Deron, I certainly meant no insult to your mother or your grandmother.  Quite
the image, though, wicked witch me chastising two innocent old(er) ladies!
  And I do not doubt your Mom cheers loudly for Maine Hockey, considering her
son's love of the team!
 
I originally compared the average FMH membership with the average attendance
at games.  I was not defending the FMH.  I was, in my poor way, trying to
tell this board what the Friends do.  As I stated in my post, we can't pay to
advertise.  I am not debating our statewide profile, either, although I do
feel we do the best we can, given our time & financial constraints.
 
Deron, perhaps you are too busy gathering material for your terrific articles
to listen, but there have been announcements put into the game "book" for FMH
membership, and 50 50 sales on a regular basis.  (I have to trust they get
read, as I am usually working at games, and cannot hear the announcements!).
 We also put newsletters and flyers in the seats a couple times a year (which
costs money), and put posters up advertising our events, along with
membership info at the 50 50 table.  Beginning this past season, the Athletic
Department made all "Friends" groups at the University available through a
general mailing, as they will continue to do from now on. These methods, in
addition to direct soliciting via the season ticket list, and word of mouth
is about all we can do, given present constraints.  (Marketing the FMH was a
lot easier when we were independent.  No question.  But that just ain't
dealing with reality!)
 
The accomplishments you dismiss, Deron, in the spirit of "What have you done
lately", were stated so the readers could understand we have not been hidden
away!  Plus, tell me what sport, at either the college or the pro levels,
does not have a program like the FMH, readily available to anyone truly
interested in supporting the teams?  I disagree that the average person
attending a game at the Alfond doesn't know about us.  With all the events
and programs we have going, they have to be aware of our existence.  Yes, I
do think we have done the best we can to "Go Public".  I stand by all four
categories.  And I think it's sad.
 
I have been around this program for nearly all it's twenty years.  My husband
dragged me to my first game long ago.  Maine Hockey means a lot to me.  Gives
me a sense of being part of something greater than myself.  Something to look
forward to.  Something to lift me up.  Being a part of building this terrific
program has been more than a personal triumph for me, considering my
difficulties.  The work by all the volunteers has helped build a program
which has consistently brought national attention to our University of Maine.
 How do you measure what that's worth to individuals?
 
I believe I could be found to have some credibility when it comes to my
beliefs on defining true fans of Maine Hockey, and I also believe I am
entitled to my opinion (Try, just try to shut me up! ;-}).  I doubt my
opinion truly affects the number of people joining FMH, as Deron asserts may
be the case. (Elitist?  HA!  We still have a certain gentleman from Bath as a
member!)  I may be using an unrealistic yardstick to measure what I consider
true fan support, but I really don't believe so.  Yelling and screaming are
fine, as long as enough fans are financially supporting the team so there IS
something to cheer about.  Deron's assertion that many would be insulted,
including himself, by the challenge I have thrown into the  ring, is fine by
me.  (The day we all agree, the world will be a boring place!)  SO, excluding
category #1, and in an impersonal way, for all those who still don't get it -
Go ahead and be insulted all the way back to the bottom of college hockey!
 If you don't feel that this team means enough to your life that you don't
want to help keep it at it's present level or better, okay.  Just don't call
yourself a true "bleed blue and white" fan to me.  Feel free to define fan in
your own way, to your conscience.
 
This is my attempt to state, in the strongest possible terms, the fear of
losing something my family and many, many other volunteers have put a lot of
ourselves into.  Because whether you are insulted by the message or not, you
have to understand it - without the support of membership, your Black Bears
do not have the money to travel to BU with much comfort.  They will have less
money for scholarships for talented players.  They will have to play wearing
less than ideal equipment, because there will be no money to buy new stuff.
 What will you be watching then?
 
Holly, the funds the FMH raise through membership go directly to pay for
scholarship, equipment and travel.  We do not fully fund those (although we
could do better if membership was higher!), but that is where membership
dollars go.  Funding from the institution covers everything else.  Those
funds are in jeopardy.
 
UMaine Athletics is in financial trouble, folks.  Over $500,000 of trouble
with more to come.  If you want to keep watching and cheering, something
drastic will have to take place SOON!  With the inclusion of another ice
hockey team, one of the most expensive sports there is, plus the capital
improvements that have to be made to ensure equal treatment of the different
genders, and the loss of ice rental time, etc., add a large amount (we can
debate this, too!) to that.
 
FMH Membership helps the Maine Hockey program continue to be the program we
are all so proud to cheer for.  What you "get" for supporting Maine
Hockey/UMaine Athletics, it seems, will only be apparent when it no longer
exists.
 
Cathy Hart
Never one to turn away from a debate!! ;-}
GO MAINE HOCKEY!!