You cheer? More like, a silent "yaah". Then they score and it's a silent "oohh...". No?

I've watched a game with basketball fans, it's pretty much silent till the last 5-10 minutes, when the points start to matter.

 no - I cheer from the first point to the last and arn't u silent when the hockey team u don't want to win scores a goal too?

You haven't seen a playoff game my friend.

 hockey of Basketball???

in Basketball, ppl cheer from the beginning to the end 

There is usually hits and good plays throughout that keep me talking, but I guess you can say I'm silent, but that just explodes when somebody scores. We used to have an NBA team in Vancouver, I was a big fan, but there is no explosion like a goal until the last few minutes.

And 1/8th of the crowd midly cheering can't compare to a whole stadium erupting with the horns blasting and every person on their feet.

they arnt raised with it.

us canadians pwn at it, even though i HATE hockey

Gary Bettman (aka. Count Von Count) doesn't understand hockey, marketing, and how to market hockey to Americans ... American sports fans love the history, mythology and heroes of sports more than (just about) any other element of the sport. Hockey is one of the oldest professional sports with a glorious history, yet rather than focus on this Gary Bettman focuses on catch phrases like 'Do you get it?'

More Americans like than you would think even though it isn't the biggest sport. I would say it is the 5th most biggest sport.

Here in Maine it is a very popular sport.