Ms Price:
 
I suppose you want your children to go to second-rate schools.  Grades are
demeaning, they're merely labels.
 
As for our hockey team, perhaps you want them to play 30 games of
nil-to-nil draws ?  I'll bet your kid plays (heaven help me) SOCCER !!!
 
Is there any sport which DOESN'T keep score ?
 
Do you yearn for the days when Maine hockey was a club team and played in
an outdoor rink on the banks of the old Stillwater ?  I wonder if you'd
rather just tear down the Alfond and teach those over-achieving win-hungry
NHL-trainees some humility ?
 
Dan Doucette
(I was there for Game 1)
 
>I've always had a problem with lists and labels--it's my right brain
>mentality that resists classification or order.
>
>Few players reach this most esteemed list. But, what about those who don't?
>Do they count at all for something in a sport and a world which identifies
>with classification by extremes--stars and losers? Where's the disclaimer to
>assuage the egos of fallen stars and the disappointment parents share?
>Programs like Maine produce and reduce em and that is the bare bones of it.
>Don't misunderstand me-- there's in my book no better program to take off
>from. But few in fact make the landing.
>
>What lessons can we learn as parents and fans? In adding it all up, it's what
>you learn about yourself and how you handle it--not whether you win or
>loose--not if your on the list or off the list. An experience we've all
>shared at one time or another. Like hockey's no guarantee disclaimer--life is
>a rough sport!
>
>As parents of Maine's aspiring players, do you remember watching them circle
>after circle round the rink in their first skates? It was simpler then, no
>gut spilling weight training work-outs, no body checks that send them to the
>ice in a heap. The road to making it can be unforgiving but as parents we'll
>never forget those first brave steps. And what those tenacious first steps
>meant and still do-- is that it is courage and fortitude that makes men--not
>winning and loosing--not if your on or off a list.
>
>This summer through the wisdom of a much younger than I *True Bear's Fan* and
>the actions of my own son--I learned this all over again.
>
>
>Price