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