Cornell vs. BU

Can someone that was around let us know if there were any special cheers, traditions, or rituals that existed when the rivalry was in full swing that have long since faded form the Lynah Faithful repertoire? If not could you please give us some stories of the storied rivalry? I know a bit about the rivalry, but it would be nice to give us youngins some more in-depth history. Hopefully, with some input, the modern Lynah Faithful can attempt to revive anything that has been lost with time and turn it into a tradition.

Are any Cornell fans in the Boston area planning on going to the BU-Harvard game on Tuesday?

Just curious to know if their might be a Lynah contingent to get a preview of what to expect for the upcoming weekend.

what do u say for the "screw bu" cheer?

I believe you just say "Screw BU" and that's it.

"Screw B.U.!" at the top of your lungs. Then stop.

At a BU-Harvard game, I'd say "Screw BU, Harvard too!", but no one will play it.

At a Cornell-BU game, it's just "Screw BU!"

The BU-Harvard game's on FSNE Tuesday at 7pm, DirecTV channel 620.

Is there a good way (short of putting a flyer on each seat in Lynah, because I don't want to pay for the photocopying costs!) of spreading the word about the "Screw BU!" cheer? I know not nearly all of the Faithful (let alone whoever will actually be there this coming weekend) check out eLynah. People have been asking me what we do and I tell them, but I'd like to avoid having a couple thousand confused fans messing up the cheer if possible.

Maybe they'll use the scrolling-message feature of the new scoreboard to tell people.

Perhaps people will notice that the band will jump right in to repeat the cheer. One would think that would send the message that "Screw BU!" is enough.

Then again, if people listened to the band (or parts of it, anyway), they'd realize the "dieeeeeeeeeeeeee!" is the most annoying, dumb-sounding, obnoxious (to our lovely tuba players) thing in Lynah. You try lugging around a 20 pound piece of fiberglass for a few hours and see if you like people cheering over you. To those of you reading this, I urge you to stop. Additionally, please kick any and all of those around you in the genitals if they insist on drawing it out.

This message brought to you by FOB.

(Friends of the Band).

Yeah, I stopped the "diiiiiiiiiiiiiiie!" thing a few weeks ago when I saw people complaining that it threw them off. I never thought it did, and I apologize to the brave tuba players for helping to propogate that particular phenomenon.

You just say "Screw BU." At the games in Boston last year, everyone was a little confused, but as the first game wore on people stopped saying "Screw BU, BU too" eventually (save for a few facetimers).

I have a feeling it'll be a little tougher to inform the whole crowd at Lynah, though. Maybe someone sitting towards the front of A or B could make a poster and hold it up towards the crowd before the games start. That would be cheaper and easier than flyers...

I was planning on going to the BU/Harvard game on Tuesday, but I figured I'd try to save some coin for my Ithaca trips this weekend and next. I will be watching on FSNE, though.

I think that the cheer suffered when the actual opponents name was added after Screw BU. Until the 1980 ECAC playoffs, the cheer was just Screw BU, no matter who we were playing. I always felt that not even mentioning the opposition treated them with just the right amount of contempt.

By the numbers:

Boston University 6-3-2
Goals for: 3.22
Goals against: 3.49
Save %: 88.3
Penalty/game: 9.2 for 21.3 minutes

Cornell University 6-1-0
Goals for: 4.57
Goals against: 1.43
Save %: 92.6
Penalty/game: 6.4 for 15.1 minutes


Just a look on paper, not trying to say anything. . .that's why they play the game )

Wow, they've allowed more goals than they have scored and are still 6-3-2 and ranked 10th in the nation.

T 4-4 ot vs Northern Michigan
W 5-1    vs Rensselaer
T 1-1 ot Vermont
L 3-5    at Merrimack
W 6-4    Nebraska-Omaha
W 7-6    at Northeastern   
W 3-2    at New Hampshire
W 2-1    Merrimack
L 2-3    Boston College
L 3-7    Maine
W 3-2    Mass.-Lowell

In fairness, BC UNH and Maine were probably tougher opponents than Yale and Princeton. Then again, we stomped the Catamounts...

...15 goals were scored against them in a 3 game stretch playing teams I wouldn't exactly call juggernauts. It's going to be a battle, but we aren't underdogs.

Too early in the year for stats to mean anything. Sample's too small. Think it is fair to say that we played them very close last year, so it will likely be a great great series. LGR!

No offense Lowell, but I think you had better drop the sousaphone and stick to the trumpet. I've talked to some of the others that play Swannee River and they say that because they don't suck they can easily ignore the crowd and stay on beat. So, as a proud member of those that need a swift kick to the genitals: DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

asshole '04 does that mean we can start a line to kick you and your friends in the genitals b/c if you're willing. . .
I know plenty of people who would like to do just that.

