There are a few bits of cheering etiquette spectators must adhere to during Salt Lake's 2002 Winter Games, but beyond the few rules crowds are expected to be raucous and come with bells on.
The dull clang-a-clang of cowbells might be the most recognizable Olympic noise.
At every Winter Olympic event spectators carrying, wearing and ringing cowbells should be easy to spot, as using such noise-makers to show approval has gained popularity over the past three decades.
The bells have become so popular they've even started appearing at National Basketball Association games.
Jack Roberts, a fourth-generation Swiss-American, who runs an international cowbell export company in Wisconsin dates the bells' Olympic use back to the 1976 Winter Games in Innsbruck, Austria.
"That's the first time I heard them (at a sports event)," he said. "I knew the sound well."
The cowbell clang is common throughout the Swiss, Austrian and Bavarian Alps where folks are accustomed to the sound of the clanging bells attached to the necks of roaming bovines, Roberts said.
Years ago in small, mountainous countries like Switzerland, Austria and Germany, ranchers would hire herdsmen to take their cattle into the high mountain plains to munch on the lush grass pastures.
With no fences in the high plains, herdsmen with deft hearing would use the bells ? each with a slightly different pitch ? to determine which cows belonged to which ranch.
While Alps herdsmen have developed more modern ways to decipher cattle ownership, the traditional bells have stuck and now transcend into sports.
From biathlon to ice hockey to slalom, the bells clang. And places like Roberts European Imports now sell the bells ? once reserved for cow shows and home decorations ? to sports fans.
During Salt Lake's 2002 Winter Games the bells might clan loudest at the Kearns Speedskating Oval, home to long-track speedskating and a multitude of Dutch fans, renown for their boisterous behavior.
"People are really crazy about speedskating," said Sam Van Amen, who lives in Sandy but competed on the Dutch speedskating team during the 1952 Games in Oslo. "You have a great big party, have a good time and go home."
Still, even the unruly Dutch have to be silent during the start of competition.
When an amplified voice says "Go to the start" speedskating crowds hush so the skaters can hear the start gun.
The only other time quiet is generally encouraged during the Winter Olympics is at curling matches. Whenever a competitor throws a stone ? like in bowling before the ball is rolled down the alley ? the crowd is expected to offer silence.
Outside these two rules, pandemonium is welcomed.
Ski jumping fans have been know to verbalize strange chants, German luge fans often break into beer drinking ballads, Korean short-track speedskating fans beat a so go (small drum) whenever a Korean skater rounds a turn and the Dutch bring tubas and similar wind instruments to play Bavarian music and waltzes during competition.
Of course, there'll be lots of cowbells too.
E-MAIL: bsnyder@desnews.com