Hi -
 
On Mon, 23 Mar 1998, Greenie wrote:
> Yes, it was all "pretty simple" this year, but I didn't see a single post
> from anybody on this list who accurately predicted the brackets (after all
> games were done) before they were announced.
 
  John Whelan's "You are the Committee" scripts nailed it right on the
money ....  Once Yale lost to Princeton Friday night, all possible scenarios
(except CC winning the WCHA Tournament) placed UNH In the Eastern Regional.
Once Wisconsin beat CC later Friday night, that option was precluded, so I
went to sleep Friday night pretty confident I'd be seeing the Mildc ... er
Wildcats in Albany this weekend.  Unless the committee chose to over-ride
the East-West bracketing ordained strictly by the numbers, it was - as Adam
called it - a "no brainer" that probably took the committe no more than 10
minutes to lay out ....
 
> Heck, even Sean Lagrande -- who I guess has a pretty good handle on the
> college hockey scene, and was one of the hosts of the selection show --
> admitted he was surprised by the committee arranging potential BU-UNH and
> MSU-OSU matchups.
 
  The media have no more of an inside edge on this than we do, and some of
the blatant untruths being thrown about were simply amazing ... The two
clowns broadcasting the HE Championships on Audionet were particularly
clueless, babbling on and on about how UNH didn't "deserve" to even make
the tournament, since the committee placed "special" emphasis on recent
performance, and that would close out the Wildcats.  And if Maine should
win the Championship, giving HE three bids, well bye-bye UNH - FOR SURE !!
But the PWR numbers showed quite clearly that CC would have been the bub-
ble team bounced, UNH's victory over the Tigers in the Denver Cup being
the deciding factor.  THANKS to USCHO, and self-less fans like John Whelan,
Keith Instone, etc., all of the necessary information to make yourself a
well-informed college hockey fan is readily available for your surfing
pleasure and edification.  Broadcasters who refuse to take advantage of
the wealth of information available to them do themselves - and the game -
a great disservice ....
 
> Furthermore, the WCHA broadcasting crew also erred when they predicted the
> brackets after the UND-Wisconsin game.
 
  See above ....
 
> Whichever, thanks to Adam, Keith, Greg, John, Charlie, and everyone else
> who's done their darndest to make me understand. As cut-and-dried as it
> turned out to be, it was still a blast to watch the selection show and
> learn of all the matchups!
 
  The selection show was certainly well-done, and it got *me* juiced for
the games to come this weekend and next.  May the best teams win (or not,
as occasionally happens, right Wolverine fans :-) and see y'all in Boston
at the Harp for the HOCKEY-L dinner !!!
 
  Cheers from Solomons - Jim
 
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