Opinion Piece: A Little Perspective

[Jim Hyla]

I don't understand how all these judgments are being made as to whether or not this team has or has not met expectations. They haven't even yet played a game that matters with respect to meeting expectations.

Sorry Jordan, but this is the dumbest thing I've seen posted to this thread yet.  Just because Cornell can still win out and make the NCAA's doesn't mean they haven't squandered opportunities to solidify a spot.

Not to mention that "just barely qualifying for the tournament" is itself below expectations.

I agree with Jordan here.  If the team goes on a torrid run and wins their next eight games, nobody is going to say that they in any way didn't meet expectations because the NCAA seeding wasn't what it might potentially have been with more RS wins or because Yale won the Cleary Spittoon.  

They've "squandered opportunities to solidify a spot" in the NCAA, yes, but that's not really the same thing.

The if is the important variable. What most are talking about is what has happened so far. I think this has been a good week weather wise, if the sun doesn't come up tomorrow then it will change my opinion of the week. If the team puts it all together and wins the NCAAs, then it's been a great year. Right now I'm disappointed.

OK, but I think the point is, all the things that will determine whether you're ultimately disappointed or not haven't happened yet.  If the team was 29-0-0 right now then you'd be feeling pretty good at the moment, but if they got swept next weekend in the ECAC QF and lost in the first round of the NCAAs, you'd probably ultimately be quite disappointed; conversely, if they were 10-17-2 right now, you wouldn't be thrilled with how the season had gone thus far, but if they then won the ECAC tournament, got the autobid, and made it to the Frozen Four before getting knocked out of the NCAA Tournament, you'd probably ultimately be pretty happy.  In either case, it's just too soon to make any kind of a postseason assessment about what kind of a year it was, and I think that holds true now as well.

You're absolutely right. I have no idea how I'll be feeling in April. All I can, and all we should be discussing, is how we feel now. Leave the ifs for later, once we know how the ifs turn out. Then I'll know how I feel then. Do you see how stupid this all is? I/we can talk about what has happened and how we feel about it; but you're right, if things take a different turn, we might feel differently later.

[Josh '99]

I don't understand how all these judgments are being made as to whether or not this team has or has not met expectations. They haven't even yet played a game that matters with respect to meeting expectations.

Sorry Jordan, but this is the dumbest thing I've seen posted to this thread yet.  Just because Cornell can still win out and make the NCAA's doesn't mean they haven't squandered opportunities to solidify a spot.

Not to mention that "just barely qualifying for the tournament" is itself below expectations.

I agree with Jordan here.  If the team goes on a torrid run and wins their next eight games, nobody is going to say that they in any way didn't meet expectations because the NCAA seeding wasn't what it might potentially have been with more RS wins or because Yale won the Cleary Spittoon.  

They've "squandered opportunities to solidify a spot" in the NCAA, yes, but that's not really the same thing.

The if is the important variable. What most are talking about is what has happened so far. I think this has been a good week weather wise, if the sun doesn't come up tomorrow then it will change my opinion of the week. If the team puts it all together and wins the NCAAs, then it's been a great year. Right now I'm disappointed.

OK, but I think the point is, all the things that will determine whether you're ultimately disappointed or not haven't happened yet.  If the team was 29-0-0 right now then you'd be feeling pretty good at the moment, but if they got swept next weekend in the ECAC QF and lost in the first round of the NCAAs, you'd probably ultimately be quite disappointed; conversely, if they were 10-17-2 right now, you wouldn't be thrilled with how the season had gone thus far, but if they then won the ECAC tournament, got the autobid, and made it to the Frozen Four before getting knocked out of the NCAA Tournament, you'd probably ultimately be pretty happy.  In either case, it's just too soon to make any kind of a postseason assessment about what kind of a year it was, and I think that holds true now as well.

You're absolutely right. I have no idea how I'll be feeling in April. All I can, and all we should be discussing, is how we feel now. Leave the ifs for later, once we know how the ifs turn out. Then I'll know how I feel then. Do you see how stupid this all is? I/we can talk about what has happened and how we feel about it; but you're right, if things take a different turn, we might feel differently later.

You're right, it really is a pretty stupid conversation, all in all.  (Myself included, of course.)  :-}

[phillysportsfan]

What I am wondering is why are the ticket sales so slow for this series? The regular season game was a sellout and I waited in line for an hour or something and didnt get a ticket. This time I was able to just walk up at 10am and they had plenty of tickets left.

[Jim Hyla]

What I am wondering is why are the ticket sales so slow for this series? The regular season game was a sellout and I waited in line for an hour or something and didnt get a ticket. This time I was able to just walk up at 10am and they had plenty of tickets left.

That has been happening with playoff games. They are not always bought with the season package, so those that don't want to come don't buy. Although the recent games have been listed with good attendance, there have been a lot of empty seats. If not sold for the season, those would have been available then as well.

[Trotsky]

Kind of a shock that Harvard won't be a sell-out, however.  ("in my day" cane-shake, here, conveniently forgetting that in my day we didn't play a post-season game until I was a senior).