I'll have to disagree with you, Lowell...

I personally don't care what the crowd says when I'm over there playing Swanee. I figure that we are adding to the enjoyment of Lynah and that someone prolinging 'die' doesn't really detract from that. If people get off by shredding their vocal cords, good for them...people should have fun at Lynah.

I certainly have fun playing Swanee regardless of how the crowd decides to yell. But that's just me humble opinion =)

Dan Saltzberg - Tuba '03

If leaving the game with purple testicles would in any way assist us in winning, I would gladly allow you, all of section A and B, and the ushers (Earl and Dennis) to kick my sack with big fucking steel-toed boots.

ouch...

I don't actually think it screws anybody up, I just hate it. It doesn't matter what my opinion of the cheer itself is, really, but I think everybody who does it sounds positively stupid (but then again, that doesn't really matter either). That being said, I'd pretty much say anything to stop it, although I'm a realist and realize it never will. I think I'll stop trying now. Everybody's got their own opinion on how things should be, but in the end, it doesn't really matter. The sad thing, however, is that this all started from one guy doing it once or twice, and a bunch of sheep followed. If it's funny once, it's got to be funny four million times, right?

Now go bend over.

I'll be at the game...should be a fun match to watch.

I'll let you know tomorrow night how the Terriers look. Unfortunately I had to miss the Harvard game, so this will be my first time seeing the Crimson as well.

I'm wondering if I should root for BU (my favorite team before I got to college) or just wear my Cornell jersey and spew hatred at both teams.

I have found that in situations like this it doesn't really work to decide which team to root for before the game. Once you're there, your true preferences will emerge.

For example, I know I should root against Michigan (my parents' alma mater) when they play an ECAC team, but more than once I have found myself shouting "Go Blue" along with the Wolverine fans. Of course, there's also the lure of the underdog, so sometimes I just have to root for the team that seems weaker. And then there are the games where you find yourself hoping that both teams score 10 goals or there is a penalty shot or something truly memorable.

RedAR and I will be there in Cornell jerseys.

I think I am rooting for (ugh) Ha+rva+rb (I don't know what RedAR will do). That first "Go Crimson" is really gonna hurt.

Hold on, I think I am rooting this way for the good of the ECAC, of course. But, for the good of Cornell, which is better: "We beat Harvard, BU beats Harvard, we beat BU" or "We beat Harvard, Harvard beats BU, we beat BU"? I guess I really care more about what's best for Cornell than for the ECAC, though I don't really know what that is.

Don't forget that the game's on FSNE tonight.

Yeah, you really should root for the ECAC team, and in any case you should be rooting against BU, but you are under no moral obligation to actually shout "Go Crimson." Expressing pleasure when they score, or when a BU player is sent to the box, is fine.

Bring along the barf bag, just in case.

Just wondering...

How odd will it be for the (few) Cornell fans in attendance at the BU-Harvard game tonight to do the "Let's Go RED!!" cheer at the end of the game -- similar to that done at tournaments (ie. Lake Placid) right after a game that Cornell was not playing in, but before the Cornell game? Kinda make the Lynah presence felt even before they get into Ithaca. Since I won't be in Ithaca this weekend, this is as close as I'll get to cheering for Cornell (and against BU) as I will get. Anyone beside crodge2k and Dan gonna be there tonight?

Also, I think a BU loss would be the best outcome for Cornell. First, there is the whole "EZAC" crap. But more importantly, BU's been struggling of late. I'd hate for them to click and get back some confidence right before they play us. So while I won't be saying "Go Crimson!" I will be cheering when things go right for the cantabs.

Definitely cheer for the ECAC teams against other conferences. I want to see the ECAC get some respect again, as that can only help Cornell in the long run. For instance, this past weekend, I don't like Clarkson all that much but I definitely wanted them to post wins against Bemidji State. Luckily, they split the weekend.

Hard to say in the long run whether it's better for BU or Harvard to win tonight. We play both of them twice in the regular season, but have the possibility to play HU up to 5 times (2 of 3 series that goes to 3 games) before NCAA selection. From that perspective, it would be better to have HU win, because that has the possibility of helping our opponents' winning percentage in RPI, which is weighted more heavily than our opponents' opponents' percentage. Also, HU plays fewer games than BU, so their winning will help their percentage more than it will hurt BUs. In the end, these are all second (if not third and fourth) order effect. As long as we beat them both, we won't even be talking about this....

Boston University 6-3-2
Goals for: 3.22
Goals against: 3.49

Doesn't add up...

T 4-4 ot vs Northern Michigan
W 5-1    vs Rensselaer
T 1-1 ot Vermont
L 3-5    at Merrimack
W 6-4    Nebraska-Omaha
W 7-6    at Northeastern   
W 3-2    at New Hampshire
W 2-1    Merrimack
L 2-3    Boston College
L 3-7    Maine
W 3-2    Mass.-Lowell

That makes it:
39 goals for (3.55/gm)
36 goals against (3.27/gm)
They are scoring more than they are getting scored on (to change this weekend hopefully).

