Mark,
 
On behalf of all Union fans, THANK YOU!!!!!
 
This has been going on for some time - at least ever since I started
following Union religiously, which is almost 5 years. I've decided to
stop being hopping mad, though. Letters & emails to the TU haven't
really done it. It's not just the TU, though. The local TV stations have
been giving RPI much more coverage and exposure than Union has ever
received. One TV station in particular seems *very* biased towards
RPI. In fact, during an interview with Dan Fridgen before the '96-'97
ECAC playoffs in which RPI hosted Union, the sports anchor said to
Fridgen in a matter-of-fact way that they were rooting for them.... I'm
not bitter about that, though.   ;-)
 
The Times Union recognizes RPI because they have been a solid
Division I team for many years. Thus, they give them an excellent
amount of coverage. Union has only been in D-I since the '91-'92
season and hasn't made as much of a dent in the NCAA hockey
world as a particular team from Troy. I can sort of see why they
give each team as much coverage as they do, but I don't really agree.
 
I think we saw a better recap of RPI's game today due to the fact
that they played Clarkson last night (Clarkson has a very high
percentage of alumni in the Albany area). However, I still don't feel
this is a reason to dedicate only a paragraph to Union.
 
It's not in many places that you have *two* NCAA D-I teams that
are located within 10 miles of each other. I'm always mystified that
the local media can give as much attention to one of these schools,
yet give half as much to the other. It's very commonplace to see an
article on the previous night's RPI game with a full recap (quotes, box
score, details of the goals, pictures, etc.) on the front page of the Sports
section. At the same time, though, you have to use a fine-toothed comb
to find a score of the Union game.
 
I agree with Mark in that the NCAA also doesn't seem to realize Union
exists. At the last two East Regionals held at the Knick, (er, I mean, Pepsi)
have we noticed that they designated RPI as the host school? Nothing
wrong with that, but why not Union? Why not Union & RPI co-hosting???
 
We should give the TU some credit, though. They had an article earlier
this week about how Union has been frustrated all year and how they
can't seem to attract enough talent due to the lack of athletic scholarships.
The article was titled "The Cellar". I guess we should take what we can get....
 
I hate to feel this way, but if Union started winning more, then they
might get some better coverage. I emphasize the word "might", though.
 
 
Andy Weise
SUNY Potsdam '93
Union College '95
 
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