Dave Smith writes:
>Perhaps some Cornell people out there can enlighten me.  I seem to remember
>that there is a player for the team that can't join until the winter semester
>starts.  Is this true? What are his credentials? Will he be able to contribute
>this year?
 
His name is Jiri Kloboucek, and he's from Czechoslovakia.  There actually is
no guarantee that he will be able to join the team next semester, since he
needs to take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (maybe he already
has, I'm not sure) and probably have a few other things happen before he
gets his eligibility.  He's a forward, and considering the state of the
Cornell offense so far, if he can skate and control the puck, he'll be in
there somewhere.
 
Dave also writes [combining two different messages here -- this one about
the "Screw BU" cheer]:
>                                                     Apparently, when
>Cornell-BU was one of the biggest rivalries in the old ECAC and in college
>hockey in general, the BU pep band would constantly lead that cheer followed
>by
>a rousing "Go BU!" (or something like that) from their fans.  At Lynah,
>Cornell
>fans would substitute "Screw BU!"  When HE broke off (perhaps even before
>this), the cheer got mutated to "Screw BU! (Whoever we're playing) too!"
 
"Screw BU!" was apparently a common response among other ECAC schools as
well, and I think I remember hearing that there was a bit more to the story
behind Cornell's addition of "------ too!"  It happened during one of those
years (1974 or '75) when BU was playing Harvard for the ECAC tournament
title and Cornell wound up in the consolation game.  After that one was
over, many of the Big Red fans stuck around to see the BU-Harvard matchup,
during which the Harvard fans used the "Screw BU!" cheer.  The Cornell fans
began responding "Harvard, too!", and nature just took its course after
that.  I wouldn't be surprised if this story has been embellished somewhat,
but it's the one I heard.
 
>> My last year at Lynah
>> I remember a brand new cheer starting up:  whenever the opposing team
>> returned a man to the ice after a PP, after the announcer announced
>> "(blank) returns to full strength," the fans would yell "They still suck!"
>> Is this one still around
>
>No, it's not.  A HOCKEY-L member who shall remain nameless stopped saying the
>key words after the penalties expired (no doubt there was some directive from
>above to stop saying them), and thus, the cheer died.
 
When I asked Mr. Nameless a similar question last year, he said that there
was indeed a directive from On High involved.  Which seems kind of pointless
when you consider that the fans have gotten quite good at filling in the
announcement and the appropriate (?) response themselves.
--
Bill Fenwick                        |  Send your HOCKEY-L poll responses to:
Cornell '86 and probably '94        |  [log in to unmask]
LET'S GO RED!!
"NCAA."
"NCAA?"
"No Class At All!"
-- "Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids"