First, a little aside to Steve Christopher:
 
>                       I usually rely on the Browns to restore my
>confidence in major league sports, Cleveland style, although the last
>two years plus one game this year have not been too great in that
>regard, either :-(    (Beat those Dolphins tonight, Brownies!!)
 
HAH!!  (never thought I'd be revealing that I'm a Dolphins fan on THIS
list...)
 
On to a few comments on the TSN Top 20 comments (previously posted by Mike
M.):
 
>5. Clarkson.  Expectations are high, but an experienced crew should help
>   Golden Knights succeed.
 
Last year, Clarkson replaced Cornell as the team that would have, could
have, should have, but didn't.  With the talent they had, and coming off a
strong performance in the 1991 NC$$ tournament, the Golden Knights pretty
much figured to have no trouble defending their ECAC regular-season and
tournament crowns.  Instead, they fell apart in the second half of the
season and wound up not winning anything (I hesitate to bash the Knights so
much, but they WERE a major disappointment).  The team returns virtually
intact this season (although the loss of Scott Thomas will hurt), and once
again, they're a chalk pick for the ECAC title.  I read an article last
season in which the author guessed that one reason Clarkson was perhaps a
little less motivated than they should have been was that the key moti-
vators, the guys who had been with the team when it was hovering at fifth or
sixth place in the ECAC back in the late '80s, were all gone.  Well, now the
current team has had a bit of a lesson in the evils of complacency; if
they've learned from last year, Clarkson should be mighty tough.
 
>7. Colorado College.  Brash, young Tigers have set their sights on winning
>   the WCHA.
 
As Mike mentioned, a lack of reasoning.  They've "set their sights on
winning the WCHA" -- what the hell is that supposed to mean?  Are there
other teams in the WCHA that decide NOT to try for the league title?  "Aah,
too much of a bother -- let's just take it easy for a while."  I suppose my
cynicism is not warranted, but that just strikes me as kind of a silly thing
to say -- especially about the #7 team in the country.
 
>8. Michigan State.  Not even the loss of several top scorers will derail
>   the Spartans.
 
Oooh, boy.  I recall TSN saying roughly the same thing about MSU two years
ago, after the Spartans lost Hobey winner Kip Miller and Pat Murray.  The
Spartans then proceeded to finish fifth in the CCHA with a sub-.500 record.
I'd suspect MSU may be a little shaky while they recover from the loss of
Denny Felsner et al.
 
>11. Harvard.  If a goalie is found, the Crimson will enjoy a strong season.
 
Didn't Harvard pick up some hot-shot freshman goaltender this year?  A young
Crimson team wasn't particularly strong on offense last year but won the
ECAC regular-season crown anyway -- which says more about the ECAC's
strength than about Harvard's.  With another year under their belts, the
forwards should be better this year, and Ted Drury's return from the Olympic
team will probably help also.
 
>13. Illinois-Chicago.  After years of smoldering, this will be the year the
>   Flames reach new heights.
 
Here we go again with TSN's All-Pun picks.  Last year, it was RPI with "the
tools to engineer an upset" (well, OK, they did), and now we have "smol-
dering" and "new heights."  Does this kind of thing sell more issues, I
wonder?
 
>19. Rensselaer. This could be the year Rensselaer regains its 1985 title form.
>   [Then why are they #19?]
 
RPI (and folks, you can't be "Rensselaer" until you change the uniforms and
the signs at the Field House) should be pretty good this year, but frankly,
a return to its 1985 edition is quite a reach.  When the Engineers finally
came together in March, they were a tough squad to stop, and if they start out
that strongly this November, the other ECAC contenders are going to be in
trouble.  The problem area may be defense, which has been a question mark
since about 1985.  RPI didn't lose many seniors from last year's team, but
four of the departing guys came from the defensive unit.  Neil Little is a
good goaltender, but if the Engineers leave him alone too many times... well,
you know the rest.
 
One small note on the All-America picks:
 
>DEFENSEMEN
>Etienne Belzile, Sr, Cornell.  1-1--2.
 
Wow!  The guy is good, but this is a bit of a surprise.  He's going to have
plenty of opportunities to stand out, because only one other blue-liner for
the Big Red has had significant varsity experience (sophomore Christian
Felli, with 25 games).
--
Bill Fenwick
Cornell '86 and probably '94
LET'S GO RED!!
"So about six months ago, I joined a health club... and I hear it's nice."
-- John Boyd