Hmmm ....   I had forgotten how amusing it is to debate off-season topics on
Hockey-L.   Even with Cornelian Bostonians with tongues half in cheek.   (I
kind of like that term Cornelian Bostonian  --  sort of reminds me of the
ECAC's all-time most elite referee crew.   Harry,  Pierre, and  Melanson.)
Nothing personal,  folks.
 
        Let's not get too carried away by arguments of league merit.   If the new
league has to prove itself over an initial period,  then they once they do
that they get two automatics just like everyone else.   And conversely,  if we
say no and insist too heavily upon a merit system to deny them that,  then it
is time to cut the ECAC down to one bid for next year,  is it not?   They've
had what,  two teams in the final four in the last decade?   (My personal
favorite year was when our buddy Lainge Kennedy sold Clarkson down the river
to get some undeserving Ivy in and all the ECAC's went down on the same night.
  1993?)
 
        Just as an aside,  I made the point about UConn athletics in response to
someone who complained about the name recognition of the proposed member
schools.   I could have gone on about other sports there as well.  Men's and
women's soccer,  baseball,  softball,  field hockey  --  all sports in which
UConn is very commonly ranked nationally.   Perhaps a closer look at the other
proposed member institutions is in order as well?   And we ought to ask
ourselves does any kind of institutional reputation have a bearing on this
discussion?   I think not.  All member institutions have equal standing in the
eyes of the NC$$.   Let's not get into arguments filled with false analogies
and non sequitur.
 
        I think the debate turns on whether a single immediate bid is justified.   I
can tell you this,  if it isn't granted,  the fifth league will never gain
enough strength to be viable.   If that is what we want,  hey,  simply don't
grant them the bid.   If we want a strong viable fifth league ten years from
now,  we need to make that happen as it won't happen all by itself.   Title IX
long ago assured that.   The game has changed,  folks.
 
        -- Dick Tuthill
 
 
 
 
HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey;  send information to
[log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.