Here's the article I was working on last weekend for US College Hockey
Magazine. Rather than covering the games themselves, I was asked to
write about the fans and the overall atmosphere. Thanks to everybody
that I talked to - Kathleen and I had a great time meeting you.
-begin article
It's been over 48 hours now, and I still can't get the Michigan Fight
Song out of my head. Other than that, the Other Final Four (tm)
festivities in Cincinnati were a delight - the games, the atmosphere,
and most of all, the fans.
I spent a great deal of time last weekend hanging out with
self-described college hockey "Get-a-Lifers", the folks from the
HOCKEY-L internet discussion list. Once a year they come together to
see college hockey crown its national champion. But the games are a
means, not an end. The real fun for these fans is interacting
face-to-face with other people who have as much of a passion for the
sport as they do.
Most of the stories I hear from the HOCKEY-L people are similar to
mine. Except for this one magical weekend when I'm surrounded by other
college hockey fans, I'm a minority - I get strange looks when I wear
a college hockey jersey ("What team is THAT?"), or when I try to
explain that guys like Jim Carey didn't come "out of nowhere". I use
to search in vain for news, ANY news about what was going on. I used
to wonder if I was the only one who thought it strange that the CNN
sports ticker sees fit to report the results of every single Division
I basketball game but don't include the NCAA hockey tournament results.
When I discovered the college hockey resources on the internet, it was
quite a revelation. There were thousands of other people around the
country with a real passion for the sport, and not just in places
you'd expect like Boston and St. Paul. I "met" people from California,
Virginia and Texas - mostly folks who had developed a love of the
sport during college but had moved away for some minor reason, like a
job or family. Like me, they were amazed and delighted to learn about
the wealth of places they could go for information. I first learned
about the magazine you're holding right now through someone on the internet.
A social highlight for the HOCKEY-L people is the annual dinner that
takes place between the semifinal games on Thursday. Here you'll see
things like Wisconsin folks with plastic cheese wedges on their heads
breaking bread with people wearing Minnesota gopher ears. Carol White
from Minnesota has been the chief organizer for many of these affairs.
The usual first order of business each year for Carol is to distribute
buttons to the participants identifying them as HOCKEY-L people, since
many have never met face to face. The plan has always been to send out
a mail note with a specific meeting spot at the arena where Carol
would sell the buttons for a dollar each to cover her costs. Then, for
the rest of the week, the HOCKEY-L contingent could spot each other.
Former Notre Dame head coach Ric Shafer was seen sporting one at the
1992 championships. This year, it didn't quite work out. "A guy from
the NCAA stopped me and said I couldn't sell anything inside the
arena," said Carol. "I tried to explain, but it didn't do any good.
That's why a lot of us spell NCAA as 'NC$$'." We had to wait until
the dinner to get our buttons.
Some people have set up their own meetings, however. Mike Machnik, one
of the founders of HOCKEY-L and a former radio color announcer for
Merrimack, happened to strike up an email conversation with Heather
Neely, who at the time was the Student Manager at Division III
Plattsburgh State (NY). "He sent me a note congratulating me on
Plattsburgh's national championship," said Heather. "And also to ask
if she was related to Cam," said Mike.
One thing led to another, and they were married about a year and a half
later. They say they plan on attending the championships (jokingly
referred to on HOCKEY-L as the "Phinal Phour" to avoid copyright
infringement with the basketball tournament) every year, and will
bring the family when the time comes.
Folks told me that events like this make them realize the people on the
other side of the rink are just like them - they just happen to root
for different teams. And their love of the sport surpasses their
devotion to a single team. "For years I just knew about my team," said
Tony Biscardi, a BU alum. "Now I have a perspective that goes beyond
just that. I can form real opinions about things like who deserves
the Hobey because I have information beyond just the players I get to
see all the time."
And boy, do these fans do have access to information. As mentioned, Ric
Shafer was a member of HOCKEY-L, and the group was among the first to
hear of his resignation when he personally sent out an email
announcement. Maine's Shawn Walsh and Colorado College's Don Lucia
have also responded to questions or opinions brought up by the
internet hockey community by sending messages to HOCKEY-L. The group
has their own poll, voted weekly by HOCKEY-L members, which I would
put up against the USA Today or WMEB polls any day. Also, if you want
to know who's in the tournament a day before the announcement, just
log on. The HOCKEY-L folks calculate their own RPI (which, unlike the
NCAA, they publish weekly) , as well as keep tabs on the other
criteria used to select and seed the teams.
While I've concentrated on the HOCKEY-L group, I'm sure that similar
things were going on all over Cincinnati last weekend. You could feel
the camaraderie all around you. I came away with the sense that even
though the sport continues to grow, it's still small enough, intimate
enough, where everyone knows each other, and more importantly,
respects each other. "A lot of it is because of were we come from,"
said Lucia on Thursday after a hard fought Colorado College victory
over Vermont in double overtime. "A lot of us come from hard-working
families and it's a small, tight fraternity. Every time you compete,
there's a lot of respect."
One of the most popular items for discussion among fans I talked to was
the pros and cons of the sport becoming more popular, which is most
assuredly is. At the Hobey Baker presentation, which was filled to
overflow capacity, Minnesota coach Doug Woog said, "I'm pleased and
amazed with the turnout. When Rob Stauber won this (in 1988) there
were about nine people in the room."
Tony Biscardi later said, "Look at me. I'm an average fan, a regular
guy. Yet I can go to the Hobey Baker presentation and get tickets for
the national championship. Isn't that great?"
Yes and no. It's great for people like Tony and myself, but what about
the folks who, due to lack of interest by most of the media, get
drowned in the basketball hype and never know about such things? But
at they same time, how much bigger can college hockey become before
the hype gets in the way and the players and coaches and the events
themselves become removed from the average fan?
Thoughts to ponder, since the day will most certainly come when the
problem will have to be dealt with - just look at the new Nike "swish"
on the Michigan jerseys. In the meantime, as fans, savor the ability
to still get up close and personal to greatest sport on earth, played
by young men and women who do it mostly out of love and respect for
the game. "This is what sports is all about," said Michigan coach Red
Berenson seconds after his team won the national championship. "The
enthusiasm of these kids giving everything they've got." Maybe that
Fight Song isn't so bad after all.
-end of article
Chris Lerch
US College Hockey Magazine
HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey; send information to
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