(sorry to Sara who's getting this twice - stupid reply button puts her e-mail
down instead of the hockey-l one and forgot to change it first time around)

--- You wrote:
Now a few comments on the Cornell fans.  They can be obnoxious can't they?
As some of you may already know, I don't like the "trained dogs" (or in the
case of Cornell , trained bears) types of group cheering.  I hate cheers
that are aimed at the opponent.  I think you should cheer for your own team
and encourage them, not ridicule the opposition.  I guess I am too logical.
When I hear "sieve", I think, why then haven't you scored more if he is so
bad?  When I hear "it's all your fault", I think, so your guy isn't
talented and had nothing to do with it.  I think the other team deserves
respect and consideration.  (Thus I don't like the newspaper thing and
yelling "sucks" all the time.)
--- end of quote ---

I have more problem with the individual stuff than the group stuff, especially
when directed at opposing fans. Chanting "ugly parents" like they do at Yost or
yelling "sucks" in unison when the announcer names the opposing players is one
thing, but walking up to someone in the corridors and telling them "You suck"
is something entirely different. Chants should be given much more leeway than
individual hecklers, IMO. Cornell fans are ok in my book. Yeah it ticks me off
when they come to Thompson, but more because they can out cheer us in our own
building than because of anything they actually say. Any chant that doesn't
involve profanity, and sucks does not count as a profane word to me anyway, or
racial/sexual/ethnical slurs is fine by me. I would be extremely happy if
Dartmouth's crowds at Thompson got even a fraction as rowdy and united as the
Cornell fans.

And from all indications, Cornell fans leave it on the ice. I ran into a guy
from the eLynah message board at the Centrum during one of the intermissions,
and he invited me to sit with the Cornell people for the remainder of the game.
For me it was a great time, even though Cornell lost and I was rooting for them
over UNH as the Ivy League bond takes precedent over geographical proximity
(not to mention the fact that UNH fans outnumbered them 7-1 at least). Plus I
got to meet some really cool people, and actually got to take part in some
cheers for a change, been a long time since I've been in a crowd who got
actively involved.

Maybe the Cornell crowd wasn't at their worst since it wasn't in Lynah itself,
but they were a heckuva lot less offensive than anything I've heard out of Yost
or a lot of other arenas. Plus you have to admit their "UHN" chant was classic.