In reply to hunsts@RPI, yeah, the Brown crowd at Friday's ECAC game was good. The Band was there, and the "zoo crew", a band of Brown faithfuls, also made the trip. And "Bruno" is from the Latin for Brown (Ivy League? Who, us?), and is the general nickname for the school. Many of our songs refer to us as "Brunonia", and the bear is sort of assumed to be named Bruno, as well. To all the folx who said "Oh, yeah Brown might get a bid, IF they win the finals... (right).": THPHTHPHTHPHTHPTHBLBLBLBLBLBL! Heh heh heh. Regarding fan behavior at the ECACs: there were a couple of Clarkson fans hanging out behing the Brown Band during the Brown/Hahvahd game; the ultimate stereotypical jocks, tall, fat, drunk, assholes. Their most amusing cheer was, "Go, Brown! Beat the Ivy!" :-P And concerning seniors on Brown's team: don't you worry. See below for more details. Yes, as someone pointed out, the Brown Band marched (well, sauntered :-) down Main Street before the 5:00 game. Yes, we were the only band to do so. However, the Olympic Authority invited all four bands to join in the parade, and the rest of 'em were too lame to take 'em up on the offer. I guess they couldn't stand the cold. We got a really cool reception from the locals, though, coming out of shops and such. And as Eduardo pointed out, the Band is going to Detroit. The Brown Sports Foundation has most generously offered to fly us out there this weekend, and also to Milwaukee if we need it (again, see below). The Band is taking them up on both offers, which is pretty cool when you consider that these weekends mark the start and finish of our spring break. Thoughts on Brown's chances this weekend: Brown vs. U Miss - Duluth: in one game, anything can happen. UMD may be ranked slightly higher, but the boys are *pumped*, and you saw what happened to Hahvahd. Neither Brown nor Hahvahd give athletic scholarships, per Ivy League policy. Does anyone know if this is the case with any of the other teams in the NC$$ tournament? Brown vs. LSSU: this is a bit more of a problem. The team did not sleep after beating Hahvahd last week; otherwise they probably would have had better concentration during Saturday's game. I don't think that UMD represents as much of an archenemy for them, so a victory, although it will hype them, probably won't be as disastrous. The main problem is LSSU's bye. They're going to be rested; we're not. We beat them before the ECAC season started; we can do it again. The fatigue will be our worst opponent. Notes on Geoff Finch: I've been watching his career since freshman year, 'cause he was in my freshman unit and so I actually *knew* someone out there on the ice. There are two '94 goalies: Brett Haywood and Finch. Woody was trumpeted as a key recruit and awesome bag for Brown; Finch was not nearly as heavily recruited. They were the only goalies that year, and Woody started the season as the regular goalie. He kept screwing up. So, in one game that didn't really matter, Gaudet put Finch in. He kicked ass. Finch began starting more regularly, and the Bruins went on to take the Ivy title, and lose to Yale in a heartbreaker in the Tuesday night playoff. Apparently, Gaudet has a feud with Finch, because every season he starts Woody until he screws up. This is part of the reason for the end-of-season turnaround for the bears. Chris Harvey '90 was touted as God to me as an incoming freshman, but from what I've heard, Finch is already better than Harvey was his senior year. And concerning seniors and Brown's future: For goalkeeping they're in pretty good shape. Finch and Woody have another year left, and Mike Parsons is a freshman with a lot of promise. It's hard to compare him with Finch as a frosh because Finch as a junior keeps getting in the way. And it's true that Hanley, O'Brien, etc. are graduating, but many of the goals in the ECAC tournament were scored by freshmen Kaban and Mulhern. In short, we're in pretty good shape for the future. Peace, Love, and Happiness, crism "I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by. --Douglas Adams