Mike has graciously provided us with the line-up of the proposed
        "governor's cup" featuring Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and
        UMass.  This brought to mind a previous attempt to establish
        such a tournament (with an eye toward developing a "beanpot"
        type rivalry among the New England state Universities).  I think
        about ten years ago, the proposal was to include ME,NH,& VT with
        UMass-Lowell (then, I think, still called University of Lowell--
        but nevertheless part of the Mass. system).  The proposal went
        nowhere fast--will the addition of the "real" UMass make a
        difference?  (Perhaps the real question is whether Governor
        Weld of Massachusetts is more of a hockey fan than former governor
        Michael Dukakis).
 
        Of course, the other attempt at developing a regular Northern
        New England tournament--the Auld Lang Syne, is now hardly
        recognizable in its original form, which featured UNH, UMaine,
        Vermont, and Dartmouth.  When Maine bolted to do its own Dexter
        classic, I think that tournament lost a lot of its appeal.  Now
        it seems more of an excuse to play hockey over Christmas break
        (never a bad idea!), but without the tradition of having the
        same teams run up against one another year after year, as in the
        beanpot (a "visiting" team is now brought in to face NH, VT, and
        Dartmouth).  Here's hoping the Governor's cup becomes a showcase
        of non-Boston hockey in New England.
 
        Jim Farrell
        Dept. of Communication
        University of New Hampshire