NCAA regionals 2011

Since Cornell can't be in the NCAAs, good luck to RPI, Union, and Yale. It's about time the ECAC had another team in the title game [edit: final four] (Colgate 1990) or won it all (Harvard 1989). Personally I root for an Ivy League team against anyone else (exception: Harvard vs. Mississipi Reformed Sex Offenders A&M, you'd have to ponder) but you've got to love Colorado College East: little Union with a smart young coach and some players we wish we'd gotten to Ithaca. Then there's the Cornell/Harkness tie to RPI going back a bit (1950s-1960s) and to Union after the unsuccessful NHL stint. And I'm partial to New York State teams. As in 2009 in lacrosse, when four of the six finalist teams (D1 D2 D3) were upstate NY, the fifth was NY State, and the sixth was from Pennsylvania. Southern dominance in lacrosse?

Stacking Yale and Union in the East Regional means there's a good chance of one ECAC team in the Frozen Four. I would've rather seen them meet for the title.

Does anyone think RPI has a chance?

Mississipi Reformed Sex Offenders A&M only plays cupcakes.

As USCHO says "A video worth your eight minutes".

You forget Clarkson, Harvard, and SLU in the final four in 1991, 1994, and 2000, respectively; indeed, you probably meant "in the championship game" in referencing Colgate in 1990.

I am rooting for Union too. And I'm rooting for RPI to stir up at least some chaos in the WZHA bracket. (I.e., I don't think they really have a chance.)

Yale? Eanhhh... I'm beginning to develop the same sort of dislike for Allain that I had for Mazzolini. He's comes across as a bit of a dick in post-game commentary, seeming to blame every loss on poor execution by his team—as if the other team had nothing to do with it. So, I have a hard time rooting for Yale.

Union up 10-1 on shots over UMD in the 1st. Guess it wasn't just us... boy, do they remind me of some other team I've seen at some point... some time ago...

Scersk '97
Union up 10-1 on shots over UMD in the 1st. Guess it wasn't just us... boy, do they remind me of some other team I've seen at some point... some time ago...

That was on the strength of being up a man for 6 of the first 10 mins.

Except UMD is now leading 1-0. The only shots that count are the ones that go in.

Trotsky
That was on the strength of being up a man for 6 of the first 10 mins.

True, but they've had better possession 5-on-5 as well. Now if they can just work on that supposedly fantastic powerplay... since they're going to need it, as Kyle noted.

Trotsky

Scersk '97
Union up 10-1 on shots over UMD in the 1st. Guess it wasn't just us... boy, do they remind me of some other team I've seen at some point... some time ago...

That was on the strength of being up a man for 6 of the first 10 mins.

And is Duluth keeps taking cheap shots like that, Union will be up a man all day.

Union has looked awful the last few minutes. Can't seem to get a handle on the puck or put passes together, and went offsides a few times on the power play.

It may be that the power play is where "rust" shows the worst. It's all about timing; after all, power plays are known for being streaky.

Seems Barry doesn't know his penalty signs. Slash, Barry, slash.

Scersk '97
Seems Barry doesn't know his penalty signs. Slash, Barry, slash.

I caught that, too - but I think if you can forgive mistaking a slash sign for anything, it would certainly be an interference sign.

It's at the point where the Dutchmen are more likely to score a shorty than a power-play goal.

Union is going to rue missing out on all the PP opportunities.

I hate agreeing with Barry, but Union looks asleep. That's not the team I saw dismantle us in Schenectady.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm not sure about Union's system.

That was an Allen Iverson "practice" type moment.

Union seemed disheartened on their final second period power play, maybe because they did well on the previous PP and got nothing to show for it. I know Melrose believes 2 goals is the most dangerous lead in hockey, but the Dutchmen just have to get lucky once and the pace of the game changes. They're running out of minutes to play catch-up though. Wonder if UMD would be a better tune-up for Yale for the final four than Union. Assuming Yale does the expected and dismantles Air Force.

billhoward
Wonder if UMD would be a better tune-up for Yale for the final four than Union. Assuming Yale does the expected and dismantles Air Force.

