Last week when the Mich Wolverines beat the NMU Wildcats at The Joe, Chris
McCosky, a columnist for the Ann Arbor News, wrote the following opinion.
I know it took me a while to get it typed in to send to the list, but I
thought some would like to read this article.  It is well written and
makes a strong point.
 
So, put away any hatred you have for UofM for a moment and listen to what
Chris has to say:
 
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BASKETBALL GIVES HOCKEY TOURNEY COLD SHOULDER
 
by Chris McCosky, Ann Arbor News, Monday, March 30, 1992
 
DETROIT - I am going to tell you about the "biggest goal in Michigan's
history" and how the homeboy helped kick open a door that had been closed
tight to the Michigan hockey program since 1977, but first we need to put
it into perspective.  We need to show where this glorious day for the U-M
hockey program ranks in the total scheme of things.
	It's the NCAA quarterfinals, by all rights a big day in college
hockey.  One-half of hockey's final four was determined here.
	But Joe Louis Arena was empty Sunday.  They say 6,205 people were
here, but I think more than a few were counted twice.  And as for national
exposure: ESPN purchased the broadcast rights to the entire NCAA tournament,
but it plans to televise only the championship series.
	We are talking about the electrcity of, oh, an optional practice.
	But, you figure, at leastthe people who are here care.  These are
the die-hards, the purists, the loyal, passionate fans.
	So where were they all going halfway through the second period?
Michigan was trailing Northern Michigan 4-3 when the big scoreboard flashed
the score of the Michigan-Ohio State basketball game.  Woosh! It was like
a fire drill.  People rushed up the aisles toward the concourse, where, set
up near the concession stands, where television sets tuned to CBS's NCAA
basketball coverage.
	Throughout the rest of the period, there was more fan-generated
noise coming from the concourse than the stands.
	So much for college hockey's big day.
	These hockey players don't deserve this rude treatment, but let me
say this:
	The basketball game was on in the press box, too.  Not that it
diverted my attention or anything, but at one point I said to our hockey
writer, Doug Hill, "Man, Denny Felsner sure has been quiet."  Hill approp-
riately looked at me like I had dribbled coffee down my chin.  Felsner had
scored a goal and assisted on two, and scored again minutes later.
	The point is, college hockey doesn't deserve this.  It truly is too
good a game to allow its national tournament to be eclipsed by basketball.
	"We wanted to bring excitement to the tournament so we went to a
one-game sudden-death format in the quarter-finals," Michigan coach Red
Berenson said.  "Well, we've got excitement (three No. 1 seeds were upset).
It's just too bad there was nobody here to see it."
	Said Northern coach Rick Comley: "We have to find a system that
does the game justice.  We've got a good game and we have great facilities
like the joe Louis Arena.  But the head-to-head battle with basketball is
becoming more and more evident.  We have to take a look at what we are
doing.  If this is what is going to happen, then the system is not OK."
	Fortunately, the basketball game ended before the third period
began.  Most of us were able to watch, with both eyes, Michigan kick
down that door to the final four with a three-goal outburst that defeated
defending national champion NMU, 7-6.
	Many of us, however, missed the goal that triggered the whole
darn thing.
	Michigan trailed 6-3 when David Roberts scored with .5 seconds
left in the second period.
	"I was sitting next to Felsner in the locker room between periods
and I said, 'That right there could be the biggest goal in Michigan his-
tory,'" Michigan's David Oliver said.  "That goal just might turn the
whole thing around."
	That's exactly what it did.  The Wolverines tied the game within
9:21 of the third period on goals by Neaton and Felsner.  Then, with
1:38 left, Ann Arbor native and (A.A. High School) Pioneer graduate Mike
Helber whistled home the game-winner.
	The goal, the victory, took the Michigan program up a notch in
the Berenson era.  When Berenson started eight years ago, the Wolverines
won just 13 of 40 games. Now, for the first time since 1977, they are in
the final four.
	"Coach Berenson instilled in us a belief in our talents and we
have taken that belief a little further each year," said Helber, a senior
who was 7 when Michigan last played in the Final Four.  "Last year we
truly believed we would be in the CCHA finals and make the NCAAs, but
we weren't sure about the final four.  This year, we truly believed we
would make it to the final four and maybe we can win it.  Who knows?
The main thing is, the door is open.  We broke down another barrier.
Now we are ready to take the next step."
	So is college hockey.  It's time to take a step away from the
glare of college basketball.  Start the season later, end it later,
schedule tournament games early in the week.  Hockey should do whatever
it must to stop bumping heads.
	Helber's last words to me Sunday were: "Thanks for your time."
	Talk about feeling guilty.
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Chris is right, we hockey folks need to move away from the basketball folks
and develop our own following.  Only then will college hockey gain the
respect it deserves.
 
BTW, I like what Mike Helber said about getting through those barriers.
NASCAR team owner Jack Roush, after his driver Mark Martin won his first
race, said this:  "Now that we are through the door, we'll just have to
tear it down."  Watch out NCAA, Michigan Hockey is back and we'll see you
next year--in the FINALS!
 
Also, My heartiest congrat's first to Wisconsin for solidly outplaying
Michigan in the semi's and to LSSU for winning it all.
 
Roger Spurgeon
Michigan Engineering '94
Yost Ice Arena, Section O