No More HockeyCam

Just returned from lunch to find the ethernet wire from Lynah sitting on my chair. Some fine tact they have there. Guess that's it. Sorry. Anyone who wants their donations returned, e-mail me.

Athletics offically SUCKS!!!

Age,

Thanks for running it last year. It was huge to be able to watch the games from LA, synced up with the radio broadcast. I'll miss it.

Phil

But I just got a cable modem! Aaargh!

That's a dick move, right there. If they don't want you doing it, that's one thing, but you'd hope they'd at least, you know, TRY to be polite about it.

Josh-

Fair enough. But Age has never tried to be polite when dealing with them.

I have been nothing but polite until the last few weeks.

John E Hayes '98 '00 wrote:

Fair enough. But Age has never tried to be polite when dealing with them.

Still, even if he's been impolite (which I have no reason to believe he has), he's at least always used WORDS when attempting to convey a message.

(OK, and a conveniently placed screw or two.)

I've never actually used the HockeyCam myself (I just got high-speed service, too), but I think we should all thank Age anyway for setting it up for as long as he did. It's a shame it had to end at all - let alone the way that it did - but it was a great feature while it lasted.

Thanks, Age.

Sigh...

Thanks for some great hockey Age, especially in the later part of last year when all the kinks had gone. That was an awesome thing you had going.

Now I'd like to know Cornell's reasoning on this one. I honestly can't think of a single good excuse for cutting my eyes to Lynah. You could have attributed the OCSN deal to a bad decision, but this one is just a blatant screw you to the fans. I'm still waiting on this allegedly improved experience they said they were going to give us.

If they keep improving things at this rate there'll be no Faithful left to enjoy how wonderful it's gonna be.

Told ya: bunker mentality. Add spiteful to my already lengthy list of descriptors.

Instead of using the HockeyCam as a unique recruiting tool, they pull the plug. Maybe they want to drag the hockey program down to the same level as football, basketball, and baseball. Nothing would surprise me now.

My thanks, as well, to Age. You gave us great hockey and put up a good fight. You didn't deserve the Athletic Department you got . . .

This is long, and perhaps a wee bit hyperbolic, but I put all that time into it, so here you go:

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Mr. Noel,

You don't need me to tell you that no team has a more ardent following
than the Cornell hockey team. Big Red Hockey gets the sort of student
and alumni support that I imagine other programs--particularly in the
Ivies--must dream about. And in Age Manocchia's HockeyCam, you had an
unprecedented opportunity to satisfy the team's supporters and keep them
connected to Cornell and Big Red sports. Indeed, "opportunity" isn't
even the right word. You had the *ability*. The technology is
available. The infrastructure was in place. It was volunteer-run and
funded by donations. (My donation included, though I can assure you that
the Athletic Department will get no such donation from me now.) And the
desire for it is tremendous.

What possible reason could your Athletic Department have to reject the
HockeyCam and alienate a large portion of your fanbase? Not to mention
other fans you'll now be unable to reach? Most galling of all is that
you made no effort to communicate with the fans on the matter of
internet broadcasting. I strongly encourage you to rethink your policy
toward the HockeyCam. If you want Cornell supporters to pay for online
broadcasts, then provide the sort of content that justifies it. You are
in the interesting position of dealing with a fanbase that is
sophisticated both in sports and in technology. Give us some credit and
show us some respect. You may find it reciprocated.

Perhaps you feel you're running a business, but you should remember
that Big Red sports fans are motivated by Cornell spirit, and your
bottom line is tied directly to how we're treated and how we feel about
Cornell. After the flurry of bad faith that kicked off this hockey
season, I am not feeling at all positive about the Cornell Athletic
Department, and I'm not alone. The community of Cornell Hockey fans
that you've disrespected will continue
to support the team as strongly as ever, and we will find ways to do it
without supporting your Department.

Sincerely,
-Lisa McGill '97

Well said Lisa!!!

This, I guess, gets chalked up to the adage concerning catching more flies with honey than vinegar or whatever that old adage is. I'm not one to philosophize and therefore don't have to remember those sayings.

