Went down to the Everblades Classic. It was like going to Boston for a tournament but a) it was warmer and b) it's nicer crashing at your in-laws' condo that the on floor of some high school friend's MIT frat house.
One thing that seems to be a Cornell constant over the decades: They wear the same well-worn pants. They're ripped, they're stitched with coarse black thread, there are gashes on the seams. In comparison, Notre Dame and Maine seem to have gotten new uniforms just for this tournament. 'Course, the guys in the beat up uniforms were the ones who hoisted the trophy.
BTW: The tournament was a class act. And if you're used to being manhandled going into an arena in the Northeast or any major city, eveybody was friendly, and they didn't, say, threaten to arrest you for bringing in your own bottle of water.
QuoteBill Howard wrote:
One thing that seems to be a Cornell constant over the decades: They wear the same well-worn pants. They're ripped, they're stitched with coarse black thread, there are gashes on the seams. In comparison, Notre Dame and Maine seem to have gotten new uniforms just for this tournament. 'Course, the guys in the beat up uniforms were the ones who hoisted the trophy.
Goes back at least to the Bertrand era. Maybe it's the "blue-collar" work ethic stuff. 30 or so years ago I received a difficult-to-get game ticket from Dick and in return sent him a check asking him to buy new pants for a defenseman whose pants were tattered, torn, and just plain ugly. Instead, he got me a Boosters membership. ::screwy::
QuoteBill Howard wrote:
Notre Dame and Maine seem to have gotten new uniforms just for this tournament.
Well, Notre Dame had those green sweaters which were either special for the tournament, or at least not worn often.
QuoteBill Howard wrote:
BTW: The tournament was a class act. And if you're used to being manhandled going into an arena in the Northeast or any major city, eveybody was friendly, and they didn't, say, threaten to arrest you for bringing in your own bottle of water.
I second that. One of the ushers came up to the group of us standing up in the corner and chanting, and we were afraid she was going to hassle us, but she was just recruiting Cornell fans for the intermission games.
Also, they have that sports bar in the rink, and if you go there early enough, you don't have to pay for parking. B-]
The Sports Bar at the TECO Arena in Florida I think was the official - and unofficial - hangout for Notre Dame fans, it being only two-something months before St. Patrick's Day and they needed to practice for the big day in case they'd forgotten how to hoist a beer mug.
Also, they were nice enough to have the games on TV in the bar...this way, as The Old Man and I were finishing our beers, we could comment how the teams who just started playing looked like they were wearing Cornell and The Ohio State uniforms. After about five seconds we both slapped each other for forgetting that the game start times had been moved up.
I agree the ushers were definitely cool, considering our tickets were on the other side of the rink and they had no problem with us sitting in the Cornell section.
The ripped pants are to increase mobility...having that rip on the inside of the pant legs makes it increases side-to-side range of motion in the legs, takes away weight, and just generally feels less bulky. The coarse black thread...probably just to keep the pads from falling out of the rips.
I've worn these Cornell pants myself. The inseam of the pant leg is actually zippered with black zippers. Most (if not all) players keep the inseam unzipped for mobility, as suggested by canucksfan. Of course, this does not preclude the possibility that they are also ripped!