The game's about to start so it's too late to say this really but... I'd be inclined to do regular "Let's Go Red!" cheers at the HU-BU game if you have a big Cornell contingent, just to annoy the Bostonians. (But only if you are wearing Cornell gear). And definitely do "Screw BU, Harvard too!".

Now, I'm not saying be overly obnoxious about it. First and foremost you're there to watch a hockey game between two good college teams. But a bunch of playful cheering for Cornell and against both of our historical rivals would be fun and appropriate.

Of course, Time Warner in Manhattan has Fox Sports World, Fox Sports Español, and probably Fox Sports Dubuque, but not Fox Sports New England.

Which is okay, since I'm outta here in a half hour.

Beeeej

We root for Harvard. All the ECAC teams have them as an opponent, so every NC win propogates slightly across the whole league's SOS, which in turn helps any given member (read: us).

I can't think of any situation where we wouldn't want an EDCAC team to beat a non-ECAC team, unless it was for precise PWR matchups (which we won't know anything about for months).

BU is skating rings around Harvard, but Dartmouth upsets BC in OT!!!!

Harvard's actually been all over BC the last 5 minutes. The Crimson have 18 third period shots but it hasn't mattered. Grumet-Morris just left the net with BU having possession! BU scores and goes up 3-0; ugly.

Can't play a five minute game and expect to beat a good team. (BU got away with it against Lowell, because they aren't a good team.) Harvard was out to lunch the entire second period and the first fifteen minutes of the third.

Not at all unlike our game at Dartmouth, as a matter of fact--we got started a bit earlier, but still too late.

But Harvard also controlled the 1st 7 minutes of the 1st. But your point that you can't play 12 minutes of hockey and win against a ranked team remains very true.

I get FSNE on my DirecTV; unfortunately by last night I had already gone to Kingston for the holiday.

If I recall correctly, this weekend's games comprise the second half of a two-year home-and-home series with BU. Has anyone heard if the contract to play BU will be renewed? It would be wonderful if we could play BU every year.

I second that motion.

Craig Buckser '94 wrote:

It would be wonderful if we could play BU every year.

Eh...

Don't get me wrong, playing BU is nice, but considering we can schedule a grand total of 7 NC games, and 2 are tied up in a holiday tournament, it'd be nice to get some variety with the other 5. JMO.

Josh Herman '99 wrote:

Craig Buckser '94 wrote:

It would be wonderful if we could play BU every year.

...it'd be nice to get some variety with the other 5. JMO.

Agree. Some of the traditional western "powers" would be really nice: CC, Denver, NoDak, Minnesota.

I'll take BU every year, even if it just once - and stop scheduling any games against the MAAC. Ever.

Then I would try to get the best of the West on our schedule for home games in alternate years. Or I would occassionally let someone else take our place in Estero and play a tournament out west like the Badger Blowout (or whatever it is called) we played a few years ago.

I like the resurgence of the BU rivalry, and would like to see it come to full force. They are consistently good, and would be a worthwhile SOS boost to have. Variety is nice, but I will always prefer a game against BU to a game against CC.

BRA,

So we should expect the top teams in the nation to agree to play teams from a generally weaker conference, but in turn never schedule any games against the MAAC/CHA?

Scheduling is all about being open and willing to schedule some good games against the people who want to play you. While with our team recently, I'm not so sure if MAAC teams *will* want to play us, if they do, we should absolutely agree. Otherwise we have no right to try claim that the UNH's and Maine's and ND's should schedule with us.

-Fred

For those of you who don't want to risk death and drive to Ithaca this weekend through a severe snowstorm, the BU games will be broadcast on BU radio station 830 AM and 1330 AM in the Boston area.

DeltaOne81 '03 wrote:

So we should expect the top teams in the nation to agree to play teams from a generally weaker conference,

Expect? No. Try? Yes. We are a reliably decent team despite our conference affiliation and should be able to pull off a top tier home and home.

but in turn never schedule any games against the MAAC/CHA?

Yes. YESYESYESYESYES.

Scheduling is all about being open and willing to schedule some good games against the people who want to play you. . . . Otherwise we have no right to try claim that the UNH's and Maine's and ND's should schedule with us.

Sorry to disagree, Fred, but this isn't about Moral Authority to make decisions. This is about figuring out what is best for Cornell and following that plan. I don't want to drag Cornell down with MAAC/CHA teams just so I can be properly indignant when NoDak tells us to pound salt.

