Maine fans are not the only ones who suffered from the 'post-NCAA-spoiled-fan
-blues'.  RPI fans of the 1985-86 season were just as guilty.
 
When I was a freshman in 1982-83, nobody really expected the team to be all
that great (reason being was that the 1981-82 team was sub-.500 and that the
team's star, Mike McPhee, was on his way to a pretty good NHL career.  BTW,
is he still with the Canadiens?  Also, nobody really knew just how good the
incoming freshmen, Adam Oates and company, were.)  However, the fans showed
great spirit in cheering the team on.  As they began to realize that the team
 
was much improved, many proceded to join the bandwagon.  Houston Fieldhouse
attendance swelled from 4000 to near sellouts every game (~5400 or so).
 
The next season, 1983-84, RPI was teh best team in the East, winning the ECAC
regular season title and the tournament.  The Engineers succumbed to a much
*larger* North Dakota team in the quarterfinals.
 
Fan interest was, naturally, very high.
 
IN 1984-85, we won it all.  'Nuff said.
 
But, in 1985-86, the team had lost several of its stars to graduation, NHL
signings, etc.  The team was still pretty good, going 20-11.  However, the
fans were used to 35-2-1!  Not to imply that any booed or anything like that,
but they definately appeared to be sitting on their hands (and voices!) that
season.  They were most definately spoiled by the success and the team of
1985-86 deserved better.  As everybody knows, a rowdy home crowd fires up a
team and fans that were perhaps a little less listless might have fired them
up a tad.  One never knows, do one.
 
I wonder if this is a problem in other post-championship seasons where the
defending champs do well, but not as well?
 
Rich Boehme
RPI '86
GO GO GO you RED RED RED
FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT you WHITE WHITE WHITE
ORK ORK ORK ORK ORK ork ork ork ...