Darn. I typed up a brief response to Tom Powers' jingoistic article, but decided not to post it to hockey-l on the assumption that our enlightened members must already see Powers' hot air for what it is. Then, I read the following: KATIE <[log in to unmask]> wrote... > Amen to Tom Powers! > Katie > Go Gophers! 7 - 2 - 1 So, here goes. >By Tom Powers >St. Paul Pioneer Press > MINNEAPOLIS -- At 1:29 of the first period Saturday, Andre >Savage, from Ottawa, Ontario, scored off a pass from Jason >Prokopetz of Esterhazy, Saskatchewan. The second assist was credited >to Kyle Peterson, who hails from Thunder Bay, Ontario. > No, this was not Team Canada scoring a goal during >international competition. It was Michigan Tech scoring against the >Golden Gophers at Mariucci Arena. Our tax dollars at work. > I think more Americans were on the Coratian national team >that played the Gopher hoopsters last week than play hockey for >Michigan Tech. But this is how it is throughout the Western Col- >legiate Hockey Association these days. If Minnesota isn't facing >off against the North Dakota Maple Leafs, it is jousting with the >Northern Michigan Canucks. Limitations of scholarships to foreign-born players is a subject which can be legitimately discussed. However I find it disingenuous of certain (very much in the minority, I'm sure) Gopher supporters to whine about Canadian and European (and even non-Minnesota American) players when U Minn has had the luxury of a virtual monopoly over the best talent in their hockey-rich state. Is the concern really for the interests of "our boys" or is it to ensure that the Gophers win more championships? In the case of Mr. Powers I'm afraid it just looks like general chauvinism. > ``I have to take care of my own business,'' Gophers coach >Doug Woog said. ``I make my statements with what I do. I feel pretty >strongly about the Minnesota kids we have here.'' > Woog won't even look for talent out of state, never mind >scour the hinterlands of Canada. That's a bit extreme. Deep down, The truth is Woog doesn't have to recruit out of state in order to put winning teams on the ice; he can and does win with in-state players and more power to him for that. As long as it's a self-imposed limitation, it's fine. What Powers appears to advocate is another matter. >I don't think any Gophers fans would mind if Woog mixed in the >occasional Iowan or South Dakotan. But nobody should have to show a >passport to report for fall practice. We'll put up with the occasional out-of-stater, as long as there aren't too many. Just don't think about bringing in a Canadian or European. If I were a Canadian or European this sort of attitude would just give me more incentive to go somewhere like Michigan Tech where I would feel more welcome and less vulnerable to xenophobia. It's sad, because I doubt that most Gopher fans feel this way (at least I hope not). > So it's time to beef up the border patrol. Those scholarship >benefits should be going to U.S. youngsters. Where is Proposition 187 >when we need it? > Somebody tell Newt Gingrich about this matter. Or better yet, >Jesse Helms. Jesse might personally show up at the border crying >a flintlock. Just what we need, Tom. This reads like a parody. By the way, what the hell does illegal immigration (Prop 187) have to do with Canadians studying legally in the United States? > In legal disputes, judges look to the Constitution for answers. >In religious arguments, theologians check the Bible. When it comes >to hockey, John Mariucci should be the final word. And back in the >`60s, Mariucci refused to allow his Gophers to play Denver Univer- >sity's team, which consisted primarily of Canadians. John knew it >wasn't right. Incredible. Powers has even managed to give birth to a new beast - Hockey Fundamentalism (call it "Mariuccism"). It contributes about as much as other forms of fundamentalism. Like religion it is fine until you start trying to impose it on others. > Woog shrugs. He found himself knee-deep in moose droppings >a few years back after criticizing St. Cloud State for recruiting >Canadians. This was right after the school opened its hockey >facility, which was built, ostensibly, to provide more and better >hockey opportunities for Minnesotans. > ``As long as their (coaches') jobs depend on winning, they'll >go wherever they have to,'' Woog said. Woog is right in this quote. To my knowledge he had never been faced with a decision between going out-of-state and losing his job. > On Saturday, Tech coach Bob Mancini, a native New Yorker, ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ >used nine forwards, three defensemen and one goaltender from the >Great White North. That's not an exchange program, it's an >immigration trend. Mancini's team, at .500 going in, played >great and upset Minnesota 3-2 in overtime. The two teams square off >again in another international battle royale this afternoon. Now it's out in the open. It's those NEW YORKERS who are the real enemies! :-) > Listen, I love Canadians. I'm also aware, as are most people Oh, no, not the old "some of my best friends are (insert undesirable group name here)" gambit. Can't you do better than that, Tom? >who occasionally cross the border, that Canada makes sure it takes >care of itself first and foremost. Its citizens usually have two >choices when shopping. They can buy Canadian, or they can buy >Canadian. Foreign goods are very limited. Nothing wrong with that. >They are taking care of their own people. Canadians stream across the border into northern NY and VT to shop, ski, etc. The trade balance around here certainly favors the U.S. by a wide margin. Furthermore, I don't know where this "buy Canadian" garbage came from. For instance, Wal-Mart Canada sells goods made in third world sweatshops just like Wal-Mart USA does (of course, they also advertise themselves as "Made in Canada" just as their US counterparts falsely tout a "Made in USA" theme). Has anyone done a study, by the way, comparing scholarship outlays with revenue brought in by hockey programs? I'm just curious. > I'm not saying we shouldn't allow any Canadians to receive >U.S. scholarships. But I'd be more than willing to slap on some >limits. Call them quotas if you like. We might as well be up front >about it. Hmm, a few paragraphs ago you said "nobody should have to show a passport to report for fall practice." As I said, the subject of scholarship limitaions could be discussed intelligently (one could begin with the proliferation of big-money into college athletics and the associated overemphasis on winning at all costs). It's a pity that Powers blew his chance to do so. In the past I've made arguments for inclusion of foreign players in college hockey and I won't rehash them now. They should be fairly obvious anyway. > Granted, it's easy to sit here in Minnesota, where there >are a dozen hockey players on every street corner and dictate what >out-of-state schools can and can't do. Yet this system eventually >sould affect colleges in this state, too. Because it's not just >about hockey. Other sports are guilty of primarily recruiting >foreign athletes at the expense of U.S. athletes. > Think about it. With scholarship limits on foreign students, >how would any school be able to field a soccer team. >----- > Tom Powers is a sports columnist for the St. Paul Pioneer >Press. Write to him at: St. Paul Pioneer Press, 345 Cedar St., >St. Paul, Minn. 55101. Not a bad idea. Thanks, -Glenn Gale