Retire Cornell jersey numbers

The eLynah poll, "Should Cornell Retire [Jersey] Numbers," currently runs exactly three-to-one against, 240 no, 80 yes.

Ken Dryden didn't do enough in his years on the Hill? Joe Nieuwendyk really wasn't special until he found his way in the NHL? Or is it just that the retired jerseys aren't a concept for college sports? Or we're in danger of winding up with hockey jerseys numbering past the 30s?

I voted yes (okay to retire a jersey) with only the tangential concern that if a third or fourth hockey jersey is retired, it will probably be for a person less accomplished than Dryden, because how could you be more accomplished? Sort of like the Cornell Athletics (all sports) Hall of Fame which admitted all the really sensational Cornell athletes the first couple years starting in 1978 and now is extending outward so the recent winners are run of the mill All-America athletes, not the greatest Cornellian ever to pick up a stick or ball in X sport. 510 total out of someting like 300,000 Cornellians. But that's more than okay, too. Nobody's there who doesn't deserve recognition from Cornell.

Hockey has 31 in the Cornell Athletics Hall of Fame
Bertrand, Richard L.
Cornell, Brian L.
Cropper, Brian G.
Dadswell, Douglas D.
Doran, Michael L.
Dryden, Kenneth W.
Duthie, William
Eliot, Darren J.
Elliott, Jason
Ferguson, Douglas R.
Fullan, Lawrence J.
Hayward, Brian G.
Hughes, John W.
Hunter, Francis T. (Frank)
Kennedy, Laing E.
Kerling, Roy G.
Lodboa, Daniel S.
McCutcheon, Brian K.
Moeser, Duanne
Murray, William
Nethery, Lance
Nieuwendyk, Joseph
Orr, Harry
Pattison, D. Bruce
Rule, Robert <- perhaps more for lacrosse
Shier, Pete <- eLynah participant
Stanowski, (Walter) Skip
Tredway, R. Brock
Tufford, E. Peter
Vaughan, James
Wiggans, Robert L.

Are there any specific requirements to be in the Cornell Athletics Hall of Fame? (Aside from playing a sport at Cornell, of course). The baseball HoF, for instance, requires a ten year career and then a five year wait after retirement. Anything similar here?

KeithK
Are there any specific requirements to be in the Cornell Athletics Hall of Fame? (Aside from playing a sport at Cornell, of course). The baseball HoF, for instance, requires a ten year career and then a five year wait after retirement. Anything similar here?

Maybe a drug test? For 1960s-1970s stars, if the preserved hair sample turns up no THC, you have to wait 5 more years.

billhoward
Or is it just that the retired jerseys aren't a concept for college sports?

90% that, and 10% that all hockey numbers > 31 look stupid.

Trotsky

billhoward
Or is it just that the retired jerseys aren't a concept for college sports?

90% that, and 10% that all hockey numbers > 31 look stupid.

Agree. I'm also a bit concerned that someone's follow-on professional career can carry too much weight in selection, even subconsciously. For example, while Joe Nieuwendyk had a remarkable NHL career, his Cornell record is not more impressive--to me--than that of several others, like Lance Nethery, Dan Lodboa, Doug Ferguson, and Brian Cornell, for example. Seems to me any college honors for athletes should be based on contribution while in school, not afterwards. Retiring numbers smacks too much of professional sports, I guess. The Cornell Athletics Hall of Fame is enough recognition, and I think it should be kept more exclusive than it is.

Al DeFlorio

Trotsky

billhoward
Or is it just that the retired jerseys aren't a concept for college sports?

90% that, and 10% that all hockey numbers > 31 look stupid.

Agree. I'm also a bit concerned that someone's follow-on professional career can carry too much weight in selection, even subconsciously. For example, while Joe Nieuwendyk had a remarkable NHL career, his Cornell record is not more impressive--to me--than that of several others, like Lance Nethery, Dan Lodboa, Doug Ferguson, and Brian Cornell, for example. Seems to me any college honors for athletes should be based on contribution while in school, not afterwards. Retiring numbers smacks too much of professional sports, I guess. The Cornell Athletics Hall of Fame is enough recognition, and I think it should be kept more exclusive than it is.

