Alumni in the pros - March 2014

[Jeff Hopkins '82]

Ok, let me clarify.  I hate Minnesota's fans because of how they treated us at Mariucci.  Some of that spills over to their players.

Re Sucks:  I have a cousin who used to be an Associate Professor in the Harvard Business School.  She was denied tenure several times when other less qualified male colleagues were given tenure.  She sued the university for gender bias.  Right after that, there was a very convenient fire in the records departent.  So as I said, Harvard is personal.

[Trotsky]

But, by and large any antipathy for players or teams or schools as a whole is limited to during the games (or the shitshow that is the USCHO Fan Forum at NCAA Tournament time); I have friends and friendly coworkers from all kinds of schools I "don't like".

Of course.  The solution for undergrad bias is grad school.  This is also when you figure out that comparing schools on any granularity larger than department is bullshit -- the larger "university" container is just a tax scam.

As far as hate within the sport, it ends at the buzzer.  One of the coolest things about Lake Placid, which an entire new generation of ECAC fans is about to experience, is hanging out with fans of all teams (which in practice usually comes down to the North Country plus whoever finished first that year) at the restaurants and bars, trading good-natured ribbing, and enjoying pan-conference hockey solidarity.  It works best in LP because the fans take over the entire town for the weekend, unlike Boston or Albany where they dispersed or Atlantic City where the surroundings were so depressing everybody just stayed in their rooms making calls to hookers or suicide hot lines.

[Josh '99]

But, by and large any antipathy for players or teams or schools as a whole is limited to during the games (or the shitshow that is the USCHO Fan Forum at NCAA Tournament time); I have friends and friendly coworkers from all kinds of schools I "don't like".

Of course.  The solution for undergrad bias is grad school.  This is also when you figure out that comparing schools on any granularity larger than department is bullshit -- the larger "university" container is just a tax scam.

As far as hate within the sport, it ends at the buzzer.  One of the coolest things about Lake Placid, which an entire new generation of ECAC fans is about to experience, is hanging out with fans of all teams (which in practice usually comes down to the North Country plus whoever finished first that year) at the restaurants and bars, trading good-natured ribbing, and enjoying pan-conference hockey solidarity.  It works best in LP because the fans take over the entire town for the weekend, unlike Boston or Albany where they dispersed or Atlantic City where the surroundings were so depressing everybody just stayed in their rooms making calls to hookers or suicide hot lines.

Something you want to tell the group, Greg?

[Robb]

In the context of universities, I do use the term "hate," but when I use it, all it actually means is that I actively root against said school in every sporting contest known to man, but that I can do it while simultaneously enjoying good times and sporting-fan comraderie with students and alums from those schools.  Watching the game is actually most fun when you do it in the componay of fans from a "hated" rival.  Would you really prefer Lynah *without* section O?  Is it more fun when Section O is full of actively participating opposing fans, or when townies manage to snap up all the tickets returned by the opposing school?

I can't think of a single university that I would prefer that they just dropped off the map, nor would I ever wish bad things on any individual just because they were associated with a particular school.

[Trotsky]

I can't think of a single university that I would prefer that they just dropped off the map

Let me help you out.

[Robb]

I can't think of a single university that I would prefer that they just dropped off the map

Let me help you out.

Heh.  Forgot those guys - you got me.

[KeithK]

In the context of universities, I do use the term "hate," but when I use it, all it actually means is that I actively root against said school in every sporting contest known to man, but that I can do it while simultaneously enjoying good times and sporting-fan comraderie with students and alums from those schools.  

The emotional content of sports is much more intense and enjoyable when you have a team that you love and other teams to hate. Of course it's "hate" in quotes.  In the grand scheme of things sports doesn't mean anything so your "hatred" shouldn't really mean anything either, other than to enhance an enjoyable pastime. Hopefully there's no one in or around Lynah who hates the other guy the way those two assholes in LA a couple years ago hate Giant fans.  If there are I'll be the first to point them out to the authorities.

[Swampy]

I can't think of a single university that I would prefer that they just dropped off the map

Let me help you out.

Heh.  Forgot those guys - you got me.

Well, even more than those guys, I think one can see corruption in the entire enterprise of higher education today. This doesn't necessarily imply hating an institution or its students per se, but it's easy to hate the administration and the cynical culture that dominates and has dominated for several decades now.

Start with big-time college athletics. As strictly athletic endeavors, I admire teams like Kentucky basketball or Alabama football. But attach them to universities, look at how they use young kids, etc., and they become rather disgusting. Entire books have been written about the corruption associated with big-time college athletics.

