Here's my Stan Fischler style rambling, although my caricature
has never appeared on an Islanders jersey.  (Btw...I think Stan
Fischler is an idiot.)  I'll *try* to be brief, but let's face it...I won't
be. :-)
 
RE: NCAA PAIRINGS/SEEDINGS
Frankly, I agree with everyone!  Yes, it appears that the NCAA
selection committee did everything "by the book."  And, presumably
everyone can get a copy of "the book," so everyone knows (or
should know) what to expect.  Did Michigan and Minnesota get
screwed?  Of course they did...but someone is going to get screwed
every year no matter what selection and seeding process is used.
I think the only complaint I have is that "the book" changes every
year.  C'mon NCAA, pick a system and STAY WITH IT!  What I
see as really striking nerves with those of us on Hockey-L is the
wishy-washy year-to-year differences in the process.  If the NCAA
would leave "the book" alone for a period of five or more years,
I think more people in the college hockey community would be more
appreciative of the process.  If it were left alone for a period of
time, we could begin to investigate things such as potential systematic
bias...but as it stands now, all we can do is expect the NCAA to
change its mind again next season and employ a different process.
 
Bottom line: As a Michigan fan, I'm not thrilled about the pairings,
but if Mich loses to Mich State or Minn then they simply weren't
destined to repeat.  Only one team goes undefeated in the tourney,
so in some respects it doesn't really matter who you play.  You
simply have to win.  My only beef it that *IF* the NCAA is happy
with the selection and seeding system used this season, let's keep
it.  The constant change leads me to think that the NCAA always
believes it has done something wrong.
 
Fwiw...I know it's unlikely to happen, but the pairings allow for the
possibility of Michigan repeating their 1996 path...Minnesota, BU
then CC.  (Maybe it'll turn out to be Minn, BU and CU?)
 
RE: MICHIGAN FANS
This thread really has gotten ridiculous.  Are the UM fans obnoxious?
Yes.  Do they make it a point to single out the opposing goaltender?
Yes.  Do they frequently have poor timing with their chants/cheers?
Yes.  Do they use profanity?  Yes, at times, although I don't consider
"suck" to be profane.  Does this happen at every college rink I've
ever been in?  YES!
 
Let's face it people.  Every team has a base of knowledgeable fans.
Every team has a group of obnoxious, sometimes over-the-line fans
as well.  The latter group is probably more cyclical in nature based
on the success of the team, but they're always present to some degree.
Michigan has one of the biggest fan bases in the country.  To me,
this means that (A) Michigan has more knowledgeable fans than most
teams in the country, and (B) Michigan has more obnoxious, driveling
idiot fans than most teams in the country.  The proportions are probably
roughly the same everywhere.
 
To me, two things stand out about Michigan.  (1) The seating arrangement
at Yost Arena is poor.  The UM students should not sit behind the
visiting parents/fans.  Moving the students to the other side of the ice,
or to the endzones would go a long way to improving the situation.
In theory, Yost would be just as obnoxious as it is now, but by placing
a (generally) more reserved group of fans behind the visitors, it would
give the holier than thou's less to whine about it.  (2) Hypocrites.  I know
I'll get flamed for this, but it doesn't make it any less true.  As a
general
rule, the Michigan-bashers are hypocrites.  They refuse to acknowledge
that similar problems exist in other rinks and among other groups of
fans, including their own.  It's a classic case of the pot calling the
kettle
"black."  I've noticed that BGSU fans have been the most vocal.  I have
to say I'm not surprised, since IMO the Falcon fans as a whole are the
most unfriendly, impolite bunch in the CCHA.  Maybe they think that by
continually pointing the finger at UM, they'll go unnoticed.  Of course,
BGSU has some of the most friendly, knowledgeable hockey fans I know.
No fan base is entirely "good" or "evil."
 
