Public reaction in Maine has been mixed in the three weeks since the University of Maine announced the suspension of Shawn Walsh. Not only has Walsh taken heat from the media and the general public, but UMaine President Frederick Hutchinson has as well. The state's two largest newspapers, the Bangor Daily News and the Portland Newspapers, have both chastised Hutchinson's decision not to fire Walsh. Portland Newspaper columnist Bill Nemitz said in his Dec. 27 column that if Hutchinson knew the true meaning of honor, Hutchinson would return the school's 1993 hockey national championship trophy. Nemitz said that "only a man of courage, leadership and deep conviction" would be so bold as to return the 1993 trophy. "With Hutchinson, we're stuck with a man of a thousand excuses." In its self-report to the NCAA, the university disclosed that former goalie Mike Dunham and Cal Ingraham had played during the 1992-93 season while ineligible. While on the 1992 winter Olympics hockey team, Dunham had accepted a stipend, violating NCAA rules prohibiting compensation for playing. Ingraham had played during the first semester of the 1991-92 season despite not having enough credit hours to be eligible after transferring from the Air Force Academy. Under NCAA rules, players are ineligible the moment they commit an infraction. To regain eligibility, players must be cleared by the NCAA. So, Dunham was never eligible and Ingraham's eligibility wasn't restored until he sat out the first 14 games of the 1993-94 season to make up for the 14 games he had played illegally during the 1991-92 season. Pointing to Walsh's accepting more than $1,000 from boosters during his five-game suspension in 1993 for playing the academically ineligible Jeff Tory, Nemitz called Walsh a bum. Turning to Walsh's and his attorney's contacting witnesses despite being told not to by the university and NCAA, Nemitz said, "Worst of all, by ignoring the rules, he betrayed the one thing truly great coaches place above all else the trust of the kids who played for him." Nemitz belittled Hutchinson for not having the stomach to do what was right: fire Walsh. Hutchinson reduced himself to nothing more than pathetic babble, Nemitz said. He quoted Hutchinson from the Dec. 21 press conference: "When people are under great tension, it creates a lot of tension in people. I'm not defending what happened. But we have some level of understanding." Taking a softer approach, the Bangor Daily News urged the university and Walsh to quietly go their separate ways. Walsh's contract expires in the summer of 1997, only months after he returns from his suspension. No doubt, Walsh would want more money because of his success with the 1994-95 team that went all the way to the NCAA championship game. He would probably want more money anyway. And how would the university be able to justify a salary increase for a man who knowingly violated his profession's rules and who gets paid more than the state's governor? "The relationship between the university and (Walsh) soured two years ago and has curdled under the heat of the NCAA investigation," the Bangor Daily said. "The two should make a prompt, clean break. Neither will benefit by waiting a year to discuss the obvious: a renewal of the contract. Each already knows what lies at the end of that process. Waiting isn't good for the program, the team, this coach or the institution." The Portland Newspapers have written two editorials urging that Walsh be fired. The latest, which appeared in the Maine Sunday Telegram's Jan. 7 edition, reminded the university the NCAA may very well strip the school of its only national championship because Walsh got off easy for his misdeeds. Walsh's accepting money from boosters and then contacting witnesses severely damaged the credibility of the university and its hockey program, the editorial said. "Either one of those violations is sufficient to justify his dismissal," the paper said. "Together they are a stain on the university's honor that cannot be wiped out as long as (Walsh) remains eligible to return to coaching next December." The editorial continued: "If athletics mean anything, they exist to teach the joys of competition and the absolute necessity of honesty and fairness on a level playing field." Using ineligible athletes and accepting money that shouldn't be accepted violate those principles, the editorial said. The general public's reaction to the situation has been mixed. A weekly newspaper in Bangor asked people on the street what they thought. One man interviewed, Al Sockebeson, said Walsh should be allowed to return. "Sometimes you do what you have to do to win," he said. Bangor Daily columnist and former Maine hockey radio play-by- play man Gary Thorne also urged the university to dump Walsh. Thorne said, "The university's findings that Walsh accepted money from boosters during his previous suspension is a serious and flagrant act. It is an example of the 'above it all' attitude that came with success on the ice." "a rule is a rule." Precisely, said reader John M. Vogell in a letter to the Bangor Daily Saturday. "If that's the case, then why is President Hutchinson still employed by the University of Maine?" Vogell asked. "Let's throw the real bum out: Fred Hutchinson." Cary F. Butterfield also criticized Hutchinson in a letter to the Bangor Daily. "What about Hutchinson and his administration's lack of control over all athletics?" Butterfield asked. "Maybe Hutchinson should be sanctioned." Another reader, George Chebba, said in Saturday's edition: "Why the coach wasn't fired is testimony to the lack of resolve by the administrators and the (University of Maine System) board of trustees. The obsession with athletics is widespread as witnessed by the accolades still heaped upon this fallen angel by assorted coaches and others." Geoffrey P. Goodin wrote to the Bangor Daily and said that instead of crying at the press conference, UMaine Athletics Director Suzanne Tyler "should be rejoicing that this unsavory character is gone, and she should make every effort to keep him gone." That's not likely. The Bangor Daily reported last week that Tyler promised Walsh he would be able to come back to his job next December. "It's not the university's role to provide entertainment for the community," Gerald Murphy wrote. "The program has become more important than the university." According to Bangor Daily columnist Kent Ward, mail to the newspaper has been running 4-to-1 against Walsh. One supporter of Walsh, Rod Saunders, questioned the absence of administrative oversight of the university's athletics department's compliance with NCAA rules. Saunders said that as a coach, Walsh should not have been expected to know NCAA rules. "Walsh's punishment was far too much and UM is pointing the finger at him," Saunders said. "I say Maine hockey fans know where to point the finger and it's not at Walsh." Eugene Conlogue wrote to the Bangor Daily and chastised the university's administration for acting as judge, jury, and executioner. She said she suspects that in the end Walsh will not return to the hockey team. The day when that happens "will be a sad day for his team, the fans, and those who enjoy and recognize hard work and accomplishment," Conlogue said. _____________________________________________________________________ Ryan Robbins "Nothing in fine print is ever good news." University of Maine -- Andy Rooney _____________________________________________________________________ [log in to unmask] ____________________________________________ http://maine.maine.edu/~rrobbi32/____________________________________ (C) 1996, Ryan Robbins. All rights reserved. HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey; send information to [log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.