First, I'd like to apologize in advance to anyone that my post offends,
bothers, angers, upsets, or otherwise discomfits.  I have been reading the
various posts over the past few weeks (ugh, has it been that long?)
concerning the various situations relating to Maine hockey, and I'm not happy.
 
Personally, I think it is all depressing.  Not so much the situations
themselves - those are primarily screwups at every level that will I trust
be straightened out in the next few months by the Maine administration - but
rather the behavior, conduct, and comments made by folks on this list.  The
animosity is astounding as is the presumption of evil-mindedness by all
parties - I wish everyone would relax.  Remember, it is just a game.
 
I also wish (and if *I* administrated *this* list, we would - just teasing
Wayne!)  we could confine posts from both University of Maine and Boston
University addresses/partisans to purely informational content without any
editorial comment.  Let's let the rest of the world draw their own
conclusions; those of us here are too close to the situation.
 
In keeping with that principle, here are some points of information that I
would like to share with all of you.  Some of the points may have been made
in other contexts, but some I haven't seen at all.
 
        1. Yesterday afternoon Paul Kariya announced his intention to sign
with an agent and forgo further NCAA eligibility.  I hope that ends that rumor.
 
        2. Since before the Olympics, and many times since, Chris Imes (and
Shawn Walsh) have asserted that Chris will not give up his last year of
eligibility in '93-94 but come back in '94-95 to captain the University of
Maine hockey  team.  Indeed, Chris said precisely that in an interview last
week - yes, he was on campus, though he may be home in Minnesota by now -
he'll be back in May to take some courses and will finish his degree
(eductation) on time next May.  [Yes, if you couldn't tell, I am a Chris
Imes fan - he's a great college hockey player.]
 
        3.  Judge Browne (who does sit in Bangor court) issued a *temporary*
restraining order.  This does not mean that he has sided with Maine, but
rather that the status quo should be maintained until a final decision is
reached.  According to news (radio/newspaper) reports, Hockey East is
seeking an emergency action to overturn that t.r.o.  If they are successful,
the Maine-BU games will be cancelled regardless of where they are in the series.
 
Best wishes, Charlie
 
Charlie Slavin                           [log in to unmask]
Department of Mathematics
University of Maine                   "It's a great day for hockey."
Orono, Maine 04473                            Bob Johnson (1931-1991)