Random notes on attendance, disallowed goals, etc., blah, blah...
1. I didn't see any hard numbers for Munn's attendance, but the place
looked pretty full for most of the games, and close to 6,000 for the UM-
LSSU game (Munn off. cap. is 6,170, with fire code limit around 6680).
I still don't get the decision to schedule UM-LSSU as the early game - once
it ended, the place emptied. (I know, I know, the idea was that MSU wasn't
supposed to lose : ( )
2. While certainly not as organized as the other "12-hr.-drive team"
(Minne-snow-ta), The Lowell contingent did its best with what it had. A
face-painted flag-bearer relentlessly taunted Sparty in the first round, and
also managed to show up the Gopher cheerleaders (though he couldn't skate
worth a lick). The Chief crowd had a loose, nothing-to-lose Bad News Bears
attitude...to the point where I expected to see "Chico's Bail Bonds" on the back
of Bullock's sweater.
2-A. With the exception of Jon Barkan, was there a Northeastern section?
3. More on Gopher cheerleaders: IMHO, one of the secondary reasons why
I believe hockey (and baseball) to be superior to football and basketball is
the general absence of cheerleaders.
4. I counted three "goals" which were solid arguments for video replay. The
first, of course, was NU's goal against Lake State. UM may have also scored
against LSSU, and there was a goal in the MinneLowell game that appeared
to hit the back post and ricochet right out. Unfortunately, I can't remember
which team may or may not have scored it.
5. More on NU's disallowed goal, and goal judging in general. The guy in the
high chair for that game was Bill Sharp, an MSU booster and minor official
who recently was elected to the East Lansing city council. Now, isn't the
NCAA Regional Tournament important enough to get actual officials to man
the goal lights? Also, a goal judge's decisions are always secondary to that
of the referee(s). So shouldn't the light go on a bit more in these close decisions?
It seems that there are more "real" goals disallowed than "false" goals allowed.
Any goal judges out there care to comment?
6. The decision by the LSSU to play the MSU fight song at least once every period
was cheap, but very smart. (Not that the Lakers *needed* to give State fans any
more reason to cheer against Michigan.) A hint for next week against Harvard:
LEARN TO PLAY HAIL! MINNESOTA! (or whatever it's called.)
7. Minnesota - Lowell overtime: "Molson Hockey Night in Hell" is more like it. Clash
of the Titans, this wasn't. Rollie played out of his mind, but aside from that, this
game was a snoozer. And I really *don't* think this opinion was formed by the
dread of my five-hour drive back home. An acute observation made prior to the
second OT: "Y'know, the Lakers are home by now...they're probably at the Horny
Toad watching this."
8. I do kind of like the Gopher old-timer sweaters. But those unis, combined with
Lowell's NY Ranger scheme and the sluggish play near the end of regulation, made
me feel like I was watching a slowed-down newsreel of two Original Six teams.
Well, I guess that's about it...except that if the same Gophers I saw last night show
up on Thursday, I like BU's chances!
Greg Sorenson
BU '92
(I looked forward to pumping $$$ into the East Lansing economy, but the $16
parking ticket I got was NOT what I had in mind...)
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