My apologies to Paul and any other members of the list who are growing tired of
this thread, but one had to know that upon my return to Columbus from the
weekend's festivities in Ithaca, I would have to add to the conversation.  Mike
Burger, I know you've been shaking your head about this whole thing....I don't
want to hear it :-)
The band at Union--Alumni band, alumni band...enuff said
 
The Cornell fans at Union:  We were loud.  We cheered.  We were obnoxious at
times.  We made Achilles into Lynah East.  That is what any vocal group of fans
would do in any rink if they dominated the home fans in both numbers and
reasons to cheer.  Had the Union fans been more numerous at Lynah this weekend,
it most certainly would have been Achilles West.  I was really annoyed with the
Union fans.  They were winning and letting the home fans know it by constant
mocking of our gestures and cheers.  That is what good fans do.  They annoyed
me, but I respected them for it.  As long as they aren't crude or vulgar,
obnoxious is to be expected from good fans.  The only cheer that the Lynah fans
did at Union that was anything close to inappropriate ( and only because it was
done when we were winning by such a large margin) was the "WHICH TEAM IS
DIVISION I"  (THIS TEAM IS DIVISION I) "WHICH TEAM IS DIVISION III" (THAT TEAM
IS DIVISION III).  The rest of the time we were just loud.  Getting upset with
us for dominating Achilles is like being upset with the Unified Team for
dominating the
game with the US.  Union's fans were just outmanned (and outwomanned) that
night.  Revenge has now been taken, and things are even until next
season.(Insert your own Evil Empire joke)
 
Cornell at RPI:  I wish people would leave the papers at home when going to
other rinks.
While not a classless thing to do (Mike :-)  ) it is not appropriate to take a
home tradition like that one to an opposing rink.  At Lynah they are prepared
for it, at another rink, they aren't, and even throwing it on the floor will be
viewed as excess work for the rink staff rather than good fan support.  All you
Lynah Faithful, buy a program at away rinks and hold it up during opposing
introductions.  Show our class by helping to support the opposing athletic
department and by not littering their rink.
 
The "Fringe" Fan:  Show me a rink where there are no classless and vulgar fans
and I will show you fans who sit on their hands all game and a rink where you
can hear a pin drop.  Classless fans are not necessary for good fan support,
rather, they are an unfortunate consequence of it.  Whenever a group of fans
get into a game and emotions run high, there are always idiots who just don't
know when to draw the line.  Try as hard as you might, you just can't get rid
of them without ruining the evening for all the good fans.  These "fringe fans"
exist at Union, Cornell, RPI, and all the other schools with the possible
exception of OSU.  (Most of the time, the fans sit on their hands and you can
hear a pin drop in the Ice Rink.)
 
IMHO, Cornell still has the best fans in college hockey.  We aren't always
perfectly behaved, but it isn't out of maliciousness towards another school,
just out of overzealous support for our team.  I wish certain people did better
at controlling themselves, and we try to police them as much as possible, but
you can't babysit all the idiots of the world.  The fact that our support of
our team could motivate another team to want to get us is interesting.  If
Cornell hadn't been so off their game Saturday night, I wonder if Union's focus
on the crowd might not have worked more to Cornell's advantage than to theirs.
Pure speculation, but something to think about.  Regardless, Saturday night
proved that both the Union team and its fans belong in Dvivsion I.
Congratulations.
 
 
--
Dave [log in to unmask]
Cornell '91 OSU Med '95
Let's Go Red!
"When we ordered the uniforms, the Soviet Union still existed."  CIS delegation
head, Boris Bristov, on why the CIS team will march in the Olympics wearing
jackets that have CCCP printed on them.