Norman Blanchard writes:
>The Tonya Harding mentality strikes again.  I have to say that I'm a little
>disappointed that Maine can pull all these shenanigans and end up unpunished.
 
Not quite...they did forfeit the games, drop to 8th and draw a trip to
BU in the first round instead of a lesser team.  However...
 
I am sure that the eyes of American collegiate sports were on this
case.  This decision would seem to set a precedent for a conference
member to buck a decision handed down against it from the conference
administration and to go ahead and do what it wants anyway.  It has to
call into question the power of any sports conference to enforce
punishment against any of its members.
 
Now whenever any school doesn't like a punishment it is given by its
conference, it simply has to haul the conference into court, cite
Maine v. Hockey East, and bingo!  The punishment is gone.  (yes, I am
being sarcastic here.)
 
Or at the least, if you discover violations in your program, just make
sure you keep them quiet until just before the playoffs.  (I know
Maine did not do this.  I am talking about how the results will be
perceived by other people.)  Then it doesn't matter what the conference
does to you - go to court and get the restraining order, and you can
still play.
 
On the one hand, I am happy the kids at Maine will get to play.  On
the other, I am astounded at the judge's decision.  It doesn't make
any sense to me.  However, I don't blame Maine for going every possible
route to overturn the HE ruling.
---                                                                 ---
Mike Machnik                                          [log in to unmask]
Cabletron Systems, Inc.                                  *HMM* 11/13/93
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