On Jan 27, 15:11, Richard Hungerford wrote:
>My first reaction was that it was an attempt by HockeyEast people to make
>up for the fact that last year they pushed Chris Drury, despite the fact
>that Krog and Mowers at UNH, to name a few, were also great candidates for
>the award.  I take it as a makeup call.
 
There are about a dozen threads over on the USCHO message board about this, and
the sense I get is that this was done by maybe UNH themselves, or someone/some
group who closely follows UNH hockey, in response to Hockey East's push of
Chris Drury last year and apparent push of Brian Gionta this year.  I frankly
haven't been following the situation at all, so I can't say whether the "sense"
is anywhere near accurate.  (Don't want to start any flame wars, either :-)
 
I do think it was a ridiculous thing to do, regardless of whether or not Krog
is being actively ignored as a candidate.  I'm certain there are other slick
packages out there that have been put together by various
SIDs/promoters/whoever to tout particular candidates and try to influence
voters (a la the annual Heisman hype), but somehow a TV commercial, with the
vast majority of people who see it *not* being voters, seems to cross a line
with me.  Krog's performance this year and in seasons past certainly warrants
him for Hobey consideration, IMHO, but supposing he does win it... will it be
because of his qualifications on and off the ice, or will it be because of the
commercial?  There would always be that question.
 
Plus, if Krog does win it, or even if he's a finalist, will that mean a
dramatic upsurge in Hobey Baker candidate commercials next year??
 
I will say that I'd like to have pockets deep enough to fund a Kyle Knopp
commercial.  Not that I would actually DO it -- I'd just like to have that kind
of money :-)
 
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Bill Fenwick
Cornell '86 and '95                                             DJF  5/27/94
LET'S GO RED!!                                                  JCF  12/2/97
"You know it's going to be a rough flight when they tag your luggage *and*
 your big toe, just in case."
-- Gary Kern
 
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