In article <[log in to unmask]>, Mike Machnik
<[log in to unmask]> says:
>
>>Others receiving votes:  Clarkson, Brown, Miami, Maine, Alaska-
>>Fairbanks, Bowling Green                         ^^^^^
>
>I am not going to repeat my full case for Maine since I already gave some
>comments on them a couple of days ago.  I'll just point out that they
>are 4-1-3 in their last 8...2-1-3 in that stretch in 6 games against teams
>that poll voters ranked ahead of Maine with 4 of those 6 on the road.
>And this is without the Ferraros and Kariya.  Without those three, Maine
>is possibly the 2nd best team in the league right now.  With them, they
>are perhaps the best and a possible top 5 team nationally.  19th?!?  Wow.
>
>---                                                                 ---
>Mike Machnik                                          [log in to unmask]
 
 
Oh no, no, no.... now you have done it, Mike :). You have let the
secret out and jinxed us :).
 
 
Actually, I was going to mention this fact and that Maine are 16-12-4
without forfeits, when Neil Goldberg wanted to know why Maine got 2
points in the Troy Record Poll. Perhaps, someone out there believes
that they are a Top 15 team, in spite of their record on paper. But I
don't think they are a Top 5 team right now, even with the return of the
Ferraros and Kariya (if he makes it back). But they appear to be heading
toward a strong finish this year. One reason for this, I believe, is
that they have learned to play more as a team now; something which
seemed to be missing earlier (to me, at least). And the return of the
Olympians will definitely help solve their biggest problem of this
season: the power play.
 
 
I also want to mention Mark Gibbons' retort about repeated NCAA
violations by the national champs, to Brent's outburst (seemingly in
reply to Neil's question). This is what has bothered me all along
about Maine's infractions this year. What kind of image is UMaine
getting, in the rest of the country, thanks to all this mess. The
possible forfeits, losses, missing the playoffs etc. are all secondary
in this regard. I do hope that people still have a positive outlook on
UMaine. We have had some problems here and hopefully we will fix them.
 
 
Cheers
Venky