There seems to be a thread out on the list embodying an "us vs. them"
mentality regarding college hockey and the rest of collegiate and professional
sports.  Several posters seem to be expressing the opinion that "college hockey
may be a very small pond--but it's OUR pond".  And I guess that means that WE
can defend our little pond from the evils of organized sports--the agents, the
cheating, the rampant greed, just by keeping OUR sport small.
 
To me this seems the embodiment of parochialism, or maybe a wistful longing for
a kinder and simpler kind of sport experience that WE can enjoy.  But all this
is really missing the point!  No one  thinks that there is a magic key out
there which will transform college hockey into the kind of national hysteria
that now represents the NC$$'s March Madness B-ball Tournament.  I doubt if any
of us even want that kind of event--I personally feel THE TOURNAMENT has
degraded into a kind of boorish spectacle where the Coppin States  of the world
are thrown into the rink with the Kentucky/Duke/Kansas giants in the name of TV
ratings.  College hockey however is barely at the Coppin State level.
 
It is not a sin to market college hockey, or grow the support, or, (gasp!)
-obtain a TV contract (even a reliable cable outlet.)  What I would like to
see is the growth of college hockey into a strong regional sport stretching
across the Northern Tier, but, obviously, especially the Northeast and New
England.  I live in one of the better media outlets for college hockey
(assuming that the T-U can be cited as a form of media) and I still could
not find any write-up of last weekend's NC$$ regionals, other than a one
paragraph blurb about the Minnesota/Clarkson game.  And I certainly think that
college hockey deserves equal coverage on the cable networks with Australian
rules football and the English cricket finals.
 
A little marketing acumen, and a greater sensitivity by the NC$$ to some of the
issues which have been thrown out on the list, could reap some dividends in
growing the sport.  Maybe more than 2000 fans would show up to see the playoffs
at the Joe (in a state I also considered hockey-mad) if greater attention was
paid to building the fan base of support.  And I'm not giving homage to a
"Greed is good" philosophy for college hockey; the sport can maintain its
individuality and purity regardless.  What other sport has schools the size of
Lake Superior State and Northern Michigan competing at the Division I level
with the likes of Minnesota and Boston College?
 
What I'm looking for is the growth of college hockey from the forgotten
stepchild to maybe the middle son.  College hockey is a great sport--it
deserves more respect than it currently garners.
 
Enough philosophizing, got to get out of here to watch Maine/Michigan on
MSG.
                    _
            "NYS   // Hockey"
        Go 'Gate  //   Brian Morris
          Go RPI //      Albany, NY
          ______// [log in to unmask]
         (______/
 
************Go Maine Black Bears!  Beat the Blue and LSSU!***************