I think it's telling that the [http://cornellbigred.com/news/2009/10/20/MICE_1020092019.aspx?path=mhockey article] about the retirement on the athletics website shows both players in NHL rather than Cornell uniforms. It's also kind of funny since Dryden is wearing #29 in the picture and there's a red "1" to remind you what number they're retiring.

Another reason why this is a bad idea is that it goes against a lot of the regard for history that Schafer has established, several manifestations of which make a connection between players and their predecessors who wore the same numbers. You don't honor Dryden and Nieuwendyk (and Nethery and Lodboa and ...) by taking their numbers out of circulation, but by having today's players remember whose nunmber they have on their sweater.

jtwcornell91
Another reason why this is a bad idea is that it goes against a lot of the regard for history that Schafer has established, several manifestations of which make a connection between players and their predecessors who wore the same numbers. You don't honor Dryden and Nieuwendyk (and Nethery and Lodboa and ...) by taking their numbers out of circulation, but by having today's players remember whose nunmber they have on their sweater.

Excellent point.

I may be influenced by the fact that all goalies (well, there were a few exceptions), even backups, wore #1 back in the day, so retiring that number just makes no sense to me.

I noticed also that the site shows Dryden and Nieuwendyk in their pro jerseys. It may be that Cornell's sense of history may not extend back to having significant photo archives let alone color photo archives.

You could argue that the sense of history Cornell players should feel is to all who wore the number not just the most famous person.

No way can you argue that Dryden's Cornell success was inadequate for any kind of honor Cornell bestows including retiring a jersey if that's what Cornell wants. So who is Cornell's second greatest player based on what he accomplished in a Cornell uniform, if not Nieuwendyk?

billhoward
So who is Cornell's second greatest player based on what he accomplished in a Cornell uniform, if not Nieuwendyk?

I love Nieuwendyk, but I wouldn't even put him in the top 10 all-time based solely on Cornell achievements.

Trotsky

billhoward
Or is it just that the retired jerseys aren't a concept for college sports?

90% that, and 10% that all hockey numbers > 31 look stupid.

Maybe so (in my observation, anything from 31-35 for a goalie is pretty standard everywhere except Cornell), but honestly, I've come to not really care much about this. If it makes a player happy to wear #64 and he plays better as a result, I say let him wear it.

(Which doesn't mean I won't still make fun of players on other teams for wearing football numbers, of course.)

KeithK
Are there any specific requirements to be in the Cornell Athletics Hall of Fame? (Aside from playing a sport at Cornell, of course). The baseball HoF, for instance, requires a ten year career and then a five year wait after retirement. Anything similar here?

Playing (or, for that matter, coaching) a sport at Cornell isn't even a requirement for induction into the Cornell Athletics Hall of Fame. People like Mike Teeter, Dave Wohlhueter and Kenny VanSickle, among others, have been chosen for contributions that did not involve playing or coaching.

billhoward
The eLynah poll, "Should Cornell Retire [Jersey] Numbers," currently runs exactly three-to-one against, 240 no, 80 yes.

Ken Dryden didn't do enough in his years on the Hill? Joe Nieuwendyk really wasn't special until he found his way in the NHL? Or is it just that the retired jerseys aren't a concept for college sports? Or we're in danger of winding up with hockey jerseys numbering past the 30s?

I voted yes (okay to retire a jersey) with only the tangential concern that if a third or fourth hockey jersey is retired, it will probably be for a person less accomplished than Dryden, because how could you be more accomplished? Sort of like the Cornell Athletics (all sports) Hall of Fame which admitted all the really sensational Cornell athletes the first couple years starting in 1978 and now is extending outward so the recent winners are run of the mill All-America athletes, not the greatest Cornellian ever to pick up a stick or ball in X sport. 510 total out of someting like 300,000 Cornellians. But that's more than okay, too. Nobody's there who doesn't deserve recognition from Cornell.