[CowbellGuy]

...in my day we didn't play a post-season game until I was a senior.

So were the other years relatively mediocre? Sorry, couldn't help it.

[kaelistus]

And for all the protests to the contrary, CU is not Harvard, Yale or Princeton academically or reputaionally.  

In all seriousness, there's no question CU is not H,Y,P reputationally. However, there's no way in hell I'm going to agree with you on the academically line. With some specific majors as exceptions, the top 20-30 schools are pretty similar.

Then again, I went to CU-Engineering. #1 in the Ivy's academically AND reputationally! :-)

[Towerroad]

We also make the best Ice Cream in the Ivy League!

[French Rage]

We also make the best Ice Cream in the Ivy League!

Except for that barbecue ice cream they kept trying to push on us my first couple years.

[Al DeFlorio]

Then again, I went to CU-Engineering. #1 in the Ivy's academically AND reputationally! :-)

Right.  I turned down Yale and Princeton; MIT, too, but for different reasons.

[nshapiro]

Let's not get hung up on semantics, people.  

If we didn't, eLynah would be missing most of its posts.

[Jordan 04]

We also make the best Ice Cream in the Ivy League!

Except for that barbecue ice cream they kept trying to push on us my first couple years.

I thought that ice cream was courtesy of Sylvia's soul food restaurant in Harlem, as part of the one- or twice-a-semester guest catering of the dining halls. Nobody would eat it, but rather than dump it, Noyes trotted out the tubs of it day after day, week after week, month after month. But now that you  mentioned it, it's entirely possible that the Dairy Bar made and supplied it in conjunction with the Sylvia's themed dinner.

Either way, Sylvia's/BBQ Ice cream has been a running joke among friends and I for ~9 years now.

[nshapiro]

I don't understand how all these judgments are being made as to whether or not this team has or has not met expectations. They haven't even yet played a game that matters with respect to meeting expectations.

Sorry Jordan, but this is the dumbest thing I've seen posted to this thread yet.  Just because Cornell can still win out and make the NCAA's doesn't mean they haven't squandered opportunities to solidify a spot.

Not to mention that "just barely qualifying for the tournament" is itself below expectations.

I agree with Jordan here.  If the team goes on a torrid run and wins their next eight games, nobody is going to say that they in any way didn't meet expectations because the NCAA seeding wasn't what it might potentially have been with more RS wins or because Yale won the Cleary Spittoon.  

They've "squandered opportunities to solidify a spot" in the NCAA, yes, but that's not really the same thing.

The if is the important variable. What most are talking about is what has happened so far. I think this has been a good week weather wise, if the sun doesn't come up tomorrow then it will change my opinion of the week. If the team puts it all together and wins the NCAAs, then it's been a great year. Right now I'm disappointed.

OK, but I think the point is, all the things that will determine whether you're ultimately disappointed or not haven't happened yet.  If the team was 29-0-0 right now then you'd be feeling pretty good at the moment, but if they got swept next weekend in the ECAC QF and lost in the first round of the NCAAs, you'd probably ultimately be quite disappointed; conversely, if they were 10-17-2 right now, you wouldn't be thrilled with how the season had gone thus far, but if they then won the ECAC tournament, got the autobid, and made it to the Frozen Four before getting knocked out of the NCAA Tournament, you'd probably ultimately be pretty happy.  In either case, it's just too soon to make any kind of a postseason assessment about what kind of a year it was, and I think that holds true now as well.

Sounds like you are describing 1980.  Underperformed all year...squeaked into ECAC playoffs (when 8 out of 17 made playoffs)...Won ECAC Tourney, and lost NCAA semi-final and consolation (when NCAAs had 4 teams).

Best part of season was going 1-3 vs. best Dartmouth Team ever.  Lost twice in regular season, lost again in NCAA consolation, but beat them in ECAC final.

[Jeff Hopkins '82]

Sounds like you are describing 1980.  Underperformed all year...squeaked into ECAC playoffs (when 8 out of 17 made playoffs)...Won ECAC Tourney, and lost NCAA semi-final and consolation (when NCAAs had 4 teams).

That's what I thought of, too.

But for me, that playoff run reminds me of harassing Bob Gaudet.  In Boston, he tried to wing a puck at us during warm-ups.  In Providence, he skeated over during warm-ups and asked us if we'd "give it a rest."  Definitely inside his head.

That, and the first occurrence of the "Screw BU, XXX too" version of the cheer.

[Josh '99]

Sounds like you are describing 1980.  Underperformed all year...squeaked into ECAC playoffs (when 8 out of 17 made playoffs)...Won ECAC Tourney, and lost NCAA semi-final and consolation (when NCAAs had 4 teams).

That's what I thought of, too.

But for me, that playoff run reminds me of harassing Bob Gaudet.  In Boston, he tried to wing a puck at us during warm-ups.  In Providence, he skeated over during warm-ups and asked us if we'd "give it a rest."  Definitely inside his head.

That, and the first occurrence of the "Screw BU, XXX too" version of the cheer.

I was not aware that Gaudet's douchebaggery had such a long history.