Idly flapping one's virtual jaws is always fun, of course, but I doubt that
grandious plans for a new tourny structure nor the planned fifth conference
will have any impact on college hockey.
 
As far as the new formats go, perhaps people should state what they are
trying to accomplish or what problem in the current system they are trying
to address before spinning their tangled web of choice.  I haven't read
anything actually worth keeping from the various systems people have
proposed, though I love their creativity, and I think there *are* flaws in
the current format.
 
As far as the new conference goes, I don't really think people were being
vicious in their choices of acronyms (and I thought OYVEY was pure
genius... :-)   But I know I feel pretty dismissive about the new conf.,
and suspect that most people on the list are as well, here at its
inception.  We are being asked to consider a coalition which hasn't played
a game of schools most of us have never heard of which offer neither
scholarships nor superlative academic prestige (note I did not say "worth"
-- anybody who's ever spent fifteen minutes with a Harvard man knows the
difference) as even remotely likely to match the current
conferences in status and competitiveness.  Could that happen?  Of
course.  Will that happen?  Time will tell.  But is it likely to happen..?
Seems to me that a measure of pig-headed, narrow-minded dismissiveness is
in order.  :-)
 
- Greg
 
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