Hockey has 31 in the Cornell Athletics Hall of Fame
Bertrand, Richard L.
Cornell, Brian L.
Cropper, Brian G.
Dadswell, Douglas D.
Doran, Michael L.
Dryden, Kenneth W.
Duthie, William
Eliot, Darren J.
Elliott, Jason
Ferguson, Douglas R.
Fullan, Lawrence J.
Hayward, Brian G.
Hughes, John W.
Hunter, Francis T. (Frank)
Kennedy, Laing E.
Kerling, Roy G.
Lodboa, Daniel S.
McCutcheon, Brian K.
Moeser, Duanne
Murray, William
Nethery, Lance
Nieuwendyk, Joseph
Orr, Harry
Pattison, D. Bruce
Rule, Robert <- perhaps more for lacrosse
Shier, Pete <- eLynah participant
Stanowski, (Walter) Skip
Tredway, R. Brock
Tufford, E. Peter
Vaughan, James
Wiggans, Robert L.

So the answer is simple. Retire all the numbers and issue bar codes.

barcodes would make for interesting scoreboards.

KeithK
barcodes would make for interesting scoreboards.

What would happen is that scoreboards would become antiques. There would be some sort of App so that when a player went on the ice, his barcode would be scanned and transmitted to the fans' crackberries, iPhones, Droids, etc. Additional apps would allow you to do on screen tracking of real time stats like skating velocity, shot speed, and for some special players, intensity and heart , during their shift.

Maybe even someone from the band (or a cranky alum) could come up with an app that will allow fans to keep the right tempo for the cowbell, "Kill Red Kill" and other cheers that have sped up over time.

Rita

KeithK
barcodes would make for interesting scoreboards.

What would happen is that scoreboards would become antiques. There would be some sort of App so that when a player went on the ice, his barcode would be scanned and transmitted to the fans' crackberries, iPhones, Droids, etc. Additional apps would allow you to do on screen tracking of real time stats like skating velocity, shot speed, and for some special players, intensity and heart , during their shift.

Maybe even someone from the band (or a cranky alum) could come up with an app that will allow fans to keep the right tempo for the cowbell, "Kill Red Kill" and other cheers that have sped up over time.

Hey, great idea, Rita. Instead of Redcast, Google Earth could track the players in real time as they skate around the rink during the game!

Swampy
Instead of Redcast, Google Earth could track the players in real time as they skate around the rink during the game!

Thereby increasing the resolution of the picture!

imafrshmn

Swampy
Instead of Redcast, Google Earth could track the players in real time as they skate around the rink during the game!

Thereby increasing the resolution of the picture!

It should be easy to attach some sort of chip on the skate (something like what competitive runners have). I was thinking about this the other night while watching a game with my aging eyes and 10 year old TV. It would be cool if my TV (or computer if I logged into a game tracker-like site) made a noise to alert me that my favorite player just stepped on the ice.

The trick maybe coming up with a chip device that won't crack apart when hit with a 90 mph slapshot, or slammed into the boards and/or goal posts.

Maybe someone from engineering/CS will take this idea and turn it into a thesis project .

Rita

imafrshmn

Swampy
Instead of Redcast, Google Earth could track the players in real time as they skate around the rink during the game!

Thereby increasing the resolution of the picture!

It should be easy to attach some sort of chip on the skate (something like what competitive runners have). I was thinking about this the other night while watching a game with my aging eyes and 10 year old TV. It would be cool if my TV (or computer if I logged into a game tracker-like site) made a noise to alert me that my favorite player just stepped on the ice.

The trick maybe coming up with a chip device that won't crack apart when hit with a 90 mph slapshot, or slammed into the boards and/or goal posts.

Maybe someone from engineering/CS will take this idea and turn it into a thesis project .

That's a great idea! And then we can put a chip in the puck so the camera always knows where it is. And when it's shot really fast we could digitally add a trail of fire to the video feed...

KeithK

Rita

imafrshmn

Swampy
Instead of Redcast, Google Earth could track the players in real time as they skate around the rink during the game!

Thereby increasing the resolution of the picture!

It should be easy to attach some sort of chip on the skate (something like what competitive runners have). I was thinking about this the other night while watching a game with my aging eyes and 10 year old TV. It would be cool if my TV (or computer if I logged into a game tracker-like site) made a noise to alert me that my favorite player just stepped on the ice.

The trick maybe coming up with a chip device that won't crack apart when hit with a 90 mph slapshot, or slammed into the boards and/or goal posts.