Didn't Air Force beat Yale during the regular season?

Beeeej

billhoward
Wonder if UMD would be a better tune-up for Yale for the final four than Union. Assuming Yale does the expected and dismantles Air Force.

Didn't Air Force beat Yale during the regular season?

Yes. Yale had a 3-0 third period lead and lost 4-3.

[www.uscho.com]

Now 2-0 UMD.

Union now down 2-0 with 13 min left. Another ECAC team that underperforms?

Can someone please tell Barry Melrose to shut up?

Kyle Rose
Can someone please tell Barry Melrose to shut up?

Yes, he's become insufferable

scoop85

Kyle Rose
Can someone please tell Barry Melrose to shut up?

Yes, he's become insufferable

I so want a "Mute Barry" button!

scoop85
Union now down 2-0 with 13 min left. Another ECAC team that underperforms?

But, honestly, if Yale makes it past Air Force, I can't see whoever wins this game winning against the Bulldogs.

Scersk '97

scoop85
Union now down 2-0 with 13 min left. Another ECAC team that underperforms?

But, honestly, if Yale makes it past Air Force, I can't see whoever wins this game winning against the Bulldogs.

That was really confusing b/c UMD are also the Bulldogs.

Jacob '06

Scersk '97

scoop85
Union now down 2-0 with 13 min left. Another ECAC team that underperforms?

But, honestly, if Yale makes it past Air Force, I can't see whoever wins this game winning against the Bulldogs.

That was really confusing b/c UMD are also the Bulldogs.

Unintentional, but yes.

Leaman looks like he's going to cry, poor guy.

Scersk '97
Leaman looks like he's going to cry, poor guy.

He does look grief-stricken

I'm SHOCKED that Union are laying an egg in the playoffs. They NEVER do that.

Union up a man again -- we must be near 20 total powerplays.

Trotsky
Union up a man again -- we must be near 20 total "powerplays".

FYP

1 out of 3 EZAC teams down, 2 to go.

ugarte

Trotsky
Union up a man again -- we must be near 20 total "powerplays".

FYP

UMD blocked an amazing # of shots this game.

And that's all she wrote -- 2-0 final.

Well. That sucked.

UNO with a shorty just 1:35 in. Beat Michigan, please. I never want top hear that song again.

I love this announcer for the UNO game.

"Wow that's a long stick!"

Trotsky
Well. That sucked.

And you're not even a Union fan. Union is the Lindsay Lohan of college hockey this spring: all that talent squandered. 31% on PP coming into the game, go 0x9 on PP, give up PPGs to UMD. Please, coach, don't blame it on the 2-week layoff. That was also 2 weeks to heal all the nagging late-season injuries.

So much for the unhappiness over the seedings that meant only one ECAC team could advance out of the East region. Now that's the best possibility not the most likely.

we could use the "chat function" for this banter, no?

Rita
we could use the "chat function" for this banter, no?

But then it would not be immortalized for your children and your children's children to see.

Josh '99
I'm SHOCKED that Union are laying an egg in the playoffs. They NEVER do that.

I was going to make some comment about how they've changed that this year as they got into the NCAAs, but remembered they basically laid an egg in the ECACs too, despite being the home team, in their usual fashion. So basically the entirety of their postseason competency was limited to last year.

We could, yes. Sorry if I offended any closet Lindsay fans. But no more than the Greenwich Village bar that created the "Lindsay Lohan cocktail (cheap and full of rum)." It was on the menu board outside and I wish I had a picture of that when I walked by. Read the December Vanity Fair for an LL profile (gorgeous sailor girl fashion layout, scathing story).

French Rage

Josh '99
I'm SHOCKED that Union are laying an egg in the playoffs. They NEVER do that.

