I picked up a copy of the Boston Herald to read at lunch today; and started
reading Steve Buckley's column on Ron Anderson.  It was a "Win One for the
Coach" type of article, little college takes on the big boys of Hockey
East, and was pretty nice until I got to the last paragraph.  The text of
the last paragraph follows:
 
> But Merrimack has decided, apparently, that some eager, young snake oil
> salesman can come into North Andover and turn the program around.  You know,
> the way Shawn Walsh "turned around" the Maine hockey program:  The Black
> Bears won an NCAA title, sure, but this is a program with such a bad
> stench that it's dangerous to stand down wind of Alfond Arena.
>
> Maybe that's what Merrimack wants.
 
HELLO, where did THAT come from.  I still get upset every time I read this.
Shawn Walsh is no saint; He's human and has faults like the rest of us;
but is not even close to falling into the "snake oil salesman" category.  I
can't think of anyone else I'd rather see behind the bench coaching hockey.
 
I still can't understand why almost every time something is written about
Maine hockey in the Boston press, there is always some type of reference to
their problems with the NCAA.  None of the other schools in the area get
that type of press.  I haven't seen any reference to the Marcus Camby
controversy when reading about the UMass basketball team, nor have I seen
any reference to gambling and the BC football team.  Yes, Maine committed a
crime (so to speak); but they did the time, so let's get on with it.
 
If Steve Buckley wants to slam someone in the press, let him take aim at
someone who deserves it, like the basketball player at Fresno State who was
kicked off the team for "pointing a gun at a man and poking him with a
samurai sword".
 
Anyway, this post is too long already.  I'm going to boycott the Herald.
For those of you who may be in Boston this weekend and want to take him to
task, Steve Buckley is usually heard on WEEI Sports Radio (850 AM) on
Saturday morning.
 
Enough said, let's play hockey. I can hardly wait until Friday.
 
 
Lindsay A Huntoon
Looking forward to losing my voice cheering on the GREATEST HOCKEY TEAM IN THE
WORLD ON FRIDAY NIGHT!!!!!