I'm looking for comments and theories about this posting.  I happen to be a
frustrated Michigan fan and wonder if these same feelings are felt by other
UM fans or if they are felt by other fans for their own schools.
 
When it comes to the top rated schools/teams, I understand that hometown fans
feel that there team is the best in the country.  Each one of us knows the
team, we're closer to the players, and have much better feelings about OUR
team.  For example, I might really think John Madden is a great player
(Michigan) and don't know much about Bonin (who will probably win the Hobey).
 It's very hard to "judge" other teams and it's been very interesting on
Hockey-L to hear what other schools think about Michigan.
 
I hear that Michigan's recruiting classes are always in the top 3 each year
and I always don't care.  You don't know how a kid is going to play in
college, it's a whole different ball game, so to speak.  It's not how good
they are coming out of high school, it's how good the TEAM becomes by playing
together.
 
Michigan, the last few years, has come out of the box outskating, outscoring,
outdefending almost every other team.  Even now, I think that they have the
highest scoring average for and against of all major teams.  But this means
squat!  At the end of the season, teams start beating Michigan - this year
OSU has tied us twice recently and LSSU cleaned our socks this last weekend.
 Does that mean UM's players are slowing down, getting tired of playing,
losing the drive or are the other teams getting it all together at the right
time?
 
I also don't understand why UM can beat some second division teams by 10-1,
13-0 and then LSSU struggles to beat these same teams and then LSSU cleans
out socks off.  Does this happen to other teams or do I think that UM is
alone in this field???  Does anyone have any guesses why UM "chokes" like
this?
 
I love Red as UM's coach.  However, I do not think that he has the coaching
style to win the NCAA.  I really wish for him that he did, because he really
deserves it.  But there is some "X" factor that's missing.  I don't know what
it is, I'm hoping that someone else has some guesses or answers for me.
 
K. Baker wrote earlier that Red and the team were really down after Friday
night's game and carried it over to Saturday night.  If this is really true,
then Red is to blame.  The players over the course of their college careers
at UM may only lose 20-30 games.  The coach, because he will be there for
"decades" will lose hundreds of games.  It's part of his job to put each game
into perspective and lead the team to a win the next night.
 
My final point to be made about UM.  UM has the worst record against the top
5 teams (MSU, LSSU, WMU, UM, BGSU) in the CCHA than MSU, LSSU, or WMU.  Each
team plays the other teams three times for a total possible points of 24.
 WMU has 15 out of 24.  LSSU has 13 out of 24, MSU has 10 out of 20, and UM
has 8 out of 20.  UM and MSU play each other and BGSU this upcoming weekend
so we'll see how they end up.  UM will probably still be the "worst" team
when facing the powerhouses of the league.  There will no chumps in the NCAA
(or the CCHA tournament semis & finals).  UM will have to make  major changes
to change the course they are on.
 
I've always said that it's the hardest thing in the world to win the NCAA.
 So many things have to go your way - talent, schedule, injuries, hot
players, luck, hard work - that it's just about impossible.  Some teams have
something that UM seems to be missing - especially look at Jeff Jackon's LSSU
Lakers.
 
Thanks for reading through this long posting.  I would appreciate any remarks
anyone has.  E-mail me privately if you don't want it public.
 
Steve Bartley
 
HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey;  send information to
[log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.