Having gone to college at a small Div. III school with a great hockey team
(Bowdoin College in Maine), and a loyal following among the student body, I
was enjoying the comments from people re: cheers.  I must admit that I was
disappointed to hear about the crackdown at Colgate.  While fans at
Bowdoin's Dayton Arena were never obscene, we were certainly rude, loud and
obnoxious..and that is what made the game fun!  Whether it was taunting the
goalie, making fun of the oppsing team, or just going nuts when your team
scores a goal..it is this part of college hockey (along with the pep
bands!) that makes it what it is.
 
As a law student here at Notre Dame, and having had the opportunity to
attend some Irish home games, the thing that I immediately noticed was
lacking was the enthusiam of the fans..particularly the student body.  Even
when the crowds were bid for ND, there was never a lot of noise...and noise
can make all the difference re: home ice advantage, espicially when you
play teams like Michigan, LSSU, MSU, etc.  If the students here could only
be as noisy as they are for football season...who knows where the team
could go.
 
Matt Schechter
Bowdoin '91 -- GO U BEARS!
NDLS '96 -- GO IRISH!