I was going to make some comment about how they've changed that this year as they got into the NCAAs, but remembered they basically laid an egg in the ECACs too, despite being the home team, in their usual fashion. So basically the entirety of their postseason competency was limited to last year.

They're doing it at a higher level as time goes by. Now let's say how Yale rolls the dice.

billhoward

French Rage

Josh '99
I'm SHOCKED that Union are laying an egg in the playoffs. They NEVER do that.

I was going to make some comment about how they've changed that this year as they got into the NCAAs, but remembered they basically laid an egg in the ECACs too, despite being the home team, in their usual fashion. So basically the entirety of their postseason competency was limited to last year.

They're doing it at a higher level as time goes by. Now let's say how Yale rolls the dice.

Progress means dying on later levels.

I want us to be the Final Boss. (Note Yeti's resemblance to Armand de Swardt and Tux's to Ted Donato.)

That was some nice pressure AF put on Yale at the end of the period. They earned that tying goal with two great back-to-back shifts.

Nothing like a 10 minute goal review.........

Anyone else think ESPNU should have thought twice about their slogan, "Never Graduate"?

French Rage
Nothing like a 10 minute goal review.........

So what's the other possibility, get it wrong?

Jim Hyla

French Rage
Nothing like a 10 minute goal review.........

So what's the other possibility, get it wrong?

to those of us chatting, that is what they did... got it wrong.

Jim Hyla

French Rage
Nothing like a 10 minute goal review.........

So what's the other possibility, get it wrong?

Yeah, really.

In this case, it appears there was no film evidence to show exactly where the puck was, so I assume that meant the on-ice official's call stood.

Jim Hyla

French Rage
Nothing like a 10 minute goal review.........

So what's the other possibility, get it wrong?

Looks like they did that anyway.

Jim Hyla

French Rage
Nothing like a 10 minute goal review.........

So what's the other possibility, get it wrong?

If you can't see definitively in the first 9 minutes, it is probably inconclusive.

Ronald '09

Jim Hyla

French Rage
Nothing like a 10 minute goal review.........

So what's the other possibility, get it wrong?

If you can't see definitively in the first 9 minutes, it is probably inconclusive.

This. Plus it brings back 2003.

Did the officials have the angle from the opposite end of the ice? That one definitely showed it over, no question; but the overhead, not so much.

Gotta run, but it really feels like Air Force is going to win this game. Yale is making way too many dumb mistakes late.

Too bad about Union. Hope Yale wins. Good for Michigan after last year, and way to go Colin Greening!!

Air Force coach's pre-game wrap-up to his team was priceless: "You aren't going to win this game in the first period. You have to keep yourselves in a position where you can win it in the third."

They are playing the kind of game we all would have liked to see Cornell play against Yale. Play conservatively and take no chances that would give Yale transitions. Play with discipline and take few penalties. Play defensively to hold the score down and hope for a late game break or two to sneak a win. Despite at least as many bad passes (and catches) and whiffs on shots and clumsy breakouts as we've seen from Cornell all year, AF is right there in a position to win this game in OT.

French Rage

Ronald '09

Jim Hyla

French Rage
Nothing like a 10 minute goal review.........

So what's the other possibility, get it wrong?

If you can't see definitively in the first 9 minutes, it is probably inconclusive.

This. Plus it brings back 2003.

Did the officials have the angle from the opposite end of the ice? That one definitely showed it over, no question; but the overhead, not so much.

Yeah, it was in. As you said the opposite end angle showed white. Put that together with the overhead, it's in.

Al DeFlorio
Air Force coach's pre-game wrap-up to his team was priceless: "You aren't going to win this game in the first period. You have to keep yourselves in a position where you can win it in the third."

They are playing the kind of game we all would have liked to see Cornell play against Yale. Play conservatively and take no chances that would give Yale transitions. Play with discipline and take few penalties. Play defensively to hold the score down and hope for a late game break or two to sneak a win. Despite at least as many bad passes (and catches) and whiffs on shots and clumsy breakouts as we've seen from Cornell all year, AF is right there in a position to win this game in OT.

