At 05:30 PM 2/27/97 -0500, Carol J. Smith wrote:
 
>There are times when the fans are actually cordial to one another.  When we
>were in Providence two years ago we chatted with a lot of fans from
>everywhere.  I had to laugh when Vinal bought a 1995 NCAA Hockey Championship
>hat and one of the BU fans said, "hey, you're finally wearing the right
>color" (the hat is basically red).  I don't want to see the rivalry end, just
>the nastiness.
 
Chris Sikes will remember this one.
 
Chris and I were in Providence in between the Maine/Michigan thriller and
the BU/Minnesota game.  There was some Maine media and they were
interviewing us and some BU fans behind us were making trouble the whole time.
 
Now, Chris and I had planned to cheer for BU over Minnesota because they
were Hockey East and all.  But in conversation with these BU fans, they were
already talking trash about the title game and they hadn't even played a
semifinal yet!!
 
Needless to say, we cheered for Minnesota!
 
As far as the nastiness, I don't see that going away anytime soon because
there are so many issues which make the Maine/BU rilvary great.  First, BU
will always claim that BC is their chief rival.  The same is true for Maine,
they think BU is their best rival while UNH loves nothing more than to beat
Maine.
 
BU is coached by Jack Parker, who doesn't like Shawn Walsh and vice versa.
BU has really hated Maine in recent years because of the NCAA stuff.  That
is when I have noticed the nastiness increase.  Maine fans defend their
honor while some BU people genuinly hate Walsh or Maine because of all that
went on.  Remember, Maine went to court to play BU in 1993-94, and I'm sure
that infuriates BU fans as well.
 
Maine on the other hand, whether right or wrong, acccuse Jack Parker of
"turning in" Walsh, and further dislike Parker and BU.  Maine has disliked
BU for years.
 
For anyone who has seen the video, "Out of the Woods" what did Jim
Montgomery tell the Bears in that pregame speech?  He said, "These hockey
bastards, we hate them."
 
That was before the NCAA issues came out.
 
Perhaps others could comment on this further, as I'm not sure where this
"hate" comes from, but clearly on a Maine side at least, the "hate" has been
there since 92-93 but likely earlier.
---
Deron Treadwell ([log in to unmask])