Who to root for in 2005 Frozen Four

Who should we cheer for in the Frozen Four this year? The rooting priorities for sports generally are:

1. Cornell
2. Ivy (tie)
2. Upstate New York (tie except Upstate over Harvard)
4. ECACHL
5. East
6. Academically gifted and talented colleges

Plus sometimes
- Underdog
- Team going the longest without winning the title
- Team that just narrowly beat you
- Team / school that has nothing else to live for except that sport
- Team whose success would not lead recruits to turn away from Cornell
- Obscure school that comes out of nowhere

Thus you'd root for Princeton over Duke in basketball, Syracuse over Virginia in lacrosse, Gonzaga over Louisville in basketball, even (gag) Harvard over anybody non Ivy/ECACHL in hockey.

By this measure it would be good to see Colorado College win the 2005 hockey title because it's a good (acaemically) small school that hasn't won in a long time.

It would also be good to see Minnesota win because then part of the Cornell legend can say, " ... drew the eventual NCAA champion to overtime." Even though Minnesota has won enough titles recently and with Phil Kessel coming aboard they are going to be tough in ensuing seasons.

No reason to root for Denver plus they kept us from the 1969 championship.

North Dakota has a huge rink and a successful program. We all make fun of the excessive luxury of the team's arena and how they're not real fans sitting in leather seats. That's just sour grapes.

How about the rink collapsing

I guess I'll root for CC because they haven't won in a while, they're a small liberal arts school rather than a jock factory, and they haven't beaten us in an important game lately.

I'm pulling for DU, because my aunt went to law school there. But other than that, I got nothin.

[Q]DeltaOne81 Wrote:

How about the rink collapsing [/q]

You know how many times I was tempted to post the same thing (my exact thought was, "I hope the rink blows up" over the past 12 hours, but didn't? Thanks for alleviating the temptation.

Cheers,
Kyle

Here's my order of whom to root for, and this goes for all sports:

1. Cornell
2. Some New York/Conn/NJ teams
3. Teams with select players I like or respect

And I root against everyone else, but not too strongly, because if my team isn't in it, my interest level drops off very quickly.

I'm not one of these touchy-feely "I need to have a winner in the game" types. If it were possible for all four teams at the FF to lose, I would hope for that outcome; but this is reality, and since that won't happen, I simply don't care about the outcome. I'm not being bitter: I'm being a fan. If my team isn't playing, I'm not watching.

Cheers,
Kyle

How to you call yourself a "fan" of the sport if you don't watch the frozen Four?

[Q]RichS Wrote:

How to you call yourself a "fan" of the sport if you don't watch the frozen Four? [/q]

Most of us probably will watch the FF. But we won't be happy about it, knowing we were probably just a good bounce or two away from the FF ourselves.

Rich, please enlighten me on where I said I was a fan of the sport. I am primarily a fan of a team, not a sport. Sure, I enjoy watching good hockey; but if it isn't Cornell playing, I would generally rather being playing than watching. In the case of hockey, I can actually do that. Yaay.

For that matter, not sure if it even makes sense to call one's self a fan(atic) of an entire sport. Do you honestly think the fervor most Cornell fans have for their team is matched by their interest in any other team, or (even more absurdly) the sport in general? I can perfectly understand if you don't get it: being a fan of Cornell hockey is on a whole different level from being a fan of any other team, in any sport, at any level. I stand by our uniqueness. It's not just my proximity to the team speaking here, and I think most visitors to Lynah Rink---and home fans at other rinks that are fortunate enough to host the Red, as supported by many MN fan posters on USCHO---would agree.

Maybe I'm reading into this too much, and my last paragraph was just me being a jerk. If so, I apologize. No hard feelings; I'm still hurting from yesterday's loss. It's going to be a long 210 days.

Cheers,
Kyle

[Q]krose Wrote:
not sure if it even makes sense to call one's self a fan(atic) of an entire sport.[/q]

Probably not, but it does make sense to call oneself a fan(cier) of an entire sport.

I'm gonna pull for NoDak because they weren't as #1 seed, and because them winning means Minnesota won't play in the championship game.

Welcome back, RichS. We've missed you so.

And now we're in the same boat as Rich's team: On the outside looking in.

Baseball starts in 6 days.

What Frozen Four?

It's possible to get excited about NCAA basketball Final Four despite Cornell's absence this year from the tournament (and last and ...). So why not hockey FF, too?

[Q]billhoward Wrote:

It's possible to get excited about NCAA basketball Final Four despite Cornell's absence this year from the tournament (and last and ...). So why not hockey FF, too? [/q]

And clearly you're going to pay $2000 for tickets to the final four ($300 for the frozen four), and travel cross-country to see (say) UNC (or Denver) play, and stand in a section with 2000 fans dressed in the same color all chanting in unison.

Right?

Excitement it may be for some people, but hardly at the same level. I just don't get off on that: as I said, I'd rather be playing hockey than watching anyone other than Cornell play. But, to each his own...

Cheers,
Kyle

[Q]Jordan 04 Wrote:

Baseball starts in 6 days.

What Frozen Four? [/q]

Indeed...Let's Go Mets.

I t absolutely makes sense to call yourself a fan of an entire sport. I've attended the Frozen Four when I had absolutely no reason to think Cornell would make it and had a very unique experience (Cinci '96). I know several people on this forum try to get tickets to the FF every year and go regardless. I drove to Kalamazoo, MI last November to watch a college hockey game that had absolutely nothing to do with Cornell (WMU-ND) and had a good time. Turning to my summer sport, I've been to dozens of baseball parks where random teams were playing simply for the joy of watching a ballgame.

You can be a true fan of a single team, a sport or both. I find being both more rewarding than just a Cornell fan, but YMMV (and you never did say you were a fan of the sport, Kyle).

That said, I probably won't watch the FF semis because of other commitments (like work).

[q]I'd rather be playing hockey than watching anyone other than Cornell play. But, to each his own... [/q]Can't argue with that. With the possible exception of big games I'd always rather be playing than watching (he says, not having played a game of hockey in about two years...)

I love the beauty of sports ... the plays ... the instant replays. That's what TV does well and HDTV does really well compared to being there in person. So I'm going to be watching from the best vantage point I can think of: the Barcalounger. Here's hoping for CSTV-HD in 2005-06.

Okay, being there in person means you don't have to hear OSU goaltender Dave Caruso crooning out a country & western song during one of the Up Close & Personal segments. That was painful. Was this the guy who has a thing for Martina McBride? (Has he looked in a mirror?)

[Q]billhoward Wrote:

Okay, being there in person means you don't have to hear OSU goaltender Dave Caruso crooning out a country & western song during one of the Up Close & Personal segments. That was painful.

[/q]

Oh this, we can all agree.

[Q]Will Wrote:

billhoward Wrote:

Okay, being there in person means you don't have to hear OSU goaltender Dave Caruso crooning out a country & western song during one of the Up Close & Personal segments. That was painful.

[/Q]
Oh this, we can all agree.[/q]

Seriously, what the hell was that crap?

My apologies to the Ship of Fools crowd, but I felt the need to start the "Goalie-Sieve-Funnel..." chant at that time so we didn't have to hear him, which prevented the start of Gary Glitter at its appropriate time.

Fortunately, a late time out gave us another chance.