Now step back and look at higher education as a whole. Schematically there are two kinds of corruption. One is among the top-tier schools, where academic integrity plays a distant second fiddle to money. Look at the Amazon page for Jennifer Washburn's University Inc. and the list of suggested books on that page, and you will see literally dozens of books about this theme.

The second is among low-tier schools, where enrollment drives the budget and students are admitted if they can walk and chew gum. Because the budget, and occasionally legislative good will, depend on "retention," students at these schools often can pass if they just show up to class. The subject matter taught in many classes in these schools is at a lower intellectual level than that taught in many decent high-school courses.

The sad fact is that once past perhaps the top 50 institutions, you get to factory schools that cheat their students and cheat society by striving to do little else but put butts in seats. For references, Google "low standards in higher education." This article summarizes some of the main trends. We're talking fundamental knowledge and skills here. I've known second-graders who write better than some graduates of these schools. The fact that such schools take students' money and waste their time is, IMHO, despicable. This is not to say that some students can't get a good education at such schools; it's just that doing so is almost an accident.

Two of the most viral dummies in recent memory, Caitlin Upton and Marissa Powell, both attended college (Appalachian State and Westminster College, respectively). Now eye candy aside, you can say they both flubbed their answers because of the big spotlight of being in a major beauty competition. But these were college students, not high-school dropouts. They're supposed to be educated people, and their answers should have at least been answers, reasonable or not. And if men participated in similar competitions, I'd wager it wouldn't be difficult to find college men similarly clueless about what a good answer even looks like. IMHO, this reflects on the sham that college education has become in too many institutions.

[billhoward]

Penn is basically Cornell transplanted to Detroit.

You might have to update this; West Philly has come a long way over the past ~20 years.

Detroit has gone a long way in 20 years. It is not a joke that Detroit will need to deflate its total square miles, tear up blocks, even neighborhoods, because a bankrupt city can't plow, police, and light streets where there's one resident.

[dag14]

This thread hijack is no fun.  Can we get back to talking about our actual alums who are actually playing pro hockey?

[Al DeFlorio]

This thread hijack is no fun.  Can we get back to talking about our actual alums who are actually playing pro hockey?

+1

[jeff '84]

This thread hijack is no fun.  Can we get back to talking about our actual alums who are actually playing pro hockey?

+1

Like Scrivens? 32 saves in 3-2 win over Isles, including a Grabner breakaway in last minute of regulation. 3rd star.

[Trotsky]

Are people assuming Moulson will just move again after this year when Minny signs Vanek in the off-season?

[RatushnyFan]

I think he's a rental in MN if Vanek wants to be there.  GMs usually go for top-end skill versus grit/determination/going to those dirty goal spots when they have a choice.

I was actually wondering if Moulson would head back to the Islanders to play with his buddy Tavares.  Seemingly Garth Snow closed that door, I heard him "defend" the Vanek trade on the NHL radio network yesterday, one of the points he made is that they decided that they weren't going to re-sign Moulson.  It was a little unclear if he was saying that the Islanders didn't want him or if they had discussions and couldn't work out the economics.  I would assume the latter given his productivity.

I think a lot of teams will want him and he'll be able to land on a good team as a top 6 forward.

[Trotsky]

I think he's a rental in MN if Vanek wants to be there.  GMs usually go for top-end skill versus grit/determination/going to those dirty goal spots when they have a choice.

I was actually wondering if Moulson would head back to the Islanders to play with his buddy Tavares.  Seemingly Garth Snow closed that door, I heard him "defend" the Vanek trade on the NHL radio network yesterday, one of the points he made is that they decided that they weren't going to re-sign Moulson.  It was a little unclear if he was saying that the Islanders didn't want him or if they had discussions and couldn't work out the economics.  I would assume the latter given his productivity.

I think a lot of teams will want him and he'll be able to land on a good team as a top 6 forward.

I'd love him back with the Iles, after Wang sends Snow back to Orono in a wooden box (assuming Wang cares at all now that the Lighthouse development deal is dead.  I don't see any reason why he's holding onto the franchise at this point -- I guess he just can't find a buyer).

I heard Snow's little insert statement about the team "not being able" to sign Moulson in the off-season and chalked it up to a desperate attempt to save his job with BS. Same goes with his justification for making up the picks lost in the Moulson deal in the AMac deal.  Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.  "Honey, I know I blew 250k at the track, but it's OK, I made it back up by selling the house, so we're even!"