First, I think it would be *possible* for hockey to withdraw from the NC$$ and still run itself well. I've heard that Jack Parker has suggested that this should be done and I presume this was based on his belief that hockey could and would police itself effectively. I believe the integrity of the people involved in the running of hockey at the institutional and league levels is such that we would not see programs start to run rampant with violations, and advantages are that "national tourney" revenues and regulations could be decided on by the people who have the most interest in the game. However, I do not think it is *probable* that this will happen, nor do I think yet that it should. Schools that withdrew their hockey programs from the NC$$ would undoubtedly face political retribution from the NC$$ and other schools. Also, I am not sure, but I think that schools receive some form of scholarship contribution from the NC$$ which they use for athletic scholarships, and this would disappear. The schools that do not offer athletic scholarships would welcome this, I'm sure. :-) It could be argued that with the national tourney revenues (which are pretty substantial, although I do not know the numbers - I have also heard the "third largest revenue-producing sport" comments) only going to hockey schools, some of this money could be earmarked for scholarships, but I don't know the feasibility of this. I still think the best hope for hockey is to present a unified front against the people who would establish regulations that go against hockey's best interests and to work as hard as possible to make those voting on the issues aware of how they will affect hockey schools. A major problem has been unifying the hockey folks into a single voice that will argue the case, and some work needs to be done here. Being generally optimistic, I think it can be done if hockey as a whole thinks it is important enough. The NC$$ and hockey seem to go their separate ways except for the convention and the tourney and those (rare) instances where programs are under investigation. Maybe a stronger voice and presence for hockey as far as the NC$$ goes would help. --- Mike Machnik [log in to unmask] Color Voice of the Merrimack Warriors (Any opinions expressed above are strictly those of the poster.) *HMN*