Maybe someone from engineering/CS will take this idea and turn it into a thesis project .

That's a great idea! And then we can put a chip in the puck so the camera always knows where it is. And when it's shot really fast we could digitally add a trail of fire to the video feed...

No glowing purple pucks!

Rita

KeithK
barcodes would make for interesting scoreboards.

What would happen is that scoreboards would become antiques. There would be some sort of App so that when a player went on the ice, his barcode would be scanned and transmitted to the fans' crackberries, iPhones, Droids, etc. Additional apps would allow you to do on screen tracking of real time stats like skating velocity, shot speed, and for some special players, intensity and heart , during their shift.

Maybe even someone from the band (or a cranky alum) could come up with an app that will allow fans to keep the right tempo for the cowbell, "Kill Red Kill" and other cheers that have sped up over time.

Granted, the CSTV Gametracker version of this technology would still by law be an entire period behind the actual action.

Rita
Maybe even someone from the band (or a cranky alum) could come up with an app that will allow fans to keep the right tempo for the cowbell, "Kill Red Kill" and other cheers that have sped up over time.

Chants that don't speed up over time? Well now THAT'S just crazy talk.

Josh '99

Rita
Maybe even someone from the band (or a cranky alum) could come up with an app that will allow fans to keep the right tempo for the cowbell, "Kill Red Kill" and other cheers that have sped up over time.

Chants that don't speed up over time? WellnowTHAT'Sjustcrazytalk.

FYP.

Josh '99

Rita
Maybe even someone from the band (or a cranky alum) could come up with an app that will allow fans to keep the right tempo for the cowbell, "Kill Red Kill" and other cheers that have sped up over time.

Chants that don't speed up over time? Well now THAT'S just crazy talk.

I have noticed that with the undergrads these days. I blame The Myspace.

Chip in each players' skates to position him at every point in the game would actually be cool for scouting reports, time on ice, plus/minus, etcetera. Sort of like traffic transponders. Except if you have a couple cameras covering the ice, they could track each player, either by an intern/ student tagging each player, or the camera/OCR figuring out who's who (the barcodes?) and it would be done automatically. Then no need for transponders.

French Rage

Josh '99

Rita
Maybe even someone from the band (or a cranky alum) could come up with an app that will allow fans to keep the right tempo for the cowbell, "Kill Red Kill" and other cheers that have sped up over time.

Chants that don't speed up over time? Well now THAT'S just crazy talk.

I have noticed that with the undergrads these days. I blame The MyspaceFacepage KIDSTHESEDAY!!.

FYP.

Trotsky

billhoward
So who is Cornell's second greatest player based on what he accomplished in a Cornell uniform, if not Nieuwendyk?

I love Nieuwendyk, but I wouldn't even put him in the top 10 all-time based solely on Cornell achievements.

I would vote for Dryden and Nieuwendyk's numbers to be retired. My basis is their play relative to their peers at the time. That may not be a relevant criterion to everyone, but I feel that their play was so far above their peers that they are deserving of special consideration. Number retirement has to be very selective obviously.......

RatushnyFan

Trotsky

billhoward
So who is Cornell's second greatest player based on what he accomplished in a Cornell uniform, if not Nieuwendyk?

I love Nieuwendyk, but I wouldn't even put him in the top 10 all-time based solely on Cornell achievements.

I would vote for Dryden and Nieuwendyk's numbers to be retired. My basis is their play relative to their peers at the time. That may not be a relevant criterion to everyone, but I feel that their play was so far above their peers that they are deserving of special consideration. Number retirement has to be very selective obviously.......

Are you talking about their CU peers or college hockey peers. If you mean CU peers then that makes it hard to say Dryden should go. He had a great group of players around him all the time. He was great, but certainly would not have done as well without the others. Relative to his peers he was ahead, how far, that's hard to say.

Nieuwendyk was far ahead of his peers, but not able to carry them along. Let's face it they are being retired because they want to honor Nieuwendyk and certainly can't do it without Dryden as well. Why don't they retire jerseys with their name and number, but don't retire the number. Then we could do more. A line-up of them on the wall that the students walk by would be great to show our tradition.

