6/23/2014 Brad Rock: 'I believe' chant earned its wings at State | Deseret News

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Adv ertise with us Report this ad Brad Rock: 'I believe' chant earned its wings at What You May Have Missed Build your own: DIY and STEM meet up in Utah State 'maker' type of playtime

By Brad Rock, Deseret News Print Font [+] [-] 9 Comments » Published: Tuesday, June 17 2014 5:15 p.m. MDT Updated: Wednesday, June 18 2014 9:36 a.m. MDT New measures aimed at curbing toxic chemicals in homes

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Sign up for news updates View 7 photos » Email Address At front and center USU fans Bill Sproat (22 jersey) and Funaki Asisi (in white jersey) cheer their team during Utah State University vs. The in NCAA played in Logan, Utah, Wednesday, Nov. 24, 2010. (Ravell Call, Deseret News)

Ravell Call, Deseret News

SALT LAKE CITY — A commercial for this year’s World Cup features madly bouncing USA fans shouting, “I Brad Rock BELIEVE THAT WE WILL WIN!” The chant was Deseret News labeled the coolest in the country in an ESPN.com blog Summary by Eamonn Brennan in 2011. American soccer team is now “It's everything a basketball chant should be: Organized, employing a chant that started at Navy but was nourished by the direct, supportive, intimidating and not the least bit irrepressible "Wild Bill" Sproat, hokey,” he wrote. “It's not cocky, either; when I hear who says Utah State's crowd was the Michael Jordan of fan bases. ‘believe,’ I hear less expectation than faith.” Apparently the chant works for soccer, too. Brennan noted something else that’s hard to dispute: Nobody does it better than Utah State. That’s where I first heard the chant. It resonated with good-natured passion and made driving to Logan on a subzero winter night worthwhile. Adv ertise with us Report this ad Now everyone wants that feeling — the optimism, if not Most Popular the weather. And almost everyone uses the chant.

But there was another thing that made the trip to Logan In Sports Across Site

great: “Wild Bill” Sproat. With his messy dark hair, The 2014 NBA draft tracker: projecting the... week-old beard and beach ball belly, he could elicit an Dick Harmon: Here's a primer for BYU football... involuntary laugh from almost anyone. That was due to Pine View QB Kody Wilstead on committing to... the getups: Tigger the Tiger, a Chippendales dancer, Jazz looking at a variety of scenarios with... Nacho Libre, the Teapot from “Beauty and the Beast,” Mike Sorensen: Embiid or not Embiid, that is... Aladdin, Peter Pan, the Little Mermaid, Winnie the Up-to-the-minute coverage of the 2014 BYU... Pooh, Batman. Class of 2014: Utah high school athletes with... At one point he had more than 100 costume ideas. All Poly Camp: This was the place for football http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865605353/I-believe-chant-earned-its-wings-at-Utah-State.html 1/4 6/23/2014 Brad Rock: 'I believe' chant earned its wings at Utah State | Deseret News At one point he had more than 100 costume ideas. All Poly Camp: This was the place for football He was featured by ESPN.com, Sports Illustrated and other national publications. Why? Get The Deseret News Everywhere Nobody did the “believe” chant better than USU, and no one inspired like Wild Bill. Subscribe Mobile Facebook Twitter RSS Email The publicity hit its zenith in 2010-11, Sproat’s last full Most Commented season as college sports’ best fan. “My thing is always going to be that there’s somebody In Sports Across Site

better than you are at something — unless you’re Michal Peavler: Does a scheduling agreement... 118 Jordan,” Sproat said on Monday. “In my opinion, U.S. Patent Office: Redskins name... 48 nobody has done it better than Michael Jordan in his Utah Sports Ruckus: Dear King James,... 26 prime, and nobody ever beat him. And honestly, USU Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops will be... 26 three years ago was Michael Jordan. I don’t think Utes basketball: Utah releases 2014-15... 26 anybody could beat that.” Pine View QB Kody Wilstead on... 25 Yet in the summer of 2010, Sproat found himself in Lone Peak's Frank Jackson scores 50... 23 danger. Sluggish and heavy, he required 10 minutes to Former BYU quarterback Max Hall cut by... 23 walk 30 feet down his driveway. Some of it was due to lifestyle, but he had also contracted a virus that enlarged his heart. Lacking insurance, he refused to visit the doctor until he was coughing blood. He was immediately transferred to a hospital, where he saw the grim numbers. His ejection fraction, which measures how well the heart is pumping, was below 10 percent. He watched the 2010 World Cup from his hospital room. Sproat returned to the front row of Aggie games later that year. But even with proper medical care, problems continued. In one episode his heart stopped for seven minutes. After that, he made a few single-game appearances, but his every-night work was finished. “I made people laugh; that’s what I was going for,” he says. As for the chant that Sproat helped promulgate, he says the Aggies didn’t invent it. Some say Navy midshipmen created it for a 2003 football game against Air Force, but as Sproat points out, “We made it famous. We were the ones who did it on a national scale.” Now employed at a residential treatment center that works with emotionally and behaviorally challenged youth, Sproat says he watched the USA-Ghana World Cup match on Monday during breaks. Adv ertise with us Report this ad Though he says he was never a big basketball fan, “I do love soccer. It’s a great sport.” Is there a chance Wild Bill will one day return? Unlikely. For one thing, it was his girth that provided comic appeal.

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Popular Comments See all 9 comments »

Aggie238 Logan, UT

I used to love being in the Spectrum for a big (or small) game and being a part of such a great atmosphere. Unfortunately it's gone downhill for the past 2-3 years. In fact, I didn't even manage to http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865605353/I-believe-chant-earned-its-wings-at-Utah-State.html 2/4 6/23/2014 Brad Rock: 'I believe' chant earned its wings at Utah State | Deseret News atmosphere. Unfortunately it's gone downhill for the past 2-3 years. In fact, I didn't even manage to get myself to a game last year. I think More..

8:48 a.m. June 18, 2014 Top comment

Sambonethegreat , UT

Ya got that right! Go Ags!

9:43 p.m. June 17, 2014 Top comment

Who am I sir? Cottonwood Heights, UT

Loved the video of USU doing the chant. However, I am afraid you may have opened Pandora's box.

Utah has the MUSS. USU has the chant. What does any other Utah university have? When you chant "I believe..." I'm afraid More..

1:28 a.m. June 18, 2014 Top comment

Comments Leave a comment » DeseretNews.com encourages a civil dialogue among its readers. We welcome your thoughtful comments. — About comments

About the Author Brad Rock Brad Rock, a.k.a. "Rockmonster," has been a sports columnist at the Deseret News since 1994. Prior to that he worked as a beat writer, covering the (1990-94). He has covered the Super Bowl, NCAA Final Four, NBA more .. Connect:

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