My thougts exactly. AF's really got Yale on its heels ... OOPS, Yale scores a sort of weak goal to win

Yale wins ugly 2-1 in OT

Yale pulls it off. 3:16 anyone??

Rebound should have been controlled but great drive to the net by Ziegler.

Well, I'm glad Yale won to at least some face for the League. Should be a good game with UMD

Jim Hyla

French Rage

Ronald '09

Jim Hyla

French Rage
Nothing like a 10 minute goal review.........

So what's the other possibility, get it wrong?

If you can't see definitively in the first 9 minutes, it is probably inconclusive.

This. Plus it brings back 2003.

Did the officials have the angle from the opposite end of the ice? That one definitely showed it over, no question; but the overhead, not so much.

Yeah, it was in. As you said the opposite end angle showed white. Put that together with the overhead, it's in.

I can't tell (a) who "scored" this goal or (b) if it ultimately counted. Did it change the outcome?

Thank you for not making the ECAC look completely silly twice in a day, Elis.

nyc94
Anyone else think ESPNU should have thought twice about their slogan, "Never Graduate"?

Like the seat belt campaign, "Belt Your Kids." Child-protection do-gooders came out of the renewable-growth woodwork.

Al DeFlorio
Air Force coach's pre-game wrap-up to his team was priceless: "You aren't going to win this game in the first period. You have to keep yourselves in a position where you can win it in the third."

They are playing the kind of game we all would have liked to see Cornell play against Yale. Play conservatively and take no chances that would give Yale transitions. Play with discipline and take few penalties. Play defensively to hold the score down and hope for a late game break or two to sneak a win. Despite at least as many bad passes (and catches) and whiffs on shots and clumsy breakouts as we've seen from Cornell all year, AF is right there in a position to win this game in OT.

We did a good job losing last week in the first period and certainly by 6:00 into the second when it got to 4-0.

Yale did not look good late in the game. But does anyone believe the Mitvack / Melrose blather about AF being better conditioned because they're military? Maybe a generation ago when conditioning wasn't so rigorous in sports (Cornell players described off-season workouts as the aluminum curl).

Nice that Yale survived to play for the Frozen Four slot. All that skating talent. Rondeau is not a strength. Okay goalie, good defense, great offensive system. ... I didnt' want the ECAC to have all is marbles riding on RPI. Their best shot at the Frozen Four is if the game outcome includes a fan vote on who does good video streaming.

scoop85

Al DeFlorio
Air Force coach's pre-game wrap-up to his team was priceless: "You aren't going to win this game in the first period. You have to keep yourselves in a position where you can win it in the third."

They are playing the kind of game we all would have liked to see Cornell play against Yale. Play conservatively and take no chances that would give Yale transitions. Play with discipline and take few penalties. Play defensively to hold the score down and hope for a late game break or two to sneak a win. Despite at least as many bad passes (and catches) and whiffs on shots and clumsy breakouts as we've seen from Cornell all year, AF is right there in a position to win this game in OT.

My thougts exactly. AF's really got Yale on its heels ... OOPS, Yale scores a sort of weak goal to win

Weak? Three rebounds and they get the third.

billhoward

nyc94
Anyone else think ESPNU should have thought twice about their slogan, "Never Graduate"?

Like the seat belt campaign, "Belt Your Kids." Child-protection do-gooders came out of the renewable-growth woodwork.

Because child protection is something we should all fight against...

Trotsky
Mississipi Reformed Sex Offenders A&M only plays cupcakes.

Sorry. That may have been an unfair slur on the Mississipeans.

scoop85

Kyle Rose
Can someone please tell Barry Melrose to shut up?

Yes, he's become insufferable

Barry Melrose like Don Cherry sportcoats are part of hockey you can live with. Maybe. I just say thanks that it's not Chico Resch. Mike Emrick is the best broadcaster in hockey and teamed with Chico, the Devils have an average broadcast team.