I'll just post what I wrote when this first came up:

Re: Retired Number
Posted by: RichH (---.hsd1.ct.comcast.net) [ PM ]
Date: February 14, 2007 08:30PM

Jim Hyla
And of course that is exactly what all of us are discussing. We all agree that honoring him is correct; for me that belongs in the Hall of Fame. Retire the number, no.



I agree completely with Jim, and I actually feel quite strongly about this. I haven't spoken up mainly because I couldn't have said how I feel any better than the text at [www.cutradition.com] has already done. Also, I knew once I started writing, it would probably turn into something resembling a reactionary manifesto. But then again, the support that the petition hasn't gotten has been a little disappointing to me. Thus I begin:

Look...perhaps I'm kidding myself in the athlete/celebrity world in which we live, but I'm still married to the idea of keeping collegiate athletics as close as possible to the amateur ideal of the fading existence of the "student-athlete." I'm as proud as anyone of the people who came through the university that I attended, and love to show that pride to the college football/basketball "fans" who buy hats and foam fingers of institutions of higher education that they never intend to attend. Those who perpetuate the exploitation of our educational system by people who have decided to use schools as certain professional sports' "minor leagues" and whore themselves for the almighty buck. *huff* [/steps away from the soapbox]

My point: I love all the great players who chose for one reason or another to attend Cornell and play hockey. Even some of the not-so-great. Retiring numbers is such a thing for professional sports. I'm of the opinion that collegiate uniform numbers should not be retired, except in such circumstances that an event happened that so changed a program emotionally that nobody would want to wear the number again out of respect. Such is the case with the two retired Lax jerseys. Or Travis Roy at BU. Or Syracuse's #44 in football. Joe Nieuwendyk's #25, while worn by one of the best and most successful and classy athletes to come to Ithaca, shouldn't be holier-than-thou. On top of all the players I love, I also love the program's tradition. I like to think of how excited the team was to learn about the great players who wore their numbers before them. I see the great uniform numbers as a torch to be passed (maybe that's too romantic, but I'm trying to explain why this is important to me).

1-31.

That's my TEAM. No individual is above that, just like nobody's skating around with #91 because that's what he wore in Juniors. Retiring numbers is so...Florida State University. If we retire numbers, we may as well just switch to the Nike Swift jersey with crazy star striping, chevrons, and shimmer jersey material, and slap together a black 3rd jersey with a huge Huggy Bear off-centered and space-age fonts with numbers on the shoulder. Yeah! (sorry, got carried away again.)

I'm all for honoring the Cornell hockey greats in the renovated Lynah. There's a nice, thick edge along the floor of the mezzanine that faces the entire rink. Let's do a "Ring of Honor" instead of retiring uniform numbers. The original thread already had people making lists of numbers to retire once we do the first one. Let's not be that school. Hang the name and number on the walls, and let the skaters lining up on the blue line during introductions be able to see that and feel some pride of having the same number on his back.

Heck, I'll even throw this out there: for the first full season of the renovated Lynah, let's bring back some of the legends that generations of fans haven't had the chance to meet or hear about. One per home weekend. Celebrate all the greats. Nieuwendyk, Dryden, Nethery, Lodboa, Harkness. We all know the names, but we've never had a chance to give them our thanks in a proper Lynah roar. In 1995, the 1970 team came back, and it was pretty special.

If you agree with the gist of what I've said here, sign the petition. Don't retire the numbers.

RichH
I'll just post what I wrote when this first came up:

Re: Retired Number
Posted by: RichH (---.hsd1.ct.comcast.net) [ PM ]
Date: February 14, 2007 08:30PM

Jim Hyla
And of course that is exactly what all of us are discussing. We all agree that honoring him is correct; for me that belongs in the Hall of Fame. Retire the number, no.



