Cornell vs Colgate 12/6

[Scersk '97]

It also seems like it's becoming more frequent that the band can't muster a "full" showing except for big games, and they don't sound all that great when they're missing those pieces.

To answer a question down thread, this is the long-term effect of COVID.

This year's freshmen were 8th-graders moving into 9th-grade before vaccines, i.e., when masking and distancing was crucial, and this year's seniors, thus, were juniors moving into their senior years during the same. Music programs shut down. There were some string orchestras, few if any bands, and practically no choruses for obvious reasons. Many, many kids gave up playing or singing at the time. For a while, it was devastating for school music programs.

Your average high-school band is only just beginning to get kids whose instrumental development was not affected by COVID in some way. (9th-grade - 5 = 4th-grade moving into 5th-grade, when many kids start taking up instruments. Also when they're supposed to be confident operating with fractions, but I digress.)

I'm sure there are still a lot of great players in both the marching and pep bands, but the bands depend, in a sense, on a bit of a "critical mass" phenomenon. The bulk of the instrumentalists are just not there, and putting together a full complement is pretty tough. I have hope for the future, but it's going to be made more difficult if people like whomever athletics has set loose to pollute the air with jock jams get in the way.

[scoop85]

Use of any pumped in music at Lynah is disappointing.

[LGR14]

Sounds like a story for the Sun to run down.

[Trotsky]

I don't feel that way about the Lynah games anymore. I had hoped that was simply a factor of being 3,000 miles away, but it sounds and looks like that's not the case.

It's Creeping Meatballism.  We are immersed in the hyperreality of constant, forced, fungible Corporate Joy.  This has been eroding creativity and spontaneity for every decade I have been a fan.  The 80s and 90s fans were still meh, but nothing like the legendary 60s and 70s fans.  Since iPacifiers, the students have been sedated, slack-jawed, and stupefied.

There are short term oscillations -- some crowds are better, or worse, for a while. The ones since COVID have been particularly lame but I am sure there will be another local upturn.  But the overall trend has nothing to do with these kids, or kids in general. It is global and without redemption short of rejection of the relentless commercial suffocation of the last 150 years.

Kill the loudspeakers and screens, and DIY.  Or dissolve into this insipid pool of processed piss.

[VIEWfromK]

A few years ago the players made the request for piped in music during warmups.  The band doesn't even bother to come some evenings until toward the end of warmups.  Last night was the worst piped in music with a full band that I can recall.  They even kept one song going well after play had resumed.  I think it's getting the desired effect unfortunately because people are singing and dancing to the songs they are playing. I expect it will only get worse because of a variety of reasons, but the band not filing the void in recent years has to be a factor.  It's too bad because that has always been one of the main attractions of a game at Lynah.  I miss that.

[chimpfood]

Yeah I mean the kids like it, the players like it, and it's less stress on the band, no need to wonder why it's happening and it will probably continue or even increase.

[VIEWfromK]

Last night for Gary Glitter, sections A+B were fully involved like usual and from Section C over none of the students were participating.  They have tuned the band out.

[Dafatone]

You people need to take it easy on BL. The Eeyore thing can be a little exhausting due to the repetitiveness but the fact is that while we look good in short spurts we don't ... look that good. Colgate looked actually bad - tucked in like a phalanx on defense, completely incapable on offense - and we still fell behind 2-0. Our offense seems to have two modes: Four Corners or 1v5, neither of which are particularly effective. We had one guy take a run at the back door and when it happened quelle surprise! Castagna found O'Leary for an easy tap-in.

In OT, Colgate plays balls-out because the point is valuable to them. We benefitted from their recklessness, but Major was seconds away from being a goat before he became the hero.

There is a lot that needs to be fixed but the big one is that the team has to get in position to receive useful passes. The biggest way the book is out on us is that we don't take good shots, we only take great ones. Traffic in front paralyzes us and there is only so long you can cycle the puck before someone makes an imperfect pass and the possession ends. It's no way to live.

It's one thing to say my constant pessimism is tiring (true), but it's quite another thing to act like I'm a one-note pessimist (false) or that I actively root for Cornell to lose (downright stupid). Actually, depending on the trajectory of the team, I exhibit a full range of pessimism (and even occasional optimism).

