In article <[log in to unmask]>, Brian Morris <[log in to unmask]> says: >At >this point I must raise the fundamental question: who or what is in control of >this program? To paint the worst case scenario: is Maine the UNLV of college >hockey? > > >But what I can't put together is the relationship between the coach and the >program. Not to kick a program when it's down, but it is safe to say that >there has never been a hockey program guilty of three separate violations in >a season. > >As an outsider looking in, it is impossible to render judgements on motives, >attitudes or rationales. One can only string together the events as they >occur >and look for patterns--and the picture which forms is not a positive one for >Coach Walsh and the Maine program. What proves undaunting to me is the >juxtaposition of a fabulously successful hockey team led by an immensely >talented coach with a program that seems to be out of control. It's not the >how but the why did these events occur which is troubling to me. > Thanks for the objective views from an outsider. It's good to see that there are people out there still supportive of Maine, despite the too many `fiascos' of this season. However, I wish to point out/remind one fact, in this issue: It's not just the hockey team that's had troubles this season. Obviously, being the high profile sport at UMaine, everyone's concentrating on its troubles. But, the reality is, it's not just the hockey program that is out control (though it has had a more-than-fair share), but the whole athletic program. Other than the possibility of the hockey team going 0-30-0 for the season so far, the field hockey team may have to forfeit its 11 wins and go 0-18 (and lose a chance at a first-ever NAC Tournament appearance), and the football team might have to forfeit 3 of its wins from the last season. In addition, the women's basketball might not make it to the NAC Tournament and lose a first-ever chance to go to the NCAA playoffs (this is the first year that the winner of the NAC gets an automatic trip to the NCAA), thanks to a scheduling error. So, it seems that the whole athletic admn. might have gotten too complacent recently, resulting in all these mistakes and over- sights. Hopefully, all this mess would make them be more careful in the future. Cheers Venky ************************************************************************* T.C.A. Venkatesan Dept. of Physics & Astronomy email : [log in to unmask] University of Maine phone : (207) 581-1022 Orono, ME 04469-5709 "the child is grown, the dream is gone" - Pink Floyd