Letter to Harvard Coach

[Jim Hyla]

WOW, I don't think anymore replies would be useful, so although I can think of a hundred things to say, I won't say anything other than maybe we have all said enough.

[Craine]

Mike,

It's halftime, and rather than watch U2, I thought I'd respond to your latest post...

First off, no offense, but screw you man... Most of the people on this board who aren't at every game are alums who live hours away, and still manage to find time to listen in on the weekends, and when possible, drive (or fly) for hours to get to Ithaca to catch a couple of games... To accuse us on not being "faithful" is complete crap and you know it...  Trust me, that almost everyone on this forum either camped out, or drove hours through snow to get up to Clarkson and SLU(t), or didn't miss home games, or whatever else you feel you may do... That's why we still post, because we're "Faithful"...

Second, upon re-reading your letter, I see nothing in there that I would constue as "toungue-in-cheek" or "satirical"... Let's face it, you thought that the majority of people here would agree with you, and say things like "Good Letter", or "Gee, I wish I thought of writing that"... Instead, we disagree with your point of view, and then you change you opinion and try to cover your ass by telling us "Oh, I didn't really mean that", and "If YOU ALL had read it correctly, you'd realize that's not what I meant".

Lastly, if your only problem with throwing fish is that Cornell might get penalized, then I got issues there...  Throwing fish before the 1st period is one thing... Throwing bottles and other objects late in the game (or after the game) is immature, stupid, and should not be condoned in any instance...

I've got more to say, but 2nd half is about to start... GO PATS!!!!

[Ben Doyle 03]

. . .it is no longer useful. For everyones sake just leave it alone.

[melissa]

Since I grew up in Canada and never watched football I can reply during the game .... ;-)

First off Mike, I was on your side. I didn't agree with what you wrote but initially I thought that we could just chalk it up to an emotional win and exceptional pride in a hard fought victory. I was feeling kinda bad for all the crap you were getting ( tho to be honest I though it was more or less deserved - no disrespect to anyone who responded negatively to Mike's initial post) but after your last reply I don't know what to think.

In response to starting more creative cheers - it easier said than done. Most males are blessed with a deeper voice than females. We (Judy and I) have tried many times to get something other than ...... SUCKS going but have never been taken seriously - less i think because we are females then because we lack projection. I am probably the loudest person in Lynah come goal time because of my abaility to shriek at a very high pitch but this is of no use in starting cheers. Furthermore, it is damn impossible to get a cheer started without someone interrupting it with ..... SUCKS. WE have creativity. We just need to get the louder people to utilize it.

As to the whole idea of what is "faithful" ... well get back to us in a few years when you try juggling being an adult with enjoying life. The time, money and effort that the people on this board put into the team goes beyond that which any member of the team could expect or imagine. It goes well beyond what most students can imagine also. Trust me. I know. Last year i was a student and a member of the traveling faithful. This year i work and still manage to attend over 80% of the games (home and away). Getting to games now is much harder and time management has become a vital component of regular attendance. Instead of just showing up at the game you have to have tickets, travel arrangements and lodging (tho for the record i should state that i actually waited in line overnight for tix this year too - don't assume that alumni haven't). Vacation days are used, paychecks are oblitereated and sleep is sacrificed. Not to mention the various times when cars and lives have been put at risk (may sound llike an over exaggeration but if you all think about it, it's quite true) to travel during a storm. Maybe in a few years you can talk about what it takes to be a member of the faithful (frankly, after 4 years, I don't even know if I yet qualify, though i feel like i should) but in the meantime I suggest you stop questioning the ettiquette of a group that has been around since before you (and I) were born....

[melissa]

sorry Ben. didn't see the plea to end this until after I blew off some steam. you are probably right.

[Neil Shapiro \'83]

All I would like to add to this is to consider what happened at Hahvahd(sucks) in 1983 (or thereabouts) when a Cornell goalie (Darren Eliot maybe ) was actually struck by a bottle thrown by a Hahvahd(sucks) student.  This was back in the days when Hahvahd(sucks) never made a mistake and graduated almost 100% of their students.  

The student was actually suspended for the remainder of the year, and then quietly returned the next year.  Cleary actually apologized for the behavior of the fan.  

If bottle throwing is becoming a habit of the Cornell students, I think that needs to be addressed here, and certainly in the rink.   If it is allowed to become a tradition...or even an acceptable release as a response to someone else's stupidity, then we are in real trouble.

[Greg Berge]

Melissa wrote:

Maybe in a few years you can talk about what it takes to be a member of the faithful (frankly, after 4 years, I don't even know if I yet qualify, though i feel like i should) but in the meantime I suggest you stop questioning the ettiquette of a group that has been around since before you (and I) were born....

As one of those who uncomfortably qualifies (at least with respect to anyone born after Nov. 82, when I attended my first game), if I may add a few things.

Most important in all this, I hope Melissa and other current students and recents grads feel they are not barred from 100% qualification merely by age and experience.  The only suggested requirements that I see are: (1) having waited on the ticket line as a student, (2) having wondered why your throat hurts so much on Sunday morning, and (3) having your weekend utterly ruined by a loss to Harvard, or utterly made by a win over Harvard.  Even these might be waived due to extenuating circumstances of nontraditional Faithfulness.

Like many of you, I view Mike's letter as sophomoric and his response to your criticisms as wide of the mark.  Nobody on this forum derides Lynah's traditions.  We have, after all, passed them to the current students.  We've all thrown fish or wildly applauded those who did.  We've all blown off sleep, classes, labs, work, weddings, births... to drive for hours through whited out rural roads with the single-minded lemming-like intent to Get To The Game.  We've all screamed at Grady not to get so excited that you can't figure out whether we just scored.  There are many bullworks of Cornell's hockey tradition, and this forum is one of them.

And yes, it is irksome to be implicitly lectured on the many glories of