John Davis writes:
>I'm going to disagree here.  The beanpot involves the same teams every
>year doesn't it?  It's my impression it's for the Boston Schools.
>This is great for Boston (or even HE fans-although I'm sure
>Maine probably ignore it).  But is it really the best?
 
I don't believe the Beanpot can be compared to other tournaments
because of the nature of the thing.  Even though it began as an
invitational tournament (the New England Invitational), the same four
teams have always played in it.  That is part of the charm of it...it
is also why many people don't care about it.
 
Now, as a college hockey fan first, I think the Beanpot is great.  But
I also fall into that somewhat small group of people who have a tie to
it - since, while a manager at Northeastern, I was on the bench (and
then on the ice :-)) in 1988 for the Huskies' championship game win
over BU.  Even though my allegiance is to Merrimack now, I still go
back to the 'Pot every year, and 1995 will be my 9th straight.  But
many other people I talk to from Merrimack don't have any interest in
it.
 
During the SportsBeat roundtable discussion on WSBK after, I think,
the 1993 Beanpot final, Gerry Callahan offered the opinion that the
only people who care about the Beanpot are people who went to one of
the four schools, and that it doesn't deserve the attention it gets.
I hate to say it, but I do think that for the most part, he is right.
The only outside people who are as interested in it are the diehard
college hockey fans.  You won't find people at UNH, Providence, or
Dartmouth gathered around a tv watching the Beanpot.
 
John mentioned Maine ignoring it - in 1992, Maine actually played at
Merrimack the night of the championship game.  Needless to say, it was
one of only 4 Merrimack home games I have missed in six years...the
other three were last season when I had almost as good of an excuse -
getting married. :-)
 
Where the Beanpot really comes into play is in recruiting.  The
non-Beanpot Eastern schools, especially those closer to Boston, talk a
lot about the innate advantage the Beanpot schools have that they
cannot overcome.  It should come as no surprise that those schools
bring in all of their prized recruits the night of the Beanpot, nor
that because of it, they tend to land most of them.  I'm not sure if
any other tournament is as strong a recruiting tool - maybe some
people can speak to that aspect of it.
 
This is also why area non-Beanpot schools have been trying for years
to create their own "Beanpot", so they'll have something with which to
challenge the Boston schools for recruits.  The Auld Lang Syne
Tournament was conceived as a Northern New England Beanpot with
Vermont, UNH, and Dartmouth, and I believe it was hoped that Maine
would become a permanent member (they did appear several times).  But
now UNH has dropped out and the ALS has never gone beyond its status
as one of the lesser tournaments.  The newest idea is the Governor's
Cup which would pit the DivI state schools from New England against
each other.  But it is clear that nothing in this area is ever going
to rival the Beanpot in terms of allure and tradition.
 
I haven't been fortunate enough to attend any of the tourneys out West
like the Badger Showdown or the GLI, but it seems that all of the top
tourneys have things that specifically make them very good.  I can
certainly see how people from Wisconsin would feel that the Badger
Showdown was tops, with good reason.  It seems to be very well run and
has a superb field each year.  Yet, while I know BU has also praised
it, I can guarantee you BU doesn't believe it comes close to touching
the Beanpot - while Wisconsin folks are wondering what the big deal is
about the 'Pot.  It's all a matter of perspective.
---                                                                   ---
Mike Machnik                                            [log in to unmask]
Cabletron Systems, Inc.                                    *HMM* 11/13/93