ELynah Forum

In response to your two points:

Profanity: I also sometimes wish this were removed from the rink. This year I've stopped saying "a-hole" in the "you goon" cheer. Why? Because I think we can be intimidating without being profane. And my opinion was partly shaped because of some people on this board who suggested that "a-hole" be directed only toward particularly egregious goons. However, even if we are not profane, we can still be extremely loud. Being loud is not good, but GREAT. This is why we've had outstanding recruiting classes recently. Players want to play in Lynah.

Fish: I know people who do clean up the fish. They don't mind. They wear gloves, and believe me (being an avid deep-sea fisherman), even without gloves snapper is easier to wash off your hands than...well nevermind. This is an outstanding tradition. It is fun. It gets the crowd very involved. It sends the opposing team crowering by their bench in fear of being struck by multiple squid. To get rid of this is to say we want to be like all the other Ivy Leagueteams who have atrocious fan support. Coming from the south, I appreciate the importance of a loyal fanbase. If Nighman really wants to screw up, he should continue to throw the most loyal fans out of the rink as often as possible.

Regarding this gentleman, if he were in the athletics department for a large public university in the south, he would have been gone long ago. You simply do not offend the people who support your atheltics programs and are likely to do so in the future. It's suicidal. If he throws people out for tossing fish next year, I give him two more years. After that, hopefully my individual alumni contibutions will be enough to have him removed.

I love Cornell. I love our hockey team. I despise anyone who tries to undermine the longstanding traditions that have led us to greatness.

GO CU!!!



Post Edited (12-07-03 01:53)

Matter of opinion:

Who do you think is the worse ref, Murphy or Dell? Bonus points for creativity, and if you manage to bash Kotyra in your post your score is doubled.

This is my first post on elynah, but I've been lurking for some time. As one of the people who got tossed from Lynah tonight for tossing fish, a few comments:

First, I think it's ridiculous that Gene and his merry men are throwing people out of the rink in record numbers this year. I got tossed last year for saying "asshole" once and this year for tossing an $8 red snapper. I'll get back to the fish in a moment. To throw people out for obscenity is foolish. I've seen so many interviews from top recruits in the last few years mentioning the atmosphere of Lynah as one of the reasons they chose to play for Cornell. Are we trying to remove this element? Perhaps one of the reasons we are suffering at home this year is because a lot of devoted fans are listening to the games on the drive home after getting ejected.

I understand the desire to clean up the language, but there is no reason to be this hardcore about it. In four years I have never seen anything like this. It's almost like the rink attendants are city cops at the end of the month.

Second, the fish. Getting tossed for throwing fish on the ice is like getting tossed for saying "Harvard Sucks." I'm embarrassed that my school has such a policy. This is one of the most noteworthy traditions in college hockey. Do we really want to get rid of something this wonderful? Throwing toys on the ice is not even a close second. In fact, it is something I would expect at a women's hockey game (and I don't mean that as an insult because I have friends on the team). It's weak. It's effeminate. It does not scream "We want to remove the will to win from our opponents." It says we care about kids, which is fine outside of the rink.

In the rink, I want to create the most hostile atmosphere possible for our opponents. This means yelling at the top of our lungs. This means using obscenities when appropriate. And this means honoring traditions like throwing fish at the worthless players for Harvard (Sucks) at every available opportunity.

With all that off my chest, it sounds like McKee played the game of his life tonight. Congratulations to him, Hynes, and the rest of the team for a well-deserved win tonight.

Until Union...