Frankly, I think the Michigan-bashers are just looking for something
to complain about.  If I wasn't a Michigan fan, I'd do the same thing.
I'm not happy with how some of the visitors are treated at Yost by the
students, but I have no qualms with all of the "suck" cheers other than
the fact that they get old after awhile.  The creativity of the Michigan
fans seems to decline each season.  As for the bashers, why Michigan?
Because they're at the top.  I won't go as far as saying the bashers
are jealous, but I'm on the right track, no?  If Michigan were a .500 team,
would anyone really care?  More appropriately, would anyone care
enough to beat the issue to death, like they do now?  Look at Western
Michigan, for example.  The WMU students have one cheer, "A**HOLE!
A**HOLE!"  That and a goal count is all they know.  The WMU mascot,
a skating Bronco, carries a sign on the ice bashing the visiting team.
This year, for Michigan, his sign said, "National Chumps!"  Why isn't
anyone offended by the WMU students or the mascot, which by all
accounts spends as much time bashing the visiting team as it does
supporting the Broncos?  Why?  Because, with nothing more than a
pair of one-game-and-out NCAA appearances and no CCHA titles
over the last decade, no one really cares to get worked up about
WMU.  They're not the evil empire that Michigan is.  Just like nobody
really gave a sh*t about Michigan when the Wolverines were .500 or
below.  (Save for maybe the MSU fans, who, when UM would win at
football or basketball would respond with, "Yeah, but your hockey
team sucks."  And, at the time, they were right.  But, other than the local
rivals, no one really paid attention to Michigan.)
 
Fwiw...I didn't see any BGSU or Miami fans at JLA on Saturday.
Why not?  I remember seeing plenty of Michigan fans at the LSSU-
MSU final in 1995.  Just because your team loses in the semifinals
doesn't mean that YOU don't get to come back.
 
Bottom line: Write a letter to UM and/or Yost Arena and request that
the UM student section be moved away from the visiting section.  I've
been complaining from within, but it seems to fall on deaf ears.  Beyond
that, get off your hypocritical high horse and look in the mirror.  Every
fan base has the same elements.
 
RE: ALL-CCHA CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM
Announced at JLA:
  F Jason Botterill, Michigan
  F Brendan Morrison, Michigan
  F Mike Watt, Michigan State
  D Chris Bogas, Michigan State
  D Mike Weaver, Michigan State
  G Chad Alban, Michigan State
MVP Brendan Morrison, Michigan
 
Yep, four Spartans and two Wolverines.  Morrison as MVP.
Hopefully this clears things up for any Hobey voters that were
waiting to cast their vote based on what the "major" candidates
(which I'm considering to be Drury, Morrison and White) did in
their conference tournament.
 
RE: TYMCHYSHYN
John Whelan writes...
>Oh yeah, and I was thrilled to be able to watch these tournament games
>on Empire Sports Network, but couldn't someone have told the play-by-play
>announce how to pronounce TymCHyshyn? :-)
 
Thank you, John!  I watched the Cornell-Clarkson late regular season
game on Prime.  Between the announcer saying "Tym-i-shin" and
"PentiCOTTON" instead of Penticton (British Columbia) among several
other mispronunciations, I finally muted the set and just watched the
game.
 
RE: ROOKIE SCORING
Paul Gentile writes...
>Still, no one comes close to the stats of two phenomenal(spell?) Lowell
>rookies - Greg Bullock 93-94 24G, 35A, 59Pts. and Jon Morris 84-85 who had
>29G, 31A, 60Pts.
 
How about 25-75--100 by a frosh named Kariya? :-)
 
RE: CLARKSON
Dan Olsen writes..
>Has anyone stopped to think that not only is Michigan facing the #4 team in
>PWR in the quarters, but Clarkson is facing the #3 team in PWR in the
quarters?
>I haven't heard any Clarkson fans complaining.  We'll just have to go into
the
>Centrum and beat UNH and see Michigan in Milwaukee after they beat
>Minnesota.
 
I agree with Dan that Michigan fans should ease up on the
complaints about the seeds, but Clarkson doesn't have to
face the #3 team (North Dakota) in the quarterfinals.  Clarkson
plays the winner of New Hampshire (#5) and Colorado
College (#12 including Maine).
 
 
John "I'm no Stan Fischler" Haeussler ([log in to unmask])
 
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