The reality is that hopes were (rightfully) extremely high for this team. Since people apparently need a refresher:
1. Cornell was one goal from the Frozen Four the past two seasons.
2. Cornell lost one contributor from last year's team.
3. This is the last season for Coach Schafer, someone we all love and hold in extremely high regard.
4. Cornell was ranked in the top 10 and often even the top 5 coming into its season opener.

These high hopes have not panned out, at all.
1. The team looks consistently out of sync.
2. The power play has looked awful, and I mean truly, truly awful. No movement, no quick passing other than a couple D at the blue line playing catch. Passing with no purpose until eventually the puck is turned over and cleared from the zone.
3. Botched assignments on the penalty kill.
4. Skill guys like Castagna just play hero ball and don't gel with the rest of their unit.
5. Weak or average possession stats against good opposition.
6. Cornell has barely held a lead at any point since opening weekend.

That brings me to tonight, and why it was a bad outcome:
1. Cornell was in perilous Pairwise position coming in (15th).
2. Colgate is a bad team with some of the worst goaltending in the country.
3. Cornell fell behind 2-0. Our PP looked very bad, our PK let Colgate whip the puck around on their first PP and ultimately score.
4. Beating a bad team in 3x3 OT at home is bad for the PWR. Sure enough, we fell to 18th after tonight.

In summation, extremely high expectations, mediocre team, bad outcome tonight. Again, you can wish that I didn't whine so much. And maybe one day I'll stop. (Ha! Good luck with that.) But I'm whining for a reason: this has been an extremely disappointing season so far.

I think it's easy to forget that last season was a mild disappointment up until the end. Going into Lake Placid, we were right on the bubble and ended up needing to win the conference to get in. A lot of the year looked similar to this year: we played good teams very well and tended to play down to bad teams, resulting in a solid but not spectacular year.

So far, this year is more of the same. We struggle against big defensive shell teams (a strategy employed by weaker teams, especially when they get an early lead) and we look good against good teams.

Colgate's goalie had a good night, and we certainly dominated possession, shots, and scoring opportunities. Fortunately we got just enough to bounce our way to scrape by.

Two final thoughts: I still think you're underestimating our pairwise position. There's a lot more hockey left than has been played, and we're not far off. We are 5-2-3, with KRACH putting us at 16th against the 24th best schedule. We will have to get better results from here on than we have so far, but not by much.

Second, the power play sucks. Like, the pp% and negative comments here understate, not overstate, how damn awful it looks.

[VIEWfromK]

You people need to take it easy on BL. The Eeyore thing can be a little exhausting due to the repetitiveness but the fact is that while we look good in short spurts we don't ... look that good. Colgate looked actually bad - tucked in like a phalanx on defense, completely incapable on offense - and we still fell behind 2-0. Our offense seems to have two modes: Four Corners or 1v5, neither of which are particularly effective. We had one guy take a run at the back door and when it happened quelle surprise! Castagna found O'Leary for an easy tap-in.

In OT, Colgate plays balls-out because the point is valuable to them. We benefitted from their recklessness, but Major was seconds away from being a goat before he became the hero.

There is a lot that needs to be fixed but the big one is that the team has to get in position to receive useful passes. The biggest way the book is out on us is that we don't take good shots, we only take great ones. Traffic in front paralyzes us and there is only so long you can cycle the puck before someone makes an imperfect pass and the possession ends. It's no way to live.

It's one thing to say my constant pessimism is tiring (true), but it's quite another thing to act like I'm a one-note pessimist (false) or that I actively root for Cornell to lose (downright stupid). Actually, depending on the trajectory of the team, I exhibit a full range of pessimism (and even occasional optimism).

The reality is that hopes were (rightfully) extremely high for this team. Since people apparently need a refresher:
1. Cornell was one goal from the Frozen Four the past two seasons.
2. Cornell lost one contributor from last year's team.
3. This is the last season for Coach Schafer, someone we all love and hold in extremely high regard.
4. Cornell was ranked in the top 10 and often even the top 5 coming into its season opener.

