Brian P. Quaranta writes:
 
"Sorry to hear about the despiriting of the Colgate
crowd; I agree that the vocal enthusiasm of the
crowd is a big part of what makes college hockey
better than pro hockey. I've heard, from a friend
who went to Brown, that they are trying to do
the same kind of thing at Brown. Sad."
 
Colgate used to be a fun road trip, in part because
the crowd was *extraordinarily* original and into
the game.
 
Colgate is now not worth the effort, at least for a
Cornell fan (since it's a singleton trip), in part
because the crowd has been, in a word, sedated
-- I'd almost say "traumatized", but that word has
already been used on this list in a much more
sensitive context which I'll respect :-).
 
I don't think the analogy holds for Brown, which
has always been a quiet crowd (by ECAC stand-
ards), even now that they're winning.  No offense
or anything, Meehan is a lot harder to fill with
noise than Lynah or even Gutterson.
 
I have noticed that crowd noise is down all over
eastern hockey, especially in HE rinks where you
can hear the proverbial pin drop (except for my
experiences in Snively which, when things are
going well for the home team, rivals Houston,
Cheel, and even Lynah).
 
These things come and go -- a few high-profile
battles between schools with strong followings (the
continuation of the RPI/Clarkson rivalry, for
instance) will revive the undergrads' imaginations.
 
Greg
Cambridge
Let's Go Red!
Let's Go ECAC!