Call me selfish ("Selfish!!!", but I don't think we need the right to claim that the top teams should schedule us. I see no reason that they should schedule us. I just think that we should make every effort to get them on our schedule instead of dead weight like Mercyhurst and Wright State. This year we have the type of NC schedule that we should have every year. If we have to throw the MAAC/CHA a bone every few years to get better games scheduled, so be it. But it isn't a moral imperative.

jd,

Where do you get your weather forecasts? I haven't seen anything about a "severe snowstorm" this weekend. The most I've seen (for the Boston-Ithaca route) is a 30% chance of flurries on Saturday and a chance of rain/snow showers Sunday night.

[Q]Call me selfish ("Selfish!!!"... But it isn't a moral imperative.[/Q]
Damn straight it's selfish. Of course, there's not anything wrong with that in and of itself. Sure you should want to do the best for yourself. Cornell should, and I'm sure has, do what it can to schedule against the top teams in the nation, but we should also be willing to schedule against people who would like the opportunity to play up to us.

I'm not saying the AD 'n' company should be calling the AIC AD on the phone, but if a MAAC or CHA team calls us, we should be open minded and willing to extend a hand to them, in the same way we're asking the traditional (traditional in the sense of the last 5, 10 years) powehouses to extend a hand to us.

If you're the kind of person who believes the MAAC/CHA shouldn't have autobids, well, then I guess the conversation's over because we'll never agree. If not however, then I propose it's the same thing. You extend lesser teams the opportunity to test themselves. To put them with the big boys and let them play. It helps the program, it helps conferences, and it in turn helps spread college hockey. Being from Ct, and knowing how half our state's sports is UConn sports, I guarantee you that if UConn made the NCAAs, it would be on the local news and help the program grow. As opposed to Thanksgiving dinner, when the father of a UConn freshman said to me "UConn has a hockey team?"

My point may have gotten a bit lost there, but spreading the wealth is what it takes to make a strong sport. Sure, Bentley will probably never be a BU, but that doesn't mean they don't deserve their chance to try.

-Fred

> the traditional (traditional in the sense of the last 5, 10 years) powehouses to extend a hand to us.


Must... try... to... keep... control.

If anybody's a traditional powerhouse, it's us. Currently great teams like Maine and UNH are the Nouveau Riche. And are they doing anything to help the Great Unwashed of the new conferences? Nope, not a thing -- in fact they're doing everything they can to roll back the newbies' bids.

Just because the MAAC and CHA want to join the big boys doesn't mean we should do anything not directly in our own interest. If it works out to be in our interest to schedule them, fine. If not, screw em (just as they would screw us if the roles were reversed).

Greg wrote:

And are they [Maine and UNH] doing anything to help the Great Unwashed of the new conferences? Nope, not a thing -- in fact they're doing everything they can to roll back the newbies' bids.

Well, Maine's scheduled four games this year with MAAC teams. What else could they do--change leagues?

It's hard to beat the free, no-ads (!) National Weather Service forecast.

Very detalied, which is useful for Ithaca.

[www.srh.noaa.gov]

Oops I put my above post in the wrong subthread but it looks like you can't move your posts around (only edit them). It should be in the thread started by jd.

[Q]Well, Maine's scheduled four games this year with MAAC teams. What else could they do--change leagues?[/Q]
And UNH's playing Connecticut this week. I've been a college hockey fan since I came to Cornell, so I'm not exactly well versed on some of the real 'traditional' powers (hence the time-disclaimer). Sure, I realize we'd have great programs, but in the last couple decades it hasn't been anything amazing (right?).

Anyway, I still stand by my point. The upper schools need to give the lesser school a chance to play if they're ever gonna get better. Sure, you should look out for your own interests, but you should be open to the needs of others at the same time.

To cut to the chase: Why should we care to see other NC teams get better? And why should we necessarily desire the growth of college hockey? Sure, I want to see some healthy competition for Cornell, but that existed a-plenty without the MAAC or CHA. I personally preferred it when the Div I universe consisted of the WCHA and CCHA out west and the ECAC and Hockey East here --the East-West symmetry was nice for tourney purposes and the number of Div I schools was such that a fan could stay pretty well versed about most all of them. Growth of college hockey strikes me as bringing more bad than good --both for Cornell and the college game in general.

And I would be happy with the BU games being a perennial thing for at least the near future since it probably ensures some meaningful NC games on Cornell's schedule each and every year. Of course, if Coach could convince some west powerhouse to agree to do something similar, I'd be very happy to see that (and if they won't agree to come to Lynah, screw 'em, I have no interest in seeing Cornell doing an away trip without it being reciprocated).

just want to get my 2 cents in...
i think there's no need to pick on the lesser schools... they are all trying very hard to increase their level of competition. (has anyone looked at mercyhurst's nc schedule? is it a coincidence that all of their scheduled games are on the road?)

in the long run, reciprocity is always a good thing...