Here's the article I was working on last weekend for US College Hockey
 Magazine. Rather than covering the games themselves, I was asked to
 write about the fans and the overall atmosphere. Thanks to everybody
 that I talked to - Kathleen and I had a great time meeting you.
 
-begin article
It's been over 48 hours now, and I still can't get the Michigan Fight
 Song out of my head. Other than that, the Other Final Four (tm)
 festivities in Cincinnati were a delight - the games, the atmosphere,
 and most of all, the fans.
 
I spent a great deal of time last weekend hanging out with
 self-described college hockey "Get-a-Lifers", the folks from the
 HOCKEY-L internet discussion list. Once a year they come together to
 see college hockey crown its national champion. But the games are a
 means, not an end. The real fun for these fans is interacting
 face-to-face with other people who have as much of a passion for the
 sport as they do.
 
Most of the stories I hear from the HOCKEY-L people are similar to
 mine. Except for this one magical weekend when I'm surrounded by other
 college hockey fans, I'm a minority - I get strange looks when I wear
 a college hockey jersey ("What team is THAT?"), or when I try to
 explain that guys like Jim Carey didn't come "out of nowhere".  I use
 to search in vain for news, ANY news about what was going on. I used
 to wonder if I was the only one who thought it strange that the CNN
 sports ticker sees fit to report the results of every single Division
 I basketball game but don't include the NCAA hockey tournament results.
 
When I discovered the college hockey resources on the internet, it was
 quite a revelation. There were thousands of other people around the
 country with a real passion for the sport, and not just in places
 you'd expect like Boston and St. Paul. I "met" people from California,
 Virginia and Texas - mostly folks who had developed a love of the
 sport during college but had moved away for some minor reason, like a
 job or family. Like me, they were amazed and delighted to learn about
 the wealth of places they could go for information. I first learned
 about the magazine you're holding right now through someone on the internet.
 
A social highlight for the HOCKEY-L people is the annual dinner that
 takes place between the semifinal games on Thursday.  Here you'll see
 things like Wisconsin folks with plastic cheese wedges on their heads
 breaking bread with people wearing Minnesota gopher ears. Carol White
 from Minnesota has been the chief organizer for many of these affairs.
 The usual first order of business each year for Carol is to distribute
 buttons to the participants identifying them as HOCKEY-L people, since
 many have never met face to face. The plan has always been to send out
 a mail note with a specific meeting spot at the arena where Carol
 would sell the buttons for a dollar each to cover her costs. Then, for
 the rest of the week, the HOCKEY-L contingent could spot each other.
 Former Notre Dame head coach Ric Shafer was seen sporting one at the
 1992 championships. This year, it didn't quite work out. "A guy from
 the NCAA stopped me and said I couldn't sell anything inside the
 arena," said Carol. "I tried to explain, but it didn't do any good.
 That's why a lot of us spell NCAA as 'NC$$'."  We had to wait until
 the dinner to get our buttons.
 
Some people have set up their own meetings, however.  Mike Machnik, one
 of the founders of HOCKEY-L and a former radio color announcer for
 Merrimack, happened to strike up an email conversation with Heather
 Neely, who at the time was the Student Manager at Division III
 Plattsburgh State (NY). "He sent me a note congratulating me on
 Plattsburgh's national championship," said Heather.  "And also to ask
 if she was related to Cam," said Mike.
 
One thing led to another, and they were married about a year and a half
 later. They say they plan on attending the championships (jokingly
 referred to on HOCKEY-L as the "Phinal Phour" to avoid copyright
 infringement with the basketball tournament) every year, and will
 bring the family when the time comes.
 
Folks told me that events like this make them realize the people on the
 other side of the rink are just like them - they just happen to root
 for different teams. And their love of the sport surpasses their
 devotion to a single team. "For years I just knew about my team," said
 Tony Biscardi, a BU alum.  "Now I have a perspective that goes beyond
 just that.  I can form real opinions about things like who deserves
 the Hobey because I have information beyond just the players I get to
 see all the time."
 
And boy, do these fans do have access to information. As mentioned, Ric
 Shafer was a member of HOCKEY-L, and the group was among the first to
 hear of his resignation when he personally sent out an email
 announcement. Maine's Shawn Walsh and Colorado College's Don Lucia
 have also responded to questions or opinions brought up by the
 internet hockey community by sending messages to HOCKEY-L. The group
 has their own poll, voted weekly by HOCKEY-L members, which I would
 put up against the USA Today or WMEB polls any day. Also, if you want
 to know who's in the tournament a day before the announcement, just
 log on. The HOCKEY-L folks calculate their own RPI (which, unlike the
 NCAA, they publish weekly) , as well as keep tabs on the other
 criteria used to select and seed the teams.
 
While I've concentrated on the HOCKEY-L group, I'm sure that similar
 things were going on all over Cincinnati last weekend. You could feel
 the camaraderie all around you. I came away with the sense that even
 though the sport continues to grow, it's still small enough, intimate
 enough, where everyone knows each other, and more importantly,
 respects each other.  "A lot of it is because of were we come from,"
 said Lucia on Thursday after a hard fought Colorado College victory
 over Vermont in double overtime. "A lot of us come from hard-working
 families and it's a small, tight fraternity. Every time you compete,
 there's a lot of respect."
 
One of the most popular items for discussion among fans I talked to was
 the pros and cons of the sport becoming more popular, which is most
 assuredly is. At the Hobey Baker presentation, which was filled to
 overflow capacity, Minnesota coach Doug Woog said, "I'm pleased and
 amazed with the turnout. When Rob Stauber won this (in 1988) there
 were about nine people in the room."
 
Tony Biscardi later said, "Look at me. I'm an average fan, a regular
 guy. Yet I can go to the Hobey Baker presentation and get tickets for
 the national championship. Isn't that great?"
 
Yes and no. It's great for people like Tony and myself, but what about
 the folks who, due to lack of interest by most of  the media, get
 drowned in the basketball hype and never know about such things?  But
 at they same time, how much bigger can college hockey become before
 the hype gets in the way and the players and coaches and the events
 themselves become removed from the average fan?
 
Thoughts to ponder, since the day will most certainly come when the
 problem will have to be dealt with - just look at the new Nike "swish"
 on the Michigan jerseys. In the meantime, as fans, savor the ability
 to still get up close and personal to greatest sport on earth, played
 by young men and women who do it mostly out of love and respect for
 the game. "This is what sports is all about," said Michigan coach Red
 Berenson seconds after his team won the national championship. "The
 enthusiasm of these kids giving everything they've got." Maybe that
 Fight Song isn't so bad after all.
 
-end of article
 
Chris Lerch
US College Hockey Magazine
 
HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey;  send information to
[log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.