Mike has graciously provided us with the line-up of the proposed "governor's cup" featuring Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and UMass. This brought to mind a previous attempt to establish such a tournament (with an eye toward developing a "beanpot" type rivalry among the New England state Universities). I think about ten years ago, the proposal was to include ME,NH,& VT with UMass-Lowell (then, I think, still called University of Lowell-- but nevertheless part of the Mass. system). The proposal went nowhere fast--will the addition of the "real" UMass make a difference? (Perhaps the real question is whether Governor Weld of Massachusetts is more of a hockey fan than former governor Michael Dukakis). Of course, the other attempt at developing a regular Northern New England tournament--the Auld Lang Syne, is now hardly recognizable in its original form, which featured UNH, UMaine, Vermont, and Dartmouth. When Maine bolted to do its own Dexter classic, I think that tournament lost a lot of its appeal. Now it seems more of an excuse to play hockey over Christmas break (never a bad idea!), but without the tradition of having the same teams run up against one another year after year, as in the beanpot (a "visiting" team is now brought in to face NH, VT, and Dartmouth). Here's hoping the Governor's cup becomes a showcase of non-Boston hockey in New England. Jim Farrell Dept. of Communication University of New Hampshire