This is an administrative message to HOCKEY-L. Please take a moment to read it, it is very important. (Sometime soon I will be posting some excerpts from the WELCOME to draw your attention to suggested guidelines for INFO-HOCKEY-L, but here I will deal with two related issues first.) PART ONE (of two): POSTING HEARSAY INFORMATION I certainly don't wish to single out JohnP for his post in response to my question about BC, but it reminded me of an issue I had wanted to address to the list. Occasionally some of us come across information which may be true but which may also not be intended for "public knowledge". In particular, sometimes this information is "hearsay" and has not actually been publicized by the school. Usually there is a good reason for this - often it is information of a personal nature to one or more individuals and does not really need to be known by anyone else. My stand on this as admin is as follows: Do not post hearsay information of a personal nature unless it has been publicized and verified by the school. I believe strongly that particularly in matters where disciplinary action is involved, if the school wishes to deal with the matter privately, we should respect their decision to do so. HOCKEY-L is a very public forum, and we cannot forget that. An example of this arose about 5 years ago when Merrimack suspended two players for disciplinary action and issued a release stating this and nothing more. I did happen to know what the transgressions were, but I respected the school's wishes and only posted what was stated in the release. This is what I want other people to do. However, I will also say that once in the past, when I was young and stupid :-), I was guilty of violating this basic tenet and the result was a bit embarrassing, something I would not want any of you to have to deal with. It was resolved, but I still learned a valuable lesson. Sometimes things happen and the reasons for the discipline *are* publicized to some extent - not to use BC again as an example, but this happened last year when several players were suspended for going to a previously forbidden off-campus establishment. Some of the details were made public either through the school's release or through statements made by individuals to the press, such as, if I remember correctly, Coach Jerry York. You should always state your (publically-obtainable) source for such information. If nothing else, it lends credence to the story and it also allows you to point out that the information was indeed publicized. I'm certain that no ill well was intended by the post, but this is still something that I would like us all to remember. PART TWO: PERSONAL ATTACKS The second part of this post deals with personal attacks on individuals that are posted to HOCKEY-L or INFO-HOCKEY-L. This is another issue I have been meaning to address but which I do not believe the above-mentioned post falls into (just to clarify). In the past, at times, we have seen people let their emotions get the better of them and post what amounted to personal attacks on people involved in the game - most often referees, but also coaches and players among others. Fortunately, we have not seen any of that in the game recap posts made this weekend (btw, great job, everybody). However, this is my stand as list admin on this issue: *NO* personal attacks will be tolerated upon anyone in any post made to HOCKEY-L or INFO-HOCKEY-L. Criticism of decisions made by referees or coaches and actions of coaches or players is certainly okay, given that you provide a basis for your criticism and that you do not take the criticism to a personal level. I believe that in the past, there have been entirely too many unwarranted attacks upon referees in particular, and I want this to remain a thing of the past. I also believe the criticism of officiating has been overdone, but I do not wish to prevent people from making valid criticisms when it should be mentioned. A good rule of thumb to follow is: do not post anything about anyone which you would not want that person to read and which you would not say to that individual in person if you had the opportunity. Some of us are a little more brash than others :-) and might be willing to say things others wouldn't, but I still ask you to consider that these are real people we're talking about, not faceless entities, and for many of us, we really don't know these people other than what we see on the ice. And in many cases, the individual in question will see or hear of your comments, and it gives this forum a black eye that I know none of us wish it to have. And although I hope this is never necessary, I will close by reminding everyone that the list admins, myself included, reserve the right to take whatever action we feel is required when personal attacks occur on the lists. This is a matter we take very seriously. The lists are meant to be a place for people to enjoy exchanging information about and discussing a sport we all love. Personal attacks do nothing other than to hinder that enjoyment for us. Please feel free to email me if you have any questions or comments. Thank you for reading this far, and thank you for your efforts in helping to make the College Hockey Lists the great environment they have become! --- --- Mike Machnik [log in to unmask] *HMM* 11/13/93 >> Co-owner of the College Hockey Lists at University of Maine System << ***** Unofficial Merrimack Hockey home page located at: ***** ***** http://www.tiac.net/users/machnik/MChockey/MChockey.html ***** HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey; send information to [log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.