Quick - name the pro sports teams in this town. The Reds? Sure. The Bengals? You betcha.
But you're forgetting one.
And that's a BIG mistake to make if you're surrounded by these people.
We're standing inside the U.S. Bank Arena on a recent Friday night, and down on the ice are the Cincinnati Cyclones, the East Coast Hockey League team that formed here in 1990 and has, over the years, attracted a devoted - rabid? - following.
Up in the stands: Sherry Chapman, 58, fan club president, who doesn't take her eyes off the ice when a reporter pesters her with questions. And 18-year-old Kevin Laile, a high school student from Mariemont who's been following the Cyclones "since I was born." And Jane Huelsman, 76, a grandma-type who seems harmless enough until something happens on the rink.
"Baseball is like watching grass grow," says the College Hill woman whom everyone calls "Ma." Watching hockey, however? "I do a lot of yelling."
The Cyclones have had a rocky history here, beginning as the brainchild of a Knoxville businessman in 1990, then moving to Birmingham, Ala., then reforming in 1992, then folding in 2001, then reappearing in 2001, then shutting down in 2004 before being revived again in 2006. It's actually more complicated than that, but you get the drift - and why it takes an especially loyal fan to follow it all.
But the Cyclones have followers in droves, and they keep picking up new ones. (It surely didn't hurt that the team won the Kelly Cup championship in 2008.)
Michelle Bartlett, 41, now vice president of the team's very active fan club, didn't expect to fall for the sport. The Alabama native - who didn't know a thing about hockey - bought her husband half-season tickets ($198 this year) last year for his birthday. At Christmas, she bought the other half. She surprised them both and took to the Cyclones even more than he did.
"It's not just hockey," she says. "It really is like its own little family."
Cyclones fans don't just come to games. They make snacks for the players to eat on the road and prepare their apartments for when they move here. They head out to all the picnics and Q&As and player appearances the same way a parent would go to his child's every band concert. In turn, the players and coaches grant them the kind of access they'd never get with the Reds or Bengals, fans say.
And at the games, the fans don't hide their appreciation.
Few show it better than the crew that calls itself Section 60, named after the seats they used to occupy when the team played at the Cincinnati Gardens. (They now sit in Section 140 at U.S. Bank Arena, behind the home-ice goal.) Section 60 is known for its cheers, its enthusiastic gestures, its over-the-top dances. If you've ever wanted to see grown men pelvic thrusting to "Brick House," well, just look toward the goalie.
"It's a good time," jokes Section 60 member Jim Fletcher, 45, of Erlanger, "as long as you don't sit around us."
<b>For the newbies</b>
• Getting a full season ticket package will save you $2 per ticket - $10 per game instead of the normal $12.
• Visit www.Section60.com, a fan Web site offering a forum for fans and a chat room to help meet up during road games and contests.
• Check out the Cyclones Fan Club, www.cycloneshockeyfan.com