I agree completely with Jim, and I actually feel quite strongly about this. I haven't spoken up mainly because I couldn't have said how I feel any better than the text at [www.cutradition.com] has already done. Also, I knew once I started writing, it would probably turn into something resembling a reactionary manifesto. But then again, the support that the petition hasn't gotten has been a little disappointing to me. Thus I begin:

Look...perhaps I'm kidding myself in the athlete/celebrity world in which we live, but I'm still married to the idea of keeping collegiate athletics as close as possible to the amateur ideal of the fading existence of the "student-athlete." I'm as proud as anyone of the people who came through the university that I attended, and love to show that pride to the college football/basketball "fans" who buy hats and foam fingers of institutions of higher education that they never intend to attend. Those who perpetuate the exploitation of our educational system by people who have decided to use schools as certain professional sports' "minor leagues" and whore themselves for the almighty buck. *huff* [/steps away from the soapbox]

My point: I love all the great players who chose for one reason or another to attend Cornell and play hockey. Even some of the not-so-great. Retiring numbers is such a thing for professional sports. I'm of the opinion that collegiate uniform numbers should not be retired, except in such circumstances that an event happened that so changed a program emotionally that nobody would want to wear the number again out of respect. Such is the case with the two retired Lax jerseys. Or Travis Roy at BU. Or Syracuse's #44 in football. Joe Nieuwendyk's #25, while worn by one of the best and most successful and classy athletes to come to Ithaca, shouldn't be holier-than-thou. On top of all the players I love, I also love the program's tradition. I like to think of how excited the team was to learn about the great players who wore their numbers before them. I see the great uniform numbers as a torch to be passed (maybe that's too romantic, but I'm trying to explain why this is important to me).

1-31.

That's my TEAM. No individual is above that, just like nobody's skating around with #91 because that's what he wore in Juniors. Retiring numbers is so...Florida State University. If we retire numbers, we may as well just switch to the Nike Swift jersey with crazy star striping, chevrons, and shimmer jersey material, and slap together a black 3rd jersey with a huge Huggy Bear off-centered and space-age fonts with numbers on the shoulder. Yeah! (sorry, got carried away again.)

I'm all for honoring the Cornell hockey greats in the renovated Lynah. There's a nice, thick edge along the floor of the mezzanine that faces the entire rink. Let's do a "Ring of Honor" instead of retiring uniform numbers. The original thread already had people making lists of numbers to retire once we do the first one. Let's not be that school. Hang the name and number on the walls, and let the skaters lining up on the blue line during introductions be able to see that and feel some pride of having the same number on his back.

Heck, I'll even throw this out there: for the first full season of the renovated Lynah, let's bring back some of the legends that generations of fans haven't had the chance to meet or hear about. One per home weekend. Celebrate all the greats. Nieuwendyk, Dryden, Nethery, Lodboa, Harkness. We all know the names, but we've never had a chance to give them our thanks in a proper Lynah roar. In 1995, the 1970 team came back, and it was pretty special.

If you agree with the gist of what I've said here, sign the petition. Don't retire the numbers.

I totally agree with Rich on this. And, I'm not a fan of retiring numbers at the pro level either. There are many ways to honor a player and his/her accomplishments such as statues, rings of honor, plaques, charities. I know that personally, if I was an athlete on a collegiate or pro team, I would take great pride in wearing a number that once belonged to someone who did outstanding things for his/her team.

It's a number. The number didn't do anything special, the person did. Honor the person, not the number.

Hi guys...new to the debate, and I am not saying I feel strongly either way, but I voted in favor of retiring. There was a time when I would have been strongly against the concept, but then I saw how Ohio State retired jerseys for their football team (where they also have number-restrictions, by position category I believe) and I thought it could be emulated, in that it is a very select group (Heisman winners only, +the founder of the program, +the first African American All American at OSU who also happened to be a member of the Ohio High School, Ohio State Athletics, College Football and Pro Football halls of fame).

[www.coachtressel.com]

You have to limit it to a very very select group. I think I'm unsure if I would allow professional accomplishments to weigh on the decision. I am leaning towards "no," in which case only Dryden's number should be retired under the argument that he played before the Hobey Baker award was handed out.

Whenever someone says they want Cornell to be more like Ohio State, it makes me sad.

jaywbigred
Hi guys...new to the debate, and I am not saying I feel strongly either way, but I voted in favor of retiring. There was a time when I would have been strongly against the concept, but then I saw how Ohio State retired jerseys for their football team (where they also have number-restrictions, by position category I believe) and I thought it could be emulated, in that it is a very select group (Heisman winners only, +the founder of the program, +the first African American All American at OSU who also happened to be a member of the Ohio High School, Ohio State Athletics, College Football and Pro Football halls of fame).

