I've been meaning to post this earlier in the week, but I'm just getting
around to it now.  So what's it like to be a visiting fan at Walter Brown
Arena?  It's something I will not soon forget.
 
I go to the Maine games as a radio reporter for a station 35 miles from
Orono.  As a member of the media, I've learned to stifle my cheers, and
replace them with the occassional fist-pump.  Not this time.  When I bought
my tickets for the Maine/BU series, I paid to yell & display my Maine pride.
I got a lot more than I bargained for, too.  Some random thoughts...
 
Coach Walsh made a good decision by having Maine practice at home with the
speakers blaring crowd noise, because that place is LOUD.  The low ceilings
and rowdy students make a great combo for home team.  I definitely give BU's
fans a 10 for spirit.
 
However, I can't say BU fans are the classiest bunch I've ever encountered.
Some fans were very gracious, and had no problem complimenting my team for
putting up a good fight.  Others were not so kind.  I expected Shawn Walsh
to get most of the verbal abuse, seeing that Jack Parker gets the same
treatment up here.  I expected "sieve" chants at Blair Allison, even though
he didn't let a puck get by him in the first game (the scoreless tie).  And
I even expected the "Back to the Woods" chant, which I found moderately
funny (though not as funny as the "2-4-6-8, Proposition 48" chant, that one
was a riot!).  But I had to shake my head at fans that would cheer when an
opposing player went down with a heavy-duty injury.  C'mon guys, a cheer
and a unicen 10-count just ain't appropriate at that time.  And then they
have the nerve to offer polite applause when he gets up!  Can't have it
both ways.  After the second game, some BU students in a car tried to bait
me with Maine insults.  I can't remember what they said, but the surprising
thing was they acted as if BU had lost and they were actually _jealous_ of
Maine!  I just don't get it.  Guys, lighten up.  It's hockey.
 
Then there's the grandad of all scenarios:  the infamous four-seconds-left
power-play-that-wasn't.  I have to give BU fans credit for noticing that
Maine had an extra man on the ice, because we Maine fans didn't notice, the
officials didn't notice, Shawn Walsh didn't notice, and even Jack Parker
didn't notice.  When the BU fans were going ballistic, we Maine fans were
looking at each other in confusion.  "What's the big deal?"  I then noticed
that there were things being thrown on the ice, including at least 200 of
those little red megaphones.  Real class, guys.  Not to mention another
hundred cups of beer and/or soda.  An unhappy BU fan explained to me what
happened, and followed it up with, "why does your team cheat???  It's the
whole Maine program!"
 
Okay.  First of all, I can understand why the fans were unhappy.  We would
be too if the tables were turned.  Still, with four seconds left, and after
64 minutes of college hockey, is one player darting back to the bench going
to make a difference in the outcome?  I think not.  BU fans had a right to
complain, but littering the ice with megaphones and trash doesn't help the
situation.  In fact, it made them look like crybabies.  I even heard that
the BU student media asked Coach Parker if he was going to protest the game.
Right, guys.  Like that little error could have prevented the turn of the
tide.  Oh well, I suppose it's good for the rivalry.
 
Anyway, the 0-0 tie will be a game I will never forget.  On paper, a 0-0
score looks boring, but far from it!  Both teams had excellent scoring
chances, but McKersie & Allison were spectacular.  Every single great shot
was somehow or other smothered.  In fact, once overtime was reached, as much
as I came to see my Bears win, I honestly hoped that it would end in a tie.
Nobody deserved to lose that game.
 
In the second game, the tension was still there.  Both fans were somewhat
quiet, as they were waiting for that first goal.  When BU scored late in the
first period, the place just became unglued.  It never got any louder after
that, and any other goals seemed dim compared to the first one.  The tension
grew again when Maine tied it early in the second, but as BU capatized on
their chances toward their 5-1 win, the BU fans were relaxed.  Obnoxious,
but relaxed. :)  Incidentally, my friend and game companion, a Syracuse grad
and former band member, noticed that BU's fans act very similar to those of
Boston College.  Hmmm...maybe this is all an urban attitude.  You fellas in
Beantown might not like this, but...BU? BC?  Same thing. You're all alike. :)
 
Anyway, I also have to give kudos to the BU band.  They were very friendly to
me and my buddy, and I was very impressed with their talent.  Keep up the good
work!
 
The highlight of it all for me was in the third period of the first game.
The visitor's section at BU is behind one goal, underneath the press box,
and it has protective netting directly overhead.  A puck came flying up,
and would have landed right in my lap were it not for that netting.  So I
poked at the net a couple of time, the puck came free, and the Maine fans
cheered me for my new-found prize.  The BU fans, however, booed me for
keeping it. There's a tradition in Walter Brown Arena of throwing pucks
back on the ice.  Throw it back?  I've been a college hockey fan for nine
years, I finally get a puck, and they want me to throw it back??  Wrong.
 
I've marked the 0-0 score & date on the puck. It will be a reminder to me of
a great weekend in Boston, a most memorable hockey game, my first puck, and
the first time I ever got booed!  (Well, by that many people, anyway.)
+====================================================================+
    |\  Jim Baines  [log in to unmask]   a.k.a. "Sportscaster"
    |/  UMaine '89     HOME OF COLLEGE HOCKEY'S NATIONAL CHAMPIONS!
  \ |\  "Fill the steins to Dear Old Maine, SHOUT 'til the rafters ring,"
   \|/        --The Maine Stein Song