Note that if Melrose sees a team place twice and they win, he likes them for the Frozen Four. Us based on his seeing that 5-2 crushing of UNH on the road and I believe another game, Yale this year.

Good. Glad they didn't lose.

I am impressed by the showing Air Force put in: they managed to make this a very close game that could have gone either way. Can someone do a comparison of Air Force's overall talent to Cornell's? K thx.

Kyle Rose

Jim Hyla

French Rage
Nothing like a 10 minute goal review.........

So what's the other possibility, get it wrong?

Yeah, really.

In this case, it appears there was no film evidence to show exactly where the puck was, so I assume that meant the on-ice official's call stood.

Film? Firm? Do they have an officials-only camera that shoots from behind the net, like the one Cornell had that didn't work in the ECAC quaterfinals on account of somebody forgot to set it up, I believe is how Schafer described it?

nyc94
Anyone else think ESPNU should have thought twice about their slogan, "Never Graduate"?

Perhaps Melrose was the inspiration.

Jim Hyla

scoop85

Al DeFlorio
Air Force coach's pre-game wrap-up to his team was priceless: "You aren't going to win this game in the first period. You have to keep yourselves in a position where you can win it in the third."

They are playing the kind of game we all would have liked to see Cornell play against Yale. Play conservatively and take no chances that would give Yale transitions. Play with discipline and take few penalties. Play defensively to hold the score down and hope for a late game break or two to sneak a win. Despite at least as many bad passes (and catches) and whiffs on shots and clumsy breakouts as we've seen from Cornell all year, AF is right there in a position to win this game in OT.

My thougts exactly. AF's really got Yale on its heels ... OOPS, Yale scores a sort of weak goal to win

Weak? Three rebounds and they get the third.

What I meant is that it was weak from the goaltender's standpoint -- no way he should have left that 2nd rebound. The Yale guy made a great, determined play to get to the puck and poke it in.

CC putting on quite a show.

Jordan 04
CC putting on quite a show.

BC forgot to play defense.

BigRedHockeyFan

Jordan 04
CC putting on quite a show.

BC forgot to play defense.

If Yale had remembered last year, they would have been in the Frozen Four. Is John Muse the only goalie to give up 7+ goals twice in the NCAA tournament? Probably the first to give up 7 and win.

Trotsky

billhoward

nyc94
Anyone else think ESPNU should have thought twice about their slogan, "Never Graduate"?

Like the seat belt campaign, "Belt Your Kids." Child-protection do-gooders came out of the renewable-growth woodwork.

Because child protection is something we should all fight against...

Was anyone tempted in high school to wear a Drug Awareness Week T-shirt? It looks so different on a HS ROTC student and the kid with the dreadlocks and sandals.

the on ice call in the michigan game was no goal and they over ruled it on some vague film that really never showed the puck?

upprdeck
the on ice call in the michigan game was no goal and they over ruled it on some vague film that really never showed the puck?

Ah... that explains it: I thought I saw a ref pointing at the goal in the intermission replay I saw, so I thought the on-ice call was *for* a goal. According to a story on USCHO, the call was *no* goal and then they ruled it a goal 10 minutes later. Now I am less confused.

RPI/NoDak scoreless at 5 minutes into the first period. Go puckman.

Urp. 1-0 NoDak at 5:25, after a lengthy delay for an injured NoDak player.

1-0 NoDak after one period.

This is turning into a rough game, and most of the hits have been relatively clean.

Bad play by the RPI goalie compounded by a ham-handed attempt to clear the front of the net by RPI D-man. 2-0 NoDak.

And it's also starting to remind me a lot of our game vs. NoDak in 1997. RPI is fighting hard, but NoDak is just a bit too much for them to handle.

3-0 NoDak on a toe drag deke around the RPI D-man. Nice move. "Talent".

Kyle Rose

upprdeck
the on ice call in the michigan game was no goal and they over ruled it on some vague film that really never showed the puck?

