I'd like to take this opportunity to thank St. Cloud State for
Fred "free agent" Knipscheer, Michigan for Cam "keep your head up
or I'll level you" Stewart and Michigan State for Brian "sorry, can't
think up a snappy middle name right now" Smolinski.  The reason being
their outstanding performances in last night's Bruins win over Montreal.
It pleases me no end to know I've seen two of these guys actually play,
Cam and Brian, and have definitely read about all of them, as college
level players.  Just because the college season is over doesn't mean
we have to give up watching college players. Last fall I went to see
the Bruins/Sharks game at the Garden and realized I'd seen at least
half a dozen of the players before they went pro.  That almost made
up for Neely, Juneau and (I think) Oates being out that night!  Now
that Boston's dealt with Montreal, I'll get to see the likes of Jim
Dowd and Emma (?) when the NJ series gets going.  Granted, the NHL
is a different game than college, but it can be just as fun to watch.
And wasn't it cool to see that Donato shot rolllll into the net?!
 
Now that this Maine season is (long) over, I'd just like to remind
some of the current Maine undergrad fans that there was a time
when it was like this, and worse, all the time.  Of course, that's
when I was an undergrad (!) and the team really wasn't much.  So
before you give up on them for dead, stick with it a little longer
and I'll bet you'll be pleasantly surprised.
 
Turning to heated rivalries, having followed the Black Bears
since '83-'84, I'd have to say I can't think of one team that would
rank as the most hated opponent over that whole time span.  As someone
else said, it may have to do with how successful the other teams are,
e.g BU and BC.  Once BC's freefall began, the rivalry started to go
too.  (Does anyone else remember the 4-0 shutout at BC a couple
years back? Sure, it was sweet, but not the same as it would have been
a few years earlier.)  Personally, while it may be overstating things
to call it a 'rivalry', I like to see Minnesota and Lake State games
because they seem to traditionally be great games (like at the Freezeout
in '92-'93 (?)).  Plus it's hard to justify BU-Maine being a
traditional rivalry when Maine's only been around for 15 or so years.
After all, BU and BC have been playing each other forever!
This subject demands more discussion...
--------------------
Dave Reusch
Maine '86, UNH Grad School 'til ?
Final Four '88......
CHF'er