Adam's assessment of freshmen

[Robb \'94]

Wow.  Adam definitely was impressed by the freshmen (about halfway through the article).   Adam's not exactly known for rampant homerism or excessive exuberence, so this gives me great hope!  Anyone who saw the U-18 game care to comment?

[Will]

I'm particularly hoping "a goaltender that could be the surprise of the group" will come to pass. And I think there's a good chance of that happening. :-D

[rhovorka]

[Q]They all still have a lot to learn, and Mike Schafer may pull out a lot of hair before they all figure out how to play Cornell Defense[/Q]
I think that's a very important and accurate analysis.  From watching the U18 game, I thought there were some very talented freshmen out there, but there were also some glaring defensive mistakes some of us weren't used to seeing.  A more talented opponent would cash in on them.  Give them time to learn the system and work on it, and I think it'll be a good learning curve.

Although the sweeping generalizations Adam made in that column about a certain non-hockey related fan-base grated me a little...  :-/

[CowbellGuy]

Hey Wodon, you turd, why don't you stick to writing about hockey? Way to abuse a public forum for your own petty gripes. Very professional.

[ice the puck]

Adam is right on.  I was at the game.  we dominated,  and the under 18 kids were way overmatched but the freshman were impressive, esp our newest goalie.  I think the learning curve will not be along one...

[Robb \'94]

So I assume you'll be first in line to think of an appropriate "penance" for Adam, then?  :-D

[calgARI \'07]

This class does have a good deal of potential that will likely see seven freshman regulars (two more than last year).  O'Byrne, Bitz, Glover, McCutcheon, and McKee could all be studs.  
That's the potential.  Potential no longer matters, however.  How these guys perform will be how they are perceived from now on.  
The most important freshman is McKee.  How he plays will likely have the biggest impact on the season.  
In general, the faster the freshmen develop and adjust, the better Cornell does this season.  That may seem obvious but their development could be the difference between making the Frozen Four and not even making the NCAA's.  
That said, the continued development of the sophomores, who are essentially taking over the offense (from McRae, Baby, Paolini, Palahicky) as well as the necessity for Wallace, Cook, and Downs to all emerge as top pair defensemen will also factor in heavily.
I think this season will be more exciting and interesting than last simply because there are many more unknowns.  At the same time, I believe the ceiling for this year's team may be higher than last year's.

[calgARI \'07]

Don't jump the gun.  The U18 team was blown out by many DI schools.  At this time, they are equivilant to a upper DIII, lower DI caliber team.  The learning curve will be a long one.  There will likely be three regular freshmen defensemen (O'Byrne, Glover, Salmela).  That alone is cause for concern.  I do not question the ability of these guys to step up, but it takes time for anyone to adjust to this level.

[Jeff Hopkins \'82]

And I assume your poll about the number of World Series wins belongs on a hockey forum, Age?

I know we get off topic sometimes, but baseball season is over (thank God!)

JH

[Al DeFlorio]

Jeff Hopkins '82 wrote:

And I assume your poll about the number of World Series wins belongs on a hockey forum, Age?

Someday Age will hear about the goose and the gander...one hopes.;-)

[CowbellGuy]

No, but obviously a good number of Yankee-haters need a reality check about the Yankees winning "every year" and as long as they're going to pollute this place with their blather, I'm not going to sit idle.

[Josh '99]

Jeff Hopkins '82 wrote:
And I assume your poll about the number of World Series wins belongs on a hockey forum, Age?

Come on, people.  Baseball is over for the year.  We've reached the part of the calendar where we all AGREE on something.   (Shut up, RichS.  :-P)  How about not having a flame war about this?   ::nut::

[DeltaOne81]

Since 1979:

Number seasons per Yankees WS titles: 6 (no WS in '94) . This including one of the longest dry period for the Yankees .

Next closest teams... Dodgers, Blue Jays, Marlins: 12 seasons per title

Whole rest of baseball other than the Yankees: 36 seasons per title

All of baseball other than the 4 teams above: 51.4 seasons per title

(Note, the last two numbers don't include the effect of teams being added, but I'm sure if you did do that, the numbers would still be within 30% or so)

So while the Yankees may not win "every year", even including their almost two-decade cold spell, they still have won twice as much as any other team, including that period. And over 5 times as much as all of the rest of baseball put together (Btw, include 1977 and 78 and the Yankees # is 4.3 seasons per WS title since then.). So "every year" is an exagerration, but they are still and incredibly priviledged team and fan base, and that's the only point.

I too would like to leave this alone, since baseball is over, but I wanted to prove the general point. Yes, Age is right, it isn't "every year", but it's a hell of a lot more than anyone else.



Post Edited (10-28-03 19:13)

[Keith K \'93]

Actually, the Marlins (*cringe*) are 5.5 seasons per title when you consider that they have only existed for 11 years.  And they still haven't managed to finish in first place.  But a diatribe against the wild card would seem like sour grapes right now...

[jtwcornell91]

Keith K '93 wrote:

Actually, the Marlins (*cringe*) are 5.5 seasons per title when you consider that they have only existed for 11 years.  And they still haven't managed to finish in first place.  But a diatribe against the wild card would seem like sour grapes right now...

Isn't it an even 5?  1993 plus 1995-2003 would be 10 years.  Assuming I'm write about that, the Marlins have won 20% of the World Series played during their existence, second only to the Yankees 26% (26/99).  No one else has even won 10% (the Athletics and Giants appear to be tied for third with 9/99=9%).



Post Edited (10-28-03 19:59)