to success.

“School pride comes a lot from the performances of our athletes and we should show appreciation and support by going out to the games,” Stewart said.