Greg Sorenson <[log in to unmask]> writes:
(it's impossible to get mail to you, Greg...have to do a multiple-msg
reply here. This is long, so be forewarned.)
>Subject: where can I see the Beanpot?
Each of the four schools, I have heard, has alumni clubs in various
parts of the country (world, perhaps) that show the game off the dish.
I would suggest trying to contact the schools to see what plans are
being made. Northeastern has the most extensive network, I think,
with many major US cities being covered.
Barring that, the championship game Mon Feb 14 will be shown on
WSBK-TV38, a Boston superstation, at 8 pm Eastern.
>"Oh, da GLI is better than this, eh?"
>-- MSU defenseman Wes McCauley, demonstrating a flash of
>ignorance while watching the 1993 Beanpot at Macri's Deli,
> East Lansing, MI.
The big problem with the Beanpot nowadays is that it has become WAY
too much of a social event. People straggle in late for the first
game and don't really care that they missed it, just that they can say
they were there. Then they leave after the 1st or 2nd period of the second
game, unless they're fans of the two teams playing. And the majority of
the crowd that's into it is in the balcony...the "suits" seem to just
spend time talking back and forth about how business is. But if you're
paying attention, the hockey is still just as good.
Perhaps the best way to put it is that the folks who have been around
for years and years seem to believe that the Beanpot is played for
them. But it isn't; it is played for the kids who comprise the teams
TODAY. The program, while correct to include the history of this fine
tourney, still seems to spend too much time on what happened dozens of
years ago rather than what to watch THIS year.
Yet, I wouldn't change it for the world. This will only be my 8th Beanpot,
but for the 8th time I will be one of the few to be in the old building
when the first game starts at 6 pm and also when the second game ends
close to midnight.
>Greg--BU '92
>(when the NU crowd starts chanting "Silber" or "curfew," one of the
>best ways to shut 'em up is with "ugly chicks!")
This isn't supposed to be said by BU fans, is it?!? :-) :-)
BU usually has the best and most original cheers & signs. I always liked
the sign that read "BC DIPLOMAS - TAKE ONE" with a roll of toilet paper
hanging down. But the only time I have ever seen them silenced - with no
comeback - was 5 years ago against NU. For folks who don't know...back
then, BU instituted a new dorm policy whereby guests had to be gone by
11 pm (that's the gist; sorry if I have forgotten some details). That
year, NU played BU in the late game the first night, and as it approached
11 pm in the third period, the NU balcony (which had been abused by the
BU section all night) suddenly serenaded the BU students with "HOME BY
ELEVEN! HOME BY ELEVEN!"
Afterwards, I even heard some of the BU faithful saying to the Huskie
fans, "Hey, that was pretty good." I don't know, maybe they understood
that the NU students actually sympathized with them.
A few mindless BU fans also were responsible for one of the more
despicable Beanpot memories I have. In 1989, NU was led by goaltender
Rich Burchill, who had transferred from UNH. Burchill had fought his
way back from a drinking problem and had earned the right to start
again at NU in his senior year, and he was starring both on the ice
and in the classroom. I recall the other NU players having second
thoughts when they heard Burchill had enrolled with intent to play
when he became eligible; Burchill had also gotten into trouble at the
National Sports Festival a couple of years earlier. In one of his
first practices, someone finally asked Burchill about it, and he was
extremely open with everyone in explaining how he got into trouble and
that it took him a while to realize he had a problem, and that he was
still working to overcome it and didn't drink anymore. My view is that
he gained the respect of his new teammates right then and there. He
was absolutely the nicest guy you could ever meet.
A week before the 1989 Beanpot, in which BU played NU in the first
round, there was an excellent article in the Boston Herald about
Burchill and what he had gone through. Burchill's reason for going
public was that he hoped that others might learn from his experience;
I don't know how many other college students would have volunteered to
have such a story splashed across the pages of one of the two largest
papers in Boston.
Well, some boneheads from BU made hundreds of copies of the article and
handed them out to people entering the Garden that night. In the
margins, these losers had written things like "He's a drunk!" and all
sorts of really cruel things that the BU fans should yell at Burchill.
Unfortunately, some of the BU fans took the cue and it was probably
the lowest point in Beanpot history.
Burchill ended up playing a superb game which his team lost in OT,
5-4. BU's administration was embarrassed and decided to issue a
formal apology to Burchill and Northeastern, which Burchill accepted
although he said he brushed off the things yelled at him because he
had enough confidence in himself and who he was. It seemed to me that
the way he handled it earned him even more respect, and so in the end,
things worked out. But we will hopefully never see a repeat.
>Subject: more BC/BU on prime
...
>So...if Bob Norton is on the Hobey Committee, could we see some votes for
>this "Mike Kimble" kid? apparently he's having a helluva year! ; )
Well, Norton probably should know more about these things since he has
a vote, but I suspect it was just a simple mistake on the screen. The
fax I saw of the UPSIDA leaders was a little smudged in places, and
whoever typed the stats for the on-screen graphics probably thought it
read Kimble and not Knuble.
>Subject: Notre Dame
...
>The Irish will indeed be a team to watch. My unofficial take on them
>is they'll get all the Catholic players who aren't from Massachusetts.
>Seriously: ND, love 'em or hate 'em, is one of those rare schools
>that puts a strong commitment behind each and every athletic program.
Hopefully, someday soon we *will* see that same "strong commitment"
towards the ND hockey program. It wasn't long ago that they offered
only 7 or so scholarships while other DivI programs were giving 20,
and now they still have only 13 while their CCHA opponents have 18.
But things are improving.
Something that really amuses me is when people who don't like the ND
football program (usually because of their arrogance or the
allegations that have been published), root vociferously against the
ND hockey team too. Anyone who wants to see college hockey grow in
this country has to appreciate what Ric Schafer has gone through at ND
to bring the program back to this point, as well as the way he has
done it with class and hard work. Yet his kids will go into a place
like Michigan and get booed like the devil just because they come from
the same place as that horrible :-) football team. College athletics
needs more Ric Schafers and it needs more people with the dedication of
those around the ND program, and that is my honest opinion.
>Subject: BC Super Team
...
>Not to belabor the point, but was the MDC rink in question the one right at
>the end of the Green "C" line? If so, that's just across the reservoir
>from the BC campus, and in the heart of BC's off-campus community.
>Not exactly next door, but not a serious haul, either.
I think that may have been one of the MDC rinks they used - I was under
the impression that BC had to practice at several MDC rinks from 1986-88.
>I'd put my vote in for the 1990-91 NC$$ final (NMU-BU in triple OT)
>as possibly the most exciting game ever played by a HE team (Though
>not necessarily a HE game). Ugly and sloppy on both sides, to be sure,
>but absolutely heart-stopping to watch.
I'd say many people would consider this to be the most exciting game
they ever saw. I left it out because it wasn't a HE tourney or
regular season game. Another game I could have included was the 1985
NC$$ semifinal (PC 4, BC 3, 3 OT) but didn't for the same reason.
Likewise 3/26/89 Prov 3 at Maine 4 (2 ot - third game of best of three
in 1989 NC$$ quarterfinals), though I did not actually see this game.
>Subject: one last BU/BC thing...
...
>If memory serves me properly, [Parker]
>has a history of frustrating opponents by trotting out nitpicky
>rules. I believe he was the coach who made an opposing team (was
>it Maine?) go back to the lockerroom and take off a patch that was
>apparently too big...
You have the gist of it, but it was actually Walsh, not Parker, and
the opponent was BC. BU and Parker were not even involved. Several
years ago, a rule was put in place whereby players could not wear
manufacturers' logos that were greater than a certain size, and every
HE team modified their uniforms except BC. When Maine played BC,
Walsh noticed that the CCM logo on the BC players' pants was larger
than allowed, and I believe he said he would request that the game be
forfeited to Maine. The result was that BC had to return to the locker
room and quickly cut the offending logos off their pants.
The perception at that time was that BC effectively "ran" the league,
and I think Walsh had made several comments to the press around that
time suggesting that BC got whatever it wanted (like a league schedule
designed around what BC requested). I am sure that played a part in
the logo incident - Walsh's attempt to simply make sure everyone had
to play by the same rules.
Also, some of these rules may be nitpicky, yet coaches like Parker and
Walsh know the rule book better than almost anyone. Sometimes you'll
hear opposing fans groan when a coach trots out the illegal stick call
at a certain point in a game, but it IS in the book. I say, if it's
in there, it's fair game. You can't blame the other guy if he gets
you on it; you should have known.
--- ---
Mike Machnik [log in to unmask]
Cabletron Systems, Inc. *HMM* 11/13/93
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