Ah... that explains it: I thought I saw a ref pointing at the goal in the intermission replay I saw, so I thought the on-ice call was *for* a goal. According to a story on USCHO, the call was *no* goal and then they ruled it a goal 10 minutes later. Now I am less confused.

Don't just read USCHO, CHN shows a screen shot of the best video that I saw last night. The replay of this showed white between the puck and the goal line. Putting that together with the overhead, the puck was over.

Jim Hyla

Kyle Rose

upprdeck
the on ice call in the michigan game was no goal and they over ruled it on some vague film that really never showed the puck?

Ah... that explains it: I thought I saw a ref pointing at the goal in the intermission replay I saw, so I thought the on-ice call was *for* a goal. According to a story on USCHO, the call was *no* goal and then they ruled it a goal 10 minutes later. Now I am less confused.

Don't just read USCHO, CHN shows a screen shot of the best video that I saw last night. The replay of this showed white between the puck and the goal line. Putting that together with the overhead, the puck was over.

I wasn't using USCHO to determine whether the puck actually went over or not: I don't have any opinion regarding that because I didn't see it in person or on film and I don't trust lossy video encodings. I was simply pointing out that what I thought was the case—that the on-ice call was for a goal—was actually wrong: the on-ice call was *no* goal, which the news reporters on ESPN3 didn't make clear.

On another note, now 4-0 NoDak. Looks like 2/3 EZAC teams are going down in the first round.

Good luck, Yale. Boola.

The announcers completely missed how amazing that Knight goal was. He intentionally back-foot kicked it back to his stick.

5-0 NoDak. RPI's system is unable to compensate for NoDak's quickness, or their talent is no match for NoDak's: your call.

Let's see if RPI can manage to make this a respectable loss, or will notch another point in favor of the ECAC being moved to Division I-A after a few more football conferences move into hockey.

You know, Kyle, I generally enjoy your steady devil's advocacy on this board, but you can be so unremittingly negative. The latter is not necessarily part and parcel of the former.

Rather than harping on the inadequacies of RPI and, as you so often argue by specious extension, the ECAC as a whole, why don't you marvel a bit at the skill of NoDak? They're the best team I've seen so far—skilled, rather disciplined, and unafraid to play a physically bruising game.

BigRedHockeyFan

Jordan 04
CC putting on quite a show.

BC forgot to play defense.

BC is a good team, but their defense last night was horrible. CC had a lot of great looks from right in front of the net. Several of those were stoppable (I was surprised they left Muse in after the fifth goal), especially one that hit the top of Muse's glove and went into the net. BC was a much larger team and should have had their way in against the undersized CC defensemen. But, too many errors around their own net and all of a sudden it was a blowout. CC is a fast team and they had fan support. BC had their band there, but few fans.

Scersk '97
You know, Kyle, I generally enjoy your steady devil's advocacy on this board, but you can be so unremittingly negative. The latter is not necessarily part and parcel of the former.

Rather than harping on the inadequacies of RPI and, as you so often argue by specious extension, the ECAC as a whole, why don't you marvel a bit at the skill of NoDak? They're the best team I've seen so far—skilled, rather disciplined, and unafraid to play a physically bruising game.

Well, since you asked...

There are two separate issues here. The first is that I'm not actually being negative: Meli sees me on a regular basis and can attest to the fact that I am just a highly-analytical, sarcastic sonofabitch. What you perceive as negativism is simply my analysis of the situation based on the facts: 1 seed, PWR 1, Krach .7790 Yale was very nearly beaten by the 16 seed, PWR 22, Krach .4673, auto-bid Air Force team, and both Union and RPI were soundly beaten in the first round, with RPI having been thoroughly embarrassed by North Dakota. The last ECAC Frozen Four appearance (hopefully prior to this year) was Cornell in 2003, and the last team from the ECAC to win the whole thing was Harvard 22 years ago. At some point, the ugliness of the facts need to be acknowledged: the ECAC for whatever reason is weak on the national scene. Don't like it, don't accept its inevitability, want to change it; all good. But acknowledge it: it's a fact. The first step to resolving the problem is to acknowledge that there is, in fact, a problem.

