I have to second nearly all of the comments of the Gopher WOOF team posted
on 4/19/94.  With regard to the Hockey-L poll, I was greatly distressed :-)
to see that the Gophers failed
to be ranked *anywhere* by one or more voters at the end of the season.
Although the poll is fun, if it accepts such clearly biased contributions, it
probably isn't worth too terribly much.  (No, I'm not volunteering to run the
poll, but I'm sure quite a few Gopher fans  would happily
review the responses to weed out the bigot and submit the scoundrel to an
all out Minnesota tongue-lashing.  Maybe we could even get Garrison Keillor
to do it for us???)
 
In response to Mike Machnik's comments:
The all Minnesota team is a funny thing.  I speak on this from the comfortable
distance of having lived away from Minnesota for more than 15 years (yes, it
was the policy back then, too.  Remember Herbie Brooks?  Those were the days,
but I digress.)  It is pure and simple one-upmanship for the Minnesota
journalists, fans, whatever, to press the case for all Minnesota, all
Massachusetts, all whatever teams.  It's a *nice* idea, and that's about all.
(It's also so ingrained in the UM hockey lore that it's self-perpetuating.)
It doesn't really help Minnesota hockey(witness the no longer North Stars),
or let them field the best possible college
team, or anything much of a substantive nature.  I repeat, it is a *nice*
idea, that turned into a policy, that turned into folklore, and now it is a
matter of regional pride and something to hide behind when they don't win the
big one.  So if you were implying that those articles were a way of belly-
aching, I believe you are correct, Mike.
 
I would be curious to hear what other Gopher fans and haters think.
 
Jim Schwab
Atmospheric Science Research Center     SUNY Albany
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