>Posted on 4 Feb 1996 at 08:51:18 by Kenneth W. Johnson, Laura U. Nowack
>
>Eastern Hockey Expansion
>
>The ECAC already has 12 teams and the Ivies are limited to 29 games.  No
>problem. [...]  The Ivies could have their own division, play each
>other twice, and have their Ivy League Champion.  They could limit their
>games to 29.  The other division could have Clarkson, St. Lawrence,
>RPI/Rensselaer, Colgate, Vermont, Union, and up to two additional teams.
>Each division would play each other team in the division twice (14 games
>for the non-Ivies, less for the Ivies) and play each team in the other
>division once (8 games max.).  This would leave the each team at least 7
>games to schedule non-conference games as they wish, more if their
>school/division allowed it.
 
It is true that each year an Ivy League champion is crowned in hockey
independently of the ECAC standings (e.g. in 1991 Brown was the
Ivy League champion, although Harvard finished ahead of Brown in the ECAC
standings). Nevertheless the ECAC championship is what every school in
the ECAC, Ivy or non-Ivy, aims for. Splitting the league would only
weaken it. The identity of the ECAC transcends the Ivy League. The ECAC
is a solid league, offering an excellent balance between first-rate
athletics and outstanding educational opportunities.
 
 
>The Ivies care more about who among them land on top of the Ivy pile than
>anything else, in my opinion (they crown their own champion amongst
>themselves)
 
Your view is based on untenable assumptions. Many of the best rivalries
in the ECAC cut across the Ivy/non-Ivy boundary. I'm sure Harvard fans
regard a game against Clarkson as much bigger than a game against
Princeton, just as Brown fans regard a game against RPI as much bigger
than a game against Yale.
 
Personally I would find it regrettable if Brown were no longer to play RPI
twice a year. I love watching Brown-RPI games. They are generally exciting,
hotly contested affairs. Besides, RPI fans are the best sideshow in the
ECAC.
 
 
> [...] there is little real rivalry between RPI and the Ivies (except
>for Harvard, because of the strength of the team; Brown, because their
>seems to be some blood lust between the teams since the noisemaker rule;
>Cornell, because they are from New York State).
 
It is curious that you've just mentioned half of the hockey-playing Ivy
League universities...
 
 
>(No offense to Union fans, but until you field a competitive team
>that has a chance at beating RPI on a consistent basis, RPI will not
>consider you a rival no matter what the local newspapers say - one playoff
>upset 2 or 3 years ago does not qualify).
 
I think your cockiness is misplaced. It's now 1996, not 1985, and RPI
has at best a very average team.
 
I wouldn't underestimate Union. I think Bruce Deventhal is building a
fine program in Schenectady. In fact, I've just seen Brown play Union and
RPI, and the Union team seemed better on fundamentals than RPI. Moreover
Union appeared to be much better prepared to play Brown than RPI. Union
came into Meehan with a game plan, whereas RPI, from the coaching staff all
the way down to the fourth line, seemed to be a bunch of confused people.
 
 
>Aside
>from Cornell, most fans from the Ivy schools are not that concerned with
>hockey.  Maybe it's changed in the last 5 years, but when I announced games
>it was common to see a half empty 2500 seat Ivy rink when they played RPI.
>Maybe it was because they were playing a non-Ivy opponent, I don't know,
>but if that's the case, it just illustrates the point I am making.
 
Unlike RPI the Ivy League universities play a variety of Division I
sports (both men's and women's). At most of these schools there is much
more to the sports scene than hockey. For example, Brown fields more
than 30 Division I teams. In the recent past Brown has won national
crowns in men's crew, and has sent several teams to NCAA tournaments,
including men's and women's soccer, and men's lacrosse. The
situation is similar at the other Ivies. Cornell and, more recently
Princeton have won national championships in men's lacrosse. At
Princeton hockey competes with basketball, a sport in which Princeton
has distinguished itself over the years.
 
Luiz F. Valente
 
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