Let's see, how do I account for allegiances?

1. MIT, class of 1976.  Now if only we had division 3 mens hockey ...  I do
   root for the women's D3 team, and please note they finally won a game
   this year for the first time as a varsity entity!
2. Boston College.  Nope, never attended the school or have any connection
   other than as a fan.  I had season tickets for basketball when Linda
   got me going to the hockey games.  Now I follow the basketball from
   afar and am the longtime BC "Volunteer reporter" on Hockey-L (because
   no one else was posting any BC results, back when H-L was our only
   source for info.)
3. Bentley.  Linda is my connection here, but having watched them for a
   decade I now have a history and context.  I hope they continue in
   Division 1 and eventually "succeed."
4. Harvard.  We used to have season tix for both Harvard and BC when Linda
   lived in Harvard Square.  Now we go to a few games when BC and Bentley
   are out of town or idle, etc.  It is interesting to me how many ECAC
   fans love to root against Harvard; they were the top team when Hockey-L
   and computer email/networking was in its infancy and I think that legacy
   lives on in the animosity ...
5. Northeastern.  Because we are college hockey get-a-lifers and live in
   Boston, the best place to be for a get-a-lifer due to the number of teams
   and games.  NU is our 4th team to go watch when we get a chance.  We
   don't root for them when BC is playing them, though.
6. Boston University.  The other Boston team to watch in Division 1.  I
   don't like Walter Brown arena as a fan, and the BC-BU rivalry makes the
   games difficult, so I rarely go to games at BU.  But when BC isn't in
   the NCAA picture, we root for all Hockey East teams, and BU is often
   one of those.  It would be different if we had attended BC and were
   indoctrinated with the silly "hatred/rivalry" stuff, but we tend to stay
   outside that business.  (Besides, as a Tech man, I save my general
   disdain for that other school upriver, 'Hahvahd'.  (Despite going to
   hockey games at Bright.))
7. Hockey East in general during NCAA/out-of-league play.
8. Tech schools everywhere -- nerds rule.  Go Clarkson, RPI, MTU, RIT,
   Wentworth.  Did I leave anyone out?
9. Underdogs everywhere, particularly if they are small, private schools
   who have to fight uphill against the state-supported megaprograms.  In
   general, that means I'm usually rooting against Michigan, MSU, Wisconsin,
   Minnesota, Ohio State.  North Dakota is pushing it.  Maine and UNH and
   UMass (and now Vermont) get a pass due to Hockey East connection and the
   fact that they really aren't "megaprograms".  Nothing about this means
   that I don't love the true fans of those programs, especially the
   Hockey-L contingent.  But as I know from BC, there sure are a lot of
   jerks and front-runners who don't know anything about college hockey
   but love to boast about "their" team.  The big state schools just have
   a lot more of these, due to the money, the football/basketball spillover,
   and the state-pride focus.  I respect the teams, admire the good fans,
   and ignore the rest.
10. NHL teams that have ex-college players on the roster, especially if
   we have connections to the players.  More and more, almost all rosters
   have at least 1 ex-collegian who plays a significant role.

In general, we love 'em all, big and small.  College hockey is our biggest
hobby, and is lots of fun.  It's big enough and good enough to enjoy at the
highest level, get on TV now and then, and still be (relatively) clean as a
scholarship-level sport.

Rick McAdoo
"Volunteer reporter"
A satisfied BC fan. GO EAGLES!