I had already lost respect for the RPI band after hearing about the
freakout.  Frenzy or no frenzy, a band must act professional, and should
yield the floor to visiting bands for at least a reasonable amount of time.
 But that is not what this letter is about....
 
Tonight, I lost respect for the entire RPI team.  Obviously, they weren't
mature enough to take the jeers of a few fans.  Now keep in mind that while
a band should act professional, fans can do whatever they want in terms of
yelling and taunting.  It was a rough game from the start, but the turning
point came during the third intermission (the one before OT).  Some fans
started making fun of the backup goalie (the "safety sieve" if you will)
and he just kept yelling and pointing back....of course the fans eat that
up, so it just made it worse for him.  About midway through overtime,
during a particularly physical battle, RPI junior forward Tim Regan decides
he's going to take on the entire Cornell bench.  Since it was overtime, the
refs pretty much had to call offestting penalties, so he, along with
Cornell junior forward Geoff Lopatka got double-minors and 10-minute
misconducts.
 
Then at the end of a game, the RPI players just totally lost sense of what
is professional.  A couple of fights broke out at the closing whistle, and
both teams are probably to blame for that, but as they were skating off
(they called off the hand shake) a good number of RPI players were yelling,
pointing, and GIVING THE FINGER to the fans.  Now for a team that prides
itself in the support of its fans (at least during one game each season)
they should be able to take a crowd that shows Freakout-style support
during EVERY game.  Obviously, the Field House fans are too tame.
 
-Mike Greenberg
Cornell '97