Subject:                               Time:2:08 PM
  OFFICE MEMO          RPI vs Clarkson & St Lawrence          Date:95.02.05
 
On Sun, 5 Feb 1995, Tony Buffa wrote:
 
> I am not surprised Clarkson dominated OT, RPI was probably tripping over
> their tongues at that point ... in my four years there from 60 to 64 I
> think RPI never won both and considered it a major victory to win one of
> those games!
>
> Tony Buffa
> RPI '64
>
> Thankful for a tie at Clarkson!!!
 
Hey Tony...
 
I remember those bad old days just like you do. But there's a big difference
between RPI's schedule today and their schedule back then. I just checked my
old yearbook and RPI had 21 regular season games in '63-'64, whereas they
have 32 games this season. Back then eastern teams almost never played
back-to-back games on Friday and Saturday; nowadays almost every team does
that every weekend!
 
The old Northern Clarkson-St. Lawrence trip was the original road trip from
Hell because whichever team we didn't play on Friday had the night off and
was resting. So on Saturday night RPI always faced a well-rested, formidable
opponent, while RPI's players were already beat on their butts, having played
an equally tough opponent the night before.
 
In more recent history RPI and the other eastern teams came to their senses
and started scheduling joint Northern trips, just like Union and RPI did this
past weekend. So Clarkson was presumably just as tired Saturday night as RPI
was, having beaten Union 4-2 on Friday.
 
I got to see the game on TV down in Costa Mesa and I thought it was generally
a good, exciting well-played game on both sides. Clarkson just got on a hot
streak during the bulk of the OT, although RPI seemed to be fighting back
pretty well during the last minute or so.
 
Bob Stagat
RPI  '64 & '68