Tony Hejna sent this to me to forward to the list.  It's pretty funny how
things get started from something so simple.
>
>  Dave, I am sending you this letter personally because I am not sure
> how to send it to hockey-l directly. If possible, forward this letter to
> hockey-l for me,  thanks.
>  In regards to the Times Union column on the TCHCR:   Yes, I did post it
> outside the RPI locker room, and everyone read it, including the man of the
> day .....Bob Croce.  As you have probably surmised by now, he doesn't
> completely agree with it.  I posted the rankings because I think they are
> interesting, and I thought the RPI players would think the same.  I believe
> they do.  Bob Croce, master of the cliche, said '...Keith Instone
> is about as popular with RPI's players as George Bush is to someone
> who just got laid off.'   WHAT????  Is this the same reporter who said
> that Colgate's goalie was frozen on a breakaway by RPI's Wayne Clarke
> and that the goalie looked like 'would be road kill starring into an
> oncoming car's headlights'.  Yes, It's the same guy.  Perhaps a
> master of the overstatment, and possible raconteur himself.  He
> certainly did create some contoversy, but afterall, that's part of
> his job description.   I'm not saying that I agree with
> his article, but I will say that I got a few laughs from it and many
> of the hockey-l responses to it.  If the fury that this article has
> created makes one person a more educated fan of college hockey
> (Bob Croce included) then the article was at least a success in some
> way.
> For all you people who want to write Bob, feel free.  I will
> be sure to share some of your initial reactions with him as
> well.  Perhaps I should just post them like the TCHCR (HA.HA.)
>    Seriously though, no one at RPI was hurt by the Rankings. In
> fact I spoke with Buddy Powers after Keith called him and Buddy
> said the same thing to me that he said to Keith.  "I don't care
> about rankings, I care about wins and losses"  Hip-hip-hooray!!
>   My personal feelings about this whole hoop-la are as follows:
> I think the computer rankings are great. I was an undergraduate
> Mathematics of Computation major here at RPI, so anything that
> takes a scientific look at hockey is all right by me.  I also
> love the way it creates controversy.  Sure, I posted the rankings
> to 'Stir the pot' a bit, and it obviously it ruffled Croce's feathers,
> but hey, what would life be like if we had nothing to debate.
> Also, I do understand the way the rankings work, and I would also
> add that the more the NC#& cuts down on the number of games, there
> will be fewer and fewer interleague games, making TCHCR harder to
> compare teams.  Keep posting the rankings Keith, and I'll keep
> posting them here. It doesn't matter to me if RPI is ranked 1st
> or 41st. I won't complain.
>
> Anyways, best wishes to all!  I'll be happy to respond to any further
> comments/questions but not until after the weekend, as I will be in
> Buffalo for the AFC championship game.  Let's Go Bills!!!
>
>                          ----------Tony Hejna  RPI '90
> p.s.  Keith, do you have any ratings for a Bills/Redskins Superbowl???
>
 
 
--
Dave [log in to unmask]
Cornell '91 OSU Med '95
Let's Go Red!