“Let’s go T-hawks!”

“De-fense!”

“You can’t do that!”

These chants, commonly shouted at sporting events, can drive people up a wall.

Many athletes have to worry about the opposing team, the plays they run, and sometimes the condition of the playing surface. But the biggest thing that plays into any game is the crowd.

Fans are encouraged to go crazy because, as humans, we get easily distracted by anything that is outside of the norm. Whether it’s by fans in a game or a car stopped by the police, people are tempted to look in that direction and lose focus.

Look at the 2013 Seattle Seahawks who trademarked their fans as the “12th Man.” They finished their regular season with a 7-1 home record all by design. According to John Brenkus of ESPN’s “Sports Science,” the canopies at Seattle’s stadium (CenturyLink Field) have an overhang that is made to take sound waves and redirect them onto the field. While some credit the team for these victories, until a team can convincingly defeat the Seahawks at CenturyLink Field, the “12th Man” cannot be tamed.

The clearest effect of fan distractions is when basketball players are shooting free throws. Players often cannot ignore these distractions because fans are seated right in their viewing point which makes it easier for fans to get inside their heads.

Take the fans at Arizona State that were featured across the nation in February 2015. They created the “Curtain of Distraction” in 2013 that uses the craziest of antics and distractions such as wearing costumes to alter any opposing player’s free throw. According to the New York Times’ Upshot Blog, since it was invented, opponents in 2014 and 2015 have had a free throw percentage of under 40 percent. If you watch a video about this creation, you’ll understand why so few players can make free throws at Arizona State.

Fan support is so crucial to a team’s performance that Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game decides which league (American or National) gets home-field advantage in the World Series, and the home-field advantage has paid off for most teams.

Back in 2011, the St. Louis Cardinals had a worse record than the Texas Rangers, but had home-field advantage because the National League won the All-Star Game. They would go on to win the World Series in seven games and some say it would not have happened if game seven was played in Arlington. Yes, the Cardinals had Albert Pujols, Matt Holliday, and hero David Freese, but they were able to get that last at bat in game six when Freese hit a walk-off home run to extend the series.

Sure, there are some athletes who have trained themselves not to be bothered by these noises, but it’s not easy to throw a football or shoot a basketball with a few hundred or even thousand people screaming directly at you.

So for fans who want their team to have that competitive edge, go nuts and do the wildest distractions you can. Anything to draw attention, while being mindful of what is appropriate, will make your team have the one advantage that opponents don’t: your support.