Boy do I have a tale for you.
 
   My freshman yr here at Colgate was the season after our appearance in the
NCAA finals. From what I understand, we had been one of the more violent
crowds in the ECAC (if not NCAA) for a number of years, but this was
particularly the case after the 1989-90 season. My class entered the University
under this tradition.
 
  Anyway, the regular season went off without a hitch (insofar as the crowd
was concerned), but problems arose after the final home game (against RPI,
I think). Some whining townee wrote a Commentary to the "Colgate Maroon"
stating how disappointed he was in the behaviour of the Colgate crowd -- the
gestures, the profanity. &c. Not to mention we made everything so
PERSONAL. The program was a lethal weapon and woe to the team that player's
names on the back of their jerseys! The author told us, "c'mon, 'Gate, get
some class".
 
  Colgate security attempted to enforce "class". During the first playoff
game against Princeton, Security began to toss people out for any profanity
whatsoever. Oh, one other little point: this new policy was never announced
to the student body in any way shape or form. Something in the neighborhood
of six or eight students were kicked out, some for simply saying "sucks". I
wasn't able to make that game, but I did listen to it on the radio. The
reaction from the students there was amazing. Security got jeered by a few
hundred students anytime they threw someone out. The radio announcer said,
"The FCC lets me say 'sucks' on the radio, but no one can say 'sucks' at
Starr Rink." The next week, there was an editorial in the "Colgate Maroon"
titled simply "Fuck You". Campus Safety (Security changed their name the
following year because "Colgate Security" sounded too repressive (I'm
not kiddin' either)) attempted to enforce this policy for another
half-season until they realized how un-enforceable it was, but the damage
to the crowd's nature had been done.
 
   There is (or should I say was) only one section left in Starr Rink that
was still as loud, violent, and obnoxious as the whole rink once was. This
section, of course, is made up of seniors (surprise, surprise) and whatever
underclassmen we were able to "recruit". The rest of the crowd is silent.
When one fan was tossed from the Colgate-Clarkson game by a certain ref
(Kelly) for obstructing the game (she didn't throw anything on the ice...
she just called him an asshole for making such a bad (and it was) call),
there was not a sound. As a matter of fact there was an article in the
"Colgate Maroon-News" (our two papers having merged) from a fan saying how
glad she was that this "offensive fan" was tossed. One unpopular columnist
(now enormously reviled by a certain group of 40 people) even gave Kelly
the "Good Living Award of the Week".
 
   Btw, to let you know just how bad the crowd situation has become here
at Starr Rink, the Clarkson fans were louder than the numerically
superior Colgate "fans".
 
  Which ever administration/rink is considering reining in the crowd, I'd
suggest to those who like an active crowd to oppose such a move. The Colgate
Administration and Colgate Security did what no team could ever do in Starr
Rink: take the crowd out of the game.
 
Joseph D. Prestia
Colgate University '94