[www.coachtressel.com]

You have to limit it to a very very select group. I think I'm unsure if I would allow professional accomplishments to weigh on the decision. I am leaning towards "no," in which case only Dryden's number should be retired under the argument that he played before the Hobey Baker award was handed out.

RichH
Whenever someone says they want Cornell to be more like Ohio State, it makes me sad.

The only move we should make to be more like Ohio State already happened (we hired Casey Jones).

Jim Hyla
Why don't they retire jerseys with their name and number, but don't retire the number. Then we could do more. A line-up of them on the wall that the students walk by would be great to show our tradition.

Not a bad idea. I wouldn't have a problem retiring two numbers, but I like your idea as well. My argument for Dryden and Nieuwendyk was relative to their peers at CU and college hockey broadly at the time they played. I know that Nieuwendyk's numbers aren't a reason for retiring his number, but as stated by many who some him play at CU he truly had a profound impact on the team.

Jim Hyla
Why don't they retire jerseys with their name and number, but don't retire the number. Then we could do more. A line-up of them on the wall that the students walk by would be great to show our tradition.

Clarkson has (had?) a couple jerseys hanging from their rafters (Dave Taylor IIRC) and I always found that a great touch. Not sure whether the numbers were retired.

I always thought in the pros numbers should be retired for a set period of time -- a LONG period, say, 50 years. The "un-retiring" of the number would be an opportunity to recall the past glory of the team/player, and give the new players something to aspire to. It would also mean the Yankees wouldn't have to look like an NFL team. Baseball uniform numbers should not exceed 44, ever.

The Big Guy on the retiring of his number, spoken last night at the ceremony:

"I hope that Mike (Schafer) or any subsequent coach would feel that he has the right, that if some goalie comes along and they think, 'maybe there's there something here,' and if that person wants to wear number one..." Dryden said, his voice trailing off. "There's something very nice about having a number in the rafters, but there's something also quite nice to see it on the ice. Not to take it out of the rafters, I'd be happy for it to stay there, but if it found its way to the ice again, then that would be quite nice too."

I think so, too.

And they retired Woody Hayes's clenched fist after the Clemson game. One hopes that will never be used again to knock down an opposing player on a breakaway.

Al DeFlorio
The Big Guy on the retiring of his number, spoken last night at the ceremony:

"I hope that Mike (Schafer) or any subsequent coach would feel that he has the right, that if some goalie comes along and they think, 'maybe there's there something here,' and if that person wants to wear number one..." Dryden said, his voice trailing off. "There's something very nice about having a number in the rafters, but there's something also quite nice to see it on the ice. Not to take it out of the rafters, I'd be happy for it to stay there, but if it found its way to the ice again, then that would be quite nice too."

I think so, too.

Hear, hear.

I wore my Lodboa jersey to my first home game last night. Essentially I wanted others to know that we had some other great players who went there as well. Met a fan looking at the Lodboa picture and he started talking about running into Lodboa at a hotel in town. He started up a conversation about CU hockey not knowing who he was, he graduated in the 70s. That, aside from winning is what makes this fun.

Now if they only had taken my advice and retired jerseys, not numbers, all would be right in the world.

If you were against retiring Dryden and Nieuwendyk, I imagine you'll have stronger feelings toward the purpose of this facebook group:

[www.facebook.com]

amerks127
If you were against retiring Dryden and Nieuwendyk, I imagine you'll have stronger feelings toward the purpose of this facebook group:

[www.facebook.com]

Yeah retiring Wittman,Foote,Dale's numbers would be bad. If they had won the championship or maybe even if they had made a Final 4, retire their numbers but not for a Sweet 16 despite how amazing of an accomplishment that was. Yes those three were the core of the best basketball team in Cornell history and the best basketball team in the modern era of the Ivy league but by retiring their numbers you are sort of admitting that we will never make a Sweet 16 ever again. Just hang a banner that says Sweet 16, that would be enough.

Eh, it's just basketball. Who cares?