Well, the Hockey National Championship was held yesterday and seen on TV
over E$PN (I propose we call it that on the list from now on).  So, this
morning on the noon Sports Center, they recap the game covered on their own
network.  The story lasted THIRTY SECONDS !!  0:30,  at one hour 18 minutes
into a 90-minute broadcast.  That was, of course, after such critical
sports news such as Dinah Shore women's golf, a no-doubt vital game between
the Jazz and Spurs and other losers in the NBA, a 16-year old millionaire
tennis champ (don't talk about college scholarships when making comparisons
to the ethics of THAT) and two separate stories on the NC$$ own Title-IX
Politically-correct championship -- women's basketball.
 
BTW - does anyone have records of attendance figures in Div. 1 women's
basketball vs. Div. 1 college hockey ?  Which sport draws the larger total
crowd, for an entire season, overall ?
 
Why even bother to call them or e-mail them. Do you think they would change
? They don't offer respect to a sport they themselves chose to cover.  Did
Tom Mees passing away signal the end of E$PN's sincere interest in college
hockey ?  Was he in fact a lonely voice inside their organization pulling
for the sport ?  If Gary Thorne had been offered the play-by-play would it
have been better respected in Bristol than it was with old stringer Dave
Shea ?
 
Why not offer the championship game to the Fox network ?  I'd even take the
glowing puck, and robots with sound effects, over the obvious lack of
interest in the sport the meatballs from E$PN show.  Imagine the hype if it
were on Fox compared to the present situation ?
 
Maybe Bettman should pair the pro game with the college game in a package,
and market the two.  How about forming a partnership which would include
marketing, promotion, TV rights, scholarships, etc., between the NHL and
the NC$$ ?  The two are not competition, they are complementary.  Why not
recognize the feeder program that college hockey provides for players as
well as for fans of the pro game ?
 
Enough ranting, now on to the game ...
 
Thankfully the game transcends fools like the leaders of E$PN.  The game
itself was well-played, and the swing in momentum from the first to second
period was what makes the championship game so interesting.   ND flailed at
the puck for the first period, then BU did the same in the next twenty.
Was BU as emotionally (not physically) spent after beating Michigan as
Maine was after beating the same team in the famous Providence OT game ?
Had they expended their mental capital to prove they deserved to be in the
final contest, only to find the well dry when it mattered ?  BU gained from
this in Providence, beating Maine, only to perhaps have lost in the same
fashion this year.  The ND goal with less than a minute left in the second
was a back-breaker.  Shegos let 'em play, which was a treat.  The late call
in the third showed some guts, but it was the right call.  No one should
assume he would swallow the whistle in the last 10:00 of the game.  ND just
took advantage of more gifts than BU gave them.
 
Can ND repeat ?  Will Rita return to the championships in 1998 at the
FleeCenter with the Sioux team in tow ?  And what about the guys in the
green tuxedos ?
Ah, the stuff of HOCKEY-L until next April...
 
 
 
 
 
Dan Doucette
UMaine 78 MPA 80
 
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