The Loop
World's most annoying fan has been silenced at Northwestern basketball games (Seriously)
Apparently, Northwestern has a superfan known as "The Shrieker," and if you've watched any Wildcat basketball game on TV, you've probably heard her.
“They can hear me at the NCAA tournament, at the Kohl Center in Wisconsin, at Welsh-Ryan and they can hear me here,” The Shrieker, Emily Harriott, told the Chicago Tribune last February. “That’s how my parents check to make sure I’m still alive.”
Well, they won't be able to check that way anymore.
Another Chicago Tribune story from Thursday reported The Shrieker has been silenced. After receiving complaints from fellow fans and even Northwestern TV and radio partners, school officials asked Harriott, the president of Northwestern's student section, to "tone down" her screaming. And she obliged beginning Wednesday night.
“It caught me a little by surprise because I’ve been doing it for the last three and a half years,” the senior double major told the Tribune's Teddy Greenstein, who filmed an interview with the endearing—at least, when she's not shrieking—Harriott you can watch here.
Unfortunately (but maybe, fortunately?), we couldn't find video/audio of The Shrieker in action, but we imagine it being something like this:
Or this:
Northwestern's No Shriek Era began with a 73-63 home loss to Iowa, which is probably just a coincidence. But even if it's not, it sounds like NU fans would rather suffer basketball losses than hearing losses.
UPDATE: This is what The Shrieker sounds like. Listen if you dare:
With all due respect to Lloyd Christmas, that's the most annoying sound in the world.