Comments from the "Bullpen" that is the Omaha Civic Auditorium.
I'm probably going to say some unpopular stuff for both UNO fans and maybe
college fans in general, but I'm going to try to explain those when they
come up.
Something is obviously wrong with UNO, I'm just not sure what. I don't care
if RIT is undefeated and #1 in Div III, UNO should have won this game. They
dominated the 1st and 3rd periods, and outshot RIT by nearly a 2-1 margin.
They also hit the post at least 4 times and missed wide open nets another 5
times. And they had 1 goal dissallowed in the first because of a man in the
crease (which he obviously was, but he was tackled into it - I thought if he
was forced into it then the goal counted?)
RIT capitalized where UNO could not, and they won the game...that's the way
the puck bounces. BTW, no offense, but RIT's road uniform's are really ugly
- brown and orange? I never liked that combination with the Browns, and they
don't look any better on the ice.
That said, UNO was flat for nearly the entire second period and it cost em
the game. Coach Fletcher basically said on the postgame show the equivilent
of UNO thinking they're better than they are and that they need to hustle
more and get to the puck. and htat nearly all the time they're shooting
themselves int he foot instead of the other team being better.
I've been going over this in my head, and I've tried to figure out what's
wrong with UNO.
Players?- This would be the most obvious, but it can't be the whole story.
They've shown real signs of brilliance in almost every game, but do come off
sluggish and slow at times too, and it seems like more often than not it's
the 2nd.
Coaches?- This is one I think may be unpopular with UNO fans. Maybe Mike
Kemp isn't that good. We don't really know (at least I don't), since we
don't have anyone to compare him too. I don't even know if he still has a TV
or radio show (if he does, when is it and what station?) But it sure seems
like this team's been struggling on offense all year with 3 exceptions (the
2 wins and the 6-5 loss to Army in OT) and I don't really see much
improvement from week to week.
Luck?- This seems to be the radio announcers choice, especially Terry
Leahy...UNO can do no wrong, its ALWAYS hot goaltending, never UNO playing
badly. We're always just 2 good bounces away from winning games too. Maybe
it's just me, but UNO seems to make goaltenders look hot, because there's no
way we run into -real- hot goaltending every f***ing game. The 3 or 4 shots
tonight that hit iron and the 1 dissallowed goal I'll credit to luck, the
rest, especially the missed open nets with goalie out of position, I've got
to attribute to coaching or skill.
In reality it's probably a combination of the 3, but I'm really starting to
wonder about #2. Especially with his new no tolerance for retaliation
penalties. I can see where he's coming from, especially after UNO had yet
another 5-3 against them tonight, but some retaliation may actually *gasp*
spark a team.
That leads me to a point which I'm not sure how some of you will take. I
thought someone on UNO should have taken one for the team and gotten into a
fight with #24 (don't know name) from RIT. This guy was doin some cheap
stuff (hits after the whistle, behind the play stuff, etc. not any one
flagrant thing, but a whole lot of little things) on OUR ice and not getting
called for any of it. But thanks to some team rules regarding retaliation
and major penalties, no one on UNO stepped up and told him so or drew
matching roughings or anything. Toward the end of the game one of our
smallest guys (Jason White) got into a shoving match with him, but neither
guy got a penalty.
I know alot of you think its great that fighting is banned in college
hockey, but I think UNO needs a spark big time, and maybe a fight would do
it. Maybe it wouldn't, but nothing else has yet, and all it'd cost someone
is one game. And at least this time the game missed would be for a legit
penalty instead of some wimpy 2 minute minor penalty for retaliation which
Coach Kemp has started taking people out of the lineup for taking.
Also regarding Kemp, what's up with Allan Carr? 4 points in his first game 2
weeks ago, and now he's barely getting any playing time? Maybe I missed
something and his first game was a fluke, but it sure seems like he's gotten
really little playing time in any of the last 3 games. Is there some behind
the scenes stuff that we the fans don't know about (and if this was Husker
football, we would)? At what point does it start to hurt the team when a lot
of players have playing time cut or being healthy scratches to set an
example about what happens?
OK, I'm done rambling about Kemp's policies...If they start working tomorrow
and UNO goes on a 10 game win streak, pass me the crow. But something isn't
working this year, maybe it's the dreaded sophmore jinx, maybe the players
are just playing possum so they can surprise everyone next year, I really
don't know. But I won't accept the fact that UNO players are plain bad,
becuase I've seen them play better than they have been, and have seen spurts
of that this year.
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Ben Flickinger
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E-Mail: [log in to unmask]
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(Stanley Cup Champion) Detroit Red Wings Fan for Life
Proud resident of Bugaha(Omaha)-Home of the FIRST Jim Rome World Tour Stop.
U!N!0! U!N!O!
Everyone can have a bad century or two. Cubbies all the way in 1999.
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QOTW: "Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift, that's
why it's called the present." (Unidentified United Airlines Co-Pilot)
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