Some additional thoughts from a pair of Black Bear perspectives....
It would be redundant to remark on how great the Maine/Michigan game was.
However, my wife and I did have one funny moment during an otherwise
intense OT experience. A fan asked Paula, my seven-months-pregnant wife,
when she was due. When she replied, "June," we looked at each other in
horror with the same thought as the one Mike Machnik expressed earlier.
This game is never gonna end! We're gonna hafta deliver this baby right
here in the arena, because there's no way we're leaving! Our kid is
going down in history as the first to be born at a college hockey game!
Okay, so we went overboard. Expecting couples tend to do that. Trust me.
The championship game. To tell you the truth, I expected a much more
hostile atmosphere. I expected the partisan fans to treat opposing
players with verbal abuse, and that's exactly what happened. Has anyone
heard two coaches get booed bigger and louder that that day? Maine fans
dislike Parker, and BU fans despise Walsh. No question about that.
Still, I was expecting Maine and BU fans to haze _each other,_ and I
don't remember that ever happening once. No arguments, no slanderous
remarks, just simple ignoring of the other fans while routing for your
own team. In fact, I found BU fans applauding Maine during the silver
trophy presentation, and found myself shaking hands with BU fans,
encouraging them to "enjoy the championship. It's a lot of fun."
Guess we have more class than I thought! Very nice to see.
Did anyone else find there was more hockey harmony than friction between
fans? If so, maybe the rivalry is more friendly than we all thought it
to be. That wouldn't be so bad, would it?
+====================================================================+
|\ Jim Baines (irc nick: "Sportcstr") GO MM MM
|/ [log in to unmask] BLACK M M M M
\ |\ Bangor, Maine, U.S.A. BEARS M M M
\|/ University of Maine Class of 1989 !!!!!!! M M
|
