Tony and all:
I just want to say that I too became a big fan of Don's newsletter back in
the '70's. I think I first subscribed after seeing an ad in Hockey News. I
still have tucked away issues from the late '70's when names that later
appeared on 1980 Olympic team were prominently mentioned.

When you think how primitive communications were back then (at least
compared to today), it is amazing how timely and accurate his reports were.
His newsletter was the original inspiration for Blue Lines, the Friends of
UNH Hockey Newsletter, which I co-edit. In fact, the format of our early
editions back in the mid-90's were very similar to Don's.

Tell me, is Don in some sort of Hall of Fame (RPI, ECAC, etc.)? If not, he
deserves to be!

Greg Ambrose
Go Wildcats!!!

> From: "Anthony J. Buffa" <[log in to unmask]>
> Reply-To: "Anthony J. Buffa" <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2004 09:18:26 -0800
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Hockey-L allegiances
>
> Hello All,
>
> Just one more note about hockey-L history/nostalgia from the early 60s
> (I dont have a beard, but my mustache is grey), I recall subscribing to
> Don's newsletter roughly from 1980 thru 1990 or so. I have the full year
> of the RPI run to the title and still get chills reading it. I had no
> idea Bob Stagat was involved in that, in fact, I used to wonder how Don
> was able to get all this info when no one else seemed to be able to. I
> guess it was folks like Bob. It was a great source of info before the
> advent of serious online information.
>
> Yes, Bob, I recall Hollerith cards very vividly. One typo and you tossed
> it. If you missed it, your output on Monday morning was zilch. :-) Lots
> of fun.  64k machines taking up huge rooms. And tubes instead of
> transistors. Wow.
>
> And, yes, I believe hockey-L has not only created some marriages, but
> also put old friends back in touch!
>
> Long live hockey-L!
>
> Tony Buffa
> RPI '64, U of Ill '66 and '69
>
> Go Red, beat Green!!
>
> ======================
> Bob Stagat wrote:
>
>> RPI - ECAC
>>
>> Got my BS there in '64 and PhD in '68.
>>
>> From '65 through '68 I tutored the team in a variety of subjects.
>>
>> I also provided computer support to Don Birkmayer for his Hockey Newsletter.
>> Back then the standings and stats provided by the leagues were notoriously
>> late and error-ridden, so Don would spend all day Sunday phoning the
>> coaches. He'd call me that evening and give me all the weekend's results,
>> and Monday morning I'd keypunch them onto Hollerith cards (remember them?),
>>
>> I moved to Florida, then Texas, then southern California and lost all track
>> of college hockey. Until I stumbled across the Hockey-L listserve. And there
>> I discoverd a voice from the past -- Tony Buffa. We'd been classmates and
>> fellow Physics majors as undergraduates. Unbeknownst to one another, Tony
>> had moved to San Luis Obispo in 1970, while I moved to Santa Barbara in
>> 1972. For the next ~20 years we lived a mere 100 miles apart, but never knew
>> about it until we reconnected on Hockey-L!
>>
>>
>>