The second issue relates to Cornell's situation specifically. I hate the prevailing attitude around here for the same reason I hate Team Red/Team Blue politics: otherwise smart people turn their brains off when they are emotionally involved with something, and resort to supporting their team, right or wrong, good or bad, basically without question. I hate that attitude, and so when people make snarky comments about my injection of the facts into the situation, I absolutely take pleasure, however bittersweet, in throwing it back in their faces when the evidence is on my side. Case in point: the closeness of the Yale/Air Force game versus the embarrassment of the ECAC final. I've tried to find roster comparisons for D1 teams and have come up blank, but I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that Air Force probably isn't substantially more talented than Cornell; at the very least, Cornell topped Air Force in Krach even in this down year. So when people pooh-pooh me for saying that there's a inability of the Cornell system to cope with Yale's transition game and suggest that it comes down to how "incredibly talented" Yale is compared to Cornell this year, this statement is shown to be utter horseshit when you consider that an even less accomplished, and likely less talented, Air Force squad was able to keep Yale's offense in check for three periods and nearly win that game late in the third.

As I said, I am not calling for Coach Schafer's head: he's a great coach and has done an incredible job with this program, even without considering the performance of his predecessor. But that doesn't mean improvements don't need to be made. One of those is to figure out how to deal with teams like Yale because talent alone is demonstrably not going to do the job! That is all I have been saying. But when I take an enormous amount of shit for this reasonable analysis from people who can't take off the Carnelian-colored glasses for a moment and use the brains that got them into the school they're rooting for, you better believe I'm going to throw it back at them when the opportunity presents itself. Argument doesn't seem to work with most of the folks here, so I figure at least I'll have some fun while getting my analysis on the record.

Kyle Rose
But when I take an enormous amount of shit for this reasonable analysis from people who can't take off the Carnelian-colored glasses for a moment and use the brains that got them into the school they're rooting for, you better believe I'm going to throw it back at them when the opportunity presents itself. Argument doesn't seem to work with most of the folks here, so I figure at least I'll have some fun while getting my analysis on the record.

Hear, hear.

Kyle Rose
But when I take an enormous amount of shit for this reasonable analysis from people who can't take off the Carnelian-colored glasses for a moment and use the brains that got them into the school they're rooting for, you better believe I'm going to throw it back at them when the opportunity presents itself. Argument doesn't seem to work with most of the folks here, so I figure at least I'll have some fun while getting my analysis on the record.

I suspect this is pointless, but I'll try this once; what the hell.

Think about the intellectual caliber of the people who post here. Then reread what you just posted. Now, either you're right and you carry one hell of a burden as a lonely voice of reason and logic and God bless you for your bravery. Or you're being a horse's ass.

Trotsky
I suspect this is pointless, but I'll try this once; what the hell.

I might say the same thing. In fact...

Think about the intellectual caliber of the people who post here. Then reread what you just posted. Now, either you're right and you carry one hell of a burden as a lonely voice of reason and logic and God bless you for your bravery. Or you're being a horse's ass.

I will.

There are a lot of very smart people who reflexively vote Democrat/Republican and fine-tune their views to match party ideology instead of applying logic to reach conclusions regarding issues of the day. There is a parallel phenomenon here. As a result of direct experience with my fellow man, I never underestimate the power of tribalism to overcome logic. Edit: for sure, unthinking tribalism in sports is probably the best place for it: the success or failure of a hockey team isn't going to have much of an impact on the fate of the world. But it still annoys me.

Greg, do better than committing an ad hominem fallacy: address the points I was making instead of attacking me.

I know we shouldn't be talking about hockey, but UMD just scored a sweet shorthanded goal against Yale.

The bulldogs v. the bulldogs. What is the statistical likelihood of that occurring? One of you must know....