These high hopes have not panned out, at all.
1. The team looks consistently out of sync.
2. The power play has looked awful, and I mean truly, truly awful. No movement, no quick passing other than a couple D at the blue line playing catch. Passing with no purpose until eventually the puck is turned over and cleared from the zone.
3. Botched assignments on the penalty kill.
4. Skill guys like Castagna just play hero ball and don't gel with the rest of their unit.
5. Weak or average possession stats against good opposition.
6. Cornell has barely held a lead at any point since opening weekend.

That brings me to tonight, and why it was a bad outcome:
1. Cornell was in perilous Pairwise position coming in (15th).
2. Colgate is a bad team with some of the worst goaltending in the country.
3. Cornell fell behind 2-0. Our PP looked very bad, our PK let Colgate whip the puck around on their first PP and ultimately score.
4. Beating a bad team in 3x3 OT at home is bad for the PWR. Sure enough, we fell to 18th after tonight.

In summation, extremely high expectations, mediocre team, bad outcome tonight. Again, you can wish that I didn't whine so much. And maybe one day I'll stop. (Ha! Good luck with that.) But I'm whining for a reason: this has been an extremely disappointing season so far.

I think it's easy to forget that last season was a mild disappointment up until the end. Going into Lake Placid, we were right on the bubble and ended up needing to win the conference to get in. A lot of the year looked similar to this year: we played good teams very well and tended to play down to bad teams, resulting in a solid but not spectacular year.

So far, this year is more of the same. We struggle against big defensive shell teams (a strategy employed by weaker teams, especially when they get an early lead) and we look good against good teams.

Colgate's goalie had a good night, and we certainly dominated possession, shots, and scoring opportunities. Fortunately we got just enough to bounce our way to scrape by.

Two final thoughts: I still think you're underestimating our pairwise position. There's a lot more hockey left than has been played, and we're not far off. We are 5-2-3, with KRACH putting us at 16th against the 24th best schedule. We will have to get better results from here on than we have so far, but not by much.

Second, the power play sucks. Like, the pp% and negative comments here understate, not overstate, how damn awful it looks.

Last year I came into the season with my regular expectations of trying to get a first round bye.  With all of the turnover I wouldn't have dared dream higher.  After last season's freshman class played above their experience and finished so strong, I set myself up coming into this year to expect more than just a first round bye.

[Trotsky]

Higher expectations were reasonable, but to demand them is entitled and childish.

Just fucking enjoy the fucking team.

[RichH]

Wait, WTF, seriously? They play pumped in music during play stoppages now? Has that been going on all season?

Can somebody give more color to this?

Seriously. It doesn't come across on the broadcasts, more often than not, I find I'm unrealistically annoyed by "dumb things the band is doing these days" but if there's really a DJ incursion at Lynah of all places, the old Bandie in me is on the edge of a riot.

When the band can't be assembled due to a football road trip, that's one thing, but put it away when they're in the building.

[Big Dingus]

Do posters in here really think this is a good start to the season? We have dropped multiple games against very weak teams.

The nodak sweep also getting less impressive as their true record starts to show

[The Rancor]

Was Cornell just incredibly lucky last season? They've looked consistently bad this season.

You just hate the team. It's ok. Just admit it, you're mad when we win.

I'm confused. I complain incessantly when we're losing (the quoted post was made while we were behind in tonight's game). I've been in a pissy mood about Cornell hockey all year because the team has been majorly disappointing. I was way more happy and praiseworthy the last two seasons. Why would that suggest I get mad when we win?  Is it really a foreign concept that I whine when we're losing BECAUSE we're losing? It's not rocket science why I've been particularly insufferable this season.

Then I'm guessing it's confirmation bias. You think the team is struggling- if they lose, you're right, and happy. If they do well, say a comeback overtime win at home, you are wrong, and unhappy.

[upprdeck]

we have 2 losses, how is that multiple losses to bad teams.

Everything after reg. is just a crap shoot for fun.

[Dafatone]

we have 2 losses, how is that multiple losses to bad teams.

Everything after reg. is just a crap shoot for fun.

Two regulation losses to Quinnipiac and Dartmouth, who appear to be the top two teams in the conference that aren't us. Both losses by 1 (excluding the Q empty netter with 2 seconds left)