Sorry this commentary comes so late in the week, but I've been busy
catching up at work ...
We missed the BC-Lowell series last weekend because of a road trip
to State College, PA, where we took in the PSU-Syracuse ACHA club hockey
game, and the Penn State-Northwestern football game. A fun trip overall
even if both games turned out to be one-sided ...
The most obvious thing to see in watching the Penn State-Syracuse
hockey game is that money can make a difference. PSU, while a club
program, has Nike swoosh uniforms, a strong tradition, a large number of
coaches, support staff, etc. Not to mention a devoted fan following -
this was only their second home game of the season, against a weak
opponent, and drew about 1300 fans (my estimate.) It was "Meet the Icers"
night (we got free posters) and they treat the team and the game as though
it were NCAA division I, not ACHA division I. The quality of play and
the arena may not be the equivalent to NCAA Div. I, but the crowd and
the enjoyment factor was better than some of the smaller NCAA programs.
(Providence College comes to mind here, but there were a lot of things
that most of the NCAA Div I programs would love to have - lots of
sponsors, an enthusiastic and eager support group, a 64-page program
filled with ads, player profiles, history, etc. I wish that BC had
some of that -- if any of you have bought BC's sorry excuse for a game
program you know what I mean.)
Syracuse is only in its second year of ACHA competition, according to
the program, and showed the difference. The team was smaller, slower,
with fewer coaches, no fans, etc. And the uniforms were pretty ugly --
blue with white and orange bands for trim, and plain white "SU" letters on
the front, no names, etc. And the 2nd/3rd string goalies didn't even
have that, just plain blue jerseys, like warmup jerseys.
The game was a mismatch, Penn State winning 12-0. They were bigger,
faster, stronger, better conditioned, more experienced, etc., as you would
expect from the #3 ACHA team in the country last year. For comparison,
note that PSU lost two at NCAA Div.II Alabama-Huntsville the week before
(15-0 and 3-1) and lost at Fredonia (SUNYAC-Div. III) on the Saturday
night after the Syracuse game (5-1.) I was impressed by the Syracuse
goalie, who made a number of nice saves during the onslaught (I estimate
total shots for the game as 40-5 for PSU.) And their #9 was fast and
shifty. The one thing SU had going for them was their perseverance --
they didn't give up, even while getting killed. They were sorely lacking
in defensive strength, though, especially picking up people in the slot
and tying up players along the boards and behind the net. Against equal
competition, though, they will do okay.
Could Penn State go up to NCAA from ACHA?? No problem. They would
need a bigger facility to play a Division I schedule, but they could be
a Div. I school playing a Div. II-III schedule without any trouble. They
already can beat many of the Division III programs in the East (but not
the top level.) The question is, why would they want to? They play for
national championships every year at their current level, the fans are
happy with winning, the program doesn't cost much money (they get a lot
of sponsors and volunteer support), and there is no community pressure
to move up to a higher level. Is it better to be the big fish in the
small pond or the average fish in the big ocean? With all the money and
prestige focused on football, basketball, wrestling, soccer, etc., there
is little for PSU to gain by moving the hockey program up. Except for
the hockey fans, of course, who would get to see better competition.
But I'm not even sure they would appreciate that, because it is likely
their team would be less successful, at least at first.
Penn State is not your typical ACHA program because of its size and
money and Div. I support. Syracuse is probably more typical, with a
smaller support base and less success. But the game was entertaining,
the fans were happy, and I know of many NCAA Div. III schools who would
kill for that type of atmosphere. If you have the opportunity to go
to some ACHA games at the top schools (PSU, Ohio U., Arizona, Eastern
Michigan, etc.) then I would recommend it. (It doesn't hurt if you can
combine it with tailgating with 96,000 others at a football game the
next day, either.)
Trip highs and lows, kudos and complaints:
1. Thanks to Linda for putting up with me for 3 days and 1000 miles of
highway.
2. Thanks to my brother for the room and board and free tickets to the
football game (PSU killed Northwestern 34-9.)
3. Thanks to my brother's dog, Samantha, for not causing any problems
while we were dog-sitting. :-)
4. No thanks to the weather gods, who made us freeze in the snowstorm
during the football game (flurries??!! you call those flurries??!!)
5. No thanks to the bozo who scraped my fender while leaving the parking
pasture after the game. (If you've ever been to Penn State, you will
understand the pasture reference.)
6. Thanks to Mike and Wanda for letting us crash the tailgate and the
free food. (Obligatory commercial plug here -- while in State College,
please shop at Mike's TV, Video, and Appliances, and Mike's Video and
Music. My brother's bonus depends on it. And they hooked up the
satellite dish so we could watch Michigan-Michigan State from Mike's
van.)
7. No thanks to the drunken louts who sat behind us at the football game,
who, combined with the freezing cold and the runaway game, caused us
to leave at the end of the 3rd quarter. (Say what you will about cold
hockey rinks, they are a lot better than what we had last Saturday.)
8. Thanks to the folks who maintain the Penn State Icers home page on the
Web, which is informative and interesting and funny. Check it out.
9. Thanks to the fans of Section E, which made watching the game more
fun. They took to calling the replacement Syracuse goaltender Zorro
because he had no other number or name (the mysterious masked man ??)
They high-five "Zam-Man" (Brian) when he drives the Zamboni around
their corner. Kudos to whoever provided Zam-Man with his own jersey
with his name on it. A fine tradition. The best line of the night,
after about the 11th goal, was "Hey goalie, you've got more holes than
a Clinton campaign promise!" (The campus appeared to have stronger
support for Dole-Kemp, though it probably just meant the Republican
student group had more money for signs and promotions.)
10. Thanks to me, who won the Uni-Mart shootout between the 1st and 2nd
periods of the hockey game, worth $10 of free gas. (2 fans who buy the
lucky programs, get 15 seconds to shoot 10 pucks from the blue line
into the goal, most pucks in wins. I got 3, the other kid got the big
gooseegg. I helped him out by shooting one of his leftover pucks into
his net. Sign me up, coach. :-))))
11. Finally, thanks to Betsy for being Betsy (the Collegian newspaper
photographer.) According to the PSU Icers Hockey 101 page on fans and
other rink residents, "There are babes, major babes, and Betsy."
And they are right.
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Rick McAdoo [log in to unmask]
"Volunteer reporter" A positive BC fan. GO EAGLES!
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