Lt Matt Jonson writes:
>I also disagree with the characterization of the noise.  Sure there was
>a constant humming sound, but it was *much louder* after goals and
>during RPI power plays, etc!
 
I don't mean to start arguing over how loud it was :-), but "a constant
humming sound" does not begin to describe it.  It began before the game
and lasted continuously for almost three hours.  Although I had transferred
to Northeastern, I returned for the game, and I distinctly remember having
trouble hearing for a few days after that.  It was LOUD!
 
>The fans really felt they blew Brown off the ice that year.
 
No doubt, this played a part in the outcome, which I believe was 9-3 RPI.
 
>Some teams have shown incredible poise during Freakouts.  I remember
>St Lawrence beating us (I think it was '86).  All the "Let's go Red"
>cheers, etc seemed to back-fire...
 
Yes, 1986 was not one of the better Freakouts.  I could never understand
why they scheduled the only team to beat RPI at home the previous season
(if I recall correctly).  That was the year I spent at RPI as manager and
statistician, and believe me, that loss to SLU was an embarrassment that
the team never recovered from for the rest of the season.  A 10-1-1 start
went down the drain.  Not only did they lose the Freakout, they didn't
even get on the board, being shutout by SLU goalie Yearwood, 3-0.
 
It also didn't help that the noisemakers that year were the weakest ones
ever.  The joke was that they certainly weren't designed by an engineer.
They were cones about 8 inches high, but when you yelled through them, your
voice didn't get any louder.  If the older fans hadn't brought their plastic
milk bottles filled with pennies, it would have been a complete loss.
 
I bet they started the day after on the horns for 1987.  They certainly did
do a great job on those.  Too good, in fact.
 
>With that in mind, (the loss to the Saints) Brown's actions after their
>Freakout loss is not held in high esteem.  In fact they were considered
>a bunch of whiners, and people always seemed to make a point of bringing
>the "illegal" noisemakers (especially those horns) to the Brown games, and
>seeing how far they could go before any penalties would be called.
 
(following not directed to Matt)
 
At this point, I am going to take issue with some of the RPI fans (me being
controversial as usual) and say you're wrong about the "RPI rule" being
a bad thing.  I don't know if it is true that the rule was put in only because
Hammond was on the rules committee and that no one else would have been
able to push it through.  But no other Freakout was that loud, and I think
the rule was a good thing.
 
Most important, the game of college hockey is not played for the fans first.
It is for the players and other participants primarily.  Probably if no
noisemaker like the 1987 horn had been developed, we wouldn't have the noise
rule, but it was and who knows what would have followed.  The players that
night actually had trouble playing the game because of the horns, and to me,
there is a big difference between fans chanting or screaming as loud as they
can and the use of noisemakers which are much louder.  Freakout can be
Freakout without horns, and even though I haven't been to one since 1987, I
can't imagine it being anything less than what it was.  The Beanpot gets
along just fine without horns.  So will Freakout.
 
BTW, Sid said Brown needed to win the game to make the playoffs; actually
both teams made the playoffs, tying for 7th with records of 9-13-0, but
RPI got the 7th spot due to head-to-head record, I believe.  That enabled
RPI to escape Harvard until the semis.  Brown dropped two at Harvard in
the quarterfinals.
 
 
- mike