On Mon, 13 Mar 1995, Andrew Weise wrote:
 
>
> In many sports, like the NFL or college hoops, the law of averages dictates
> that it is very difficult for one team to beat another team three times
> in the same season. This theory brings up an interesting situation
> concerning the ECAC semis in Lake Placid this weekend.
>
 
oh, i dunno - for example, Clarkson has beaten SLU several times in a row
now (what is it - something like 7 times or so?). I think it is more
superstition than 'law of averages', because you aren't dealing with
constant conditions from one time to the next.
 
> Clarkson has defeated Princeton in both meetings this year, by counts of
> 9-1 and 6-3. Colgate has defeated RPI in their two contests this season
> also, by scores of 6-3 and 3-0. So, would this give an advantage to the
> lower-seeded Tigers and Engineers?
 
Maybe if only in the minds of the players, in that they go into to the
game knowing they are the underdogs and given that they might play with a
bit more intensity than they have been able to muster in previous games.
The other way one can look at this is that they used up their energy
in the 1/4 finals and will come out flat this weekend.
 
In the playoffs, pretty much anything can happen - and usually does. One
thing to note, though, is that since Clarkson already has an NCAA bid,
they don't have to win the championship to go on to the NCAA's. All the
other teams going to Lake Placid would probably have to win the whole
thing in order to get a bid. So, its arguable that maybe the other teams
have something 'more' to play for. But I'm sure Clarkson would like very
much to have another tournament championship to go along with winning the
regular season title. We'll see this weekend...
 
-art stine
clarkson '86, '92