That our of the way, I think that the athletic department is being thin skinned and myopic. The 'cam was a one of a kind volunteer effort that should have been and may yet be copied all over the league. I was almost as proud of the hockeycam as I was of the team. When it first was "broadcast" last year I talked it up at work and at the Houston Fieldhouse of RIP. One of my friends tried to convince me that someone else had already done this (at Clarkson - no less) but I sure wasn't buying any of that.

So it is with a tear that I say at least a temporary farewell to what I thought was one of the best promotional tools that the team had. Static from the 200 mile distant broadcast and no video. Gee we're back in the 70's again. Who knew time travel was so easily accomplished?

And I'm getting DSL this weekend.

Beeeej

what Ben said!

i can't freakin believe this. this is just plain WRONG!
i didn't think that it was possble to be this P.O'd at a bunch of strangers but here i am cursing at my monitor. perhaps coach should be informed of what is now going on. it has gotten out of hand. without the fans buying tix and without their support there'd be no paperwork, etc for these morons to do all day! they couldn't forget/overlook this. i am now officially as agitated as that bear in age's new logo has got to be (i mean - come on - it can't be fun having that thing shoved up your ass....hmmmm- might i suggest someone trying this on the members of the athletic dept making all these poor decisions?)

other than that - i'll chime in with my thanks to Age. you've done a lot for the rest of us and we are VERY thankful for your hard work and dedication.

Tell me about it; I also got a cable modem when I moved to N'Awlins, with HockeyCam being a big part of the inspiration (that and the consideration that with a cell phone, dial-up was the only reason to have a land line--although it is suprisingly difficult to order pizza with just a cell phone). It is still convenient, I just wish the timing hadn't worked out so crappily.

I'd like to believe that this wasn't personal, they just didn't want the hockeycam competing against their pay audio service.
Hopefully, nobody here will subscribe to it. I would think that most anyone who would subscribe to internet audio is aware of this site. Just listen to the away feeds, that's what I will do!

I guess amongst all of this I'm a bit confused. Age, where do you work that they could put the cable on your chair? Was there a note with it or anything? I mean...no doubt you were somewhat inflamatory on this site...what started all of the animosity? If this is the manner it was done...with no other communication...thats terrible...

And not to belittle Age's great feed...but in the spirit of fun:
AND TO THINK...I NAMED MY FIRST CHILD HOCKEYCAM!!!

My wife and I would like to thank Age for his efforts, as well. As parents of one of the players, this was our only means of watching him play. We live too far from Ithaca to be able to watch in person. Last year we commented to Coach Schafer how pleased we were to be able to tune in to the Web Cam. We showed the Web Cam to another Cornell recruit's Dad and I am sure that helped sell The Big Red Program and his son will be playing for the team next year.
We have signed up for the radio link as we want to hear the game as announced by the Home Team, but are really disappointed that we will not be able to watch the play. And no Age, we do not want our donation back. It was well spent! We only hope that you are not too much out of pocket for your expenses.
If the Athletic Department does not want the help of dedicated volunteers, we hope that they are prepared to step in and supply the most advanced forms of media available to make their teams as attractive as possible to potential recruits for their various athletic programs. Failure to do this may mean a loss of recruits to other universities. Cornell may have great academics, but a student athlete is probably not motivated to go to Cornell
based on the academics. He is far more likely to want to play for a particular team because of the coach, tradition, and most importantly, atmosphere. That is provided by you, the true fans.
After his campus visit and watching a home game, my son was sold on Cornell. As parents (albeit uninitiated ones) we wanted him to go to a different university (fear keeps us from saying the dreaded name on this site as Age might track me down). Having the Hockey Cam to watch for the home games helped us to follow his and the team's progress and it really meant a lot to us. We would rush home on Friday nights from work (as we did tonight) in eager anticipation to watch the game. Our disappointment in not being able to watch tonight's match is huge.
We thank Age once again for last year's broadcasts and we thank you, the fans, for making Cornell Hockey the exciting and memorable program that it is today.

What else could there possibly be to say?

I wish this parent would forward a copy of his/her posting to Andy Noel (jan16@cornell.edu), Anita Brenner (amb42@cornell.edu), and Mike Schafer (mcs14@cornell.edu).

WOW. If the can't get it now they never will.