Bill Fenwick <[log in to unmask]> wrote...
 
>Hmm, there's a thought.  So the bell will deteriorate faster if more Laker
>teams ring it?  Hmm...
 
>Hello, Clarkson Athletic Department?
 
>(for those of you not in the know, Clarkson is the home of "that damn bell"
>so-called by Ken Dryden and others.  Many an opposing goalie has been forced
>to listen to the thing after a Clarkson score, or during a stoppage in play
>-- as I recall, it's right over the net the opponent defends for two periods)
 
     Things have changed since the opening of the new Cheel Arena.  First
of all, the tunnel via which opposing players walk to and from their
locker room no longer takes them directly under the bell; their tunnel
is at the blue line while the bell is in one corner above the zamboni
tunnel (still behind the goal defended by visitors for two periods though
not as close).  Furthermore, the sound of the bell does not carry as well
in the expansive new arena as it did in the old barn.
     Unfortunately, someone decided to remedy the situation by installing
a train whistle.  If you thought the bell was obnoxious, wait until you
hear this!  It is used only when the team comes onto the ice and after
a Clarkson goal.  They still use the bell, but I wish they had done
something to try to amplify it rather than installing the whistle.  There
is too much history behind the bell to forsake it now.  Besides, anything
so hated by opponents has to be worth something! :-)  One eerie, subtly
ominous toll of that bell is worth a thousand blasts of overkill from
the whistle, in my estimation.
 
     I'll take this opportunity to mention that I'm signing off the list.
Many thanks to all those who made it enjoyable for me.  If anyone wishes
to contact me for any reason, I will still be at this e-mail address for
several months.
 
Thanks,
-Glenn
 
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Glenn W. Gale                 [log in to unmask]
MAE Department                   [log in to unmask]
Clarkson University             [log in to unmask]
Potsdam, NY
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"There is a sense, as you sit in your cab and tunnel through
the grooves and traps, there is a sharper sense of the
smallness of human concerns - in New York, where you always
feel the height and weight of the tall agencies.  Control,
purpose, meaning, they're all up there.  They're not down
here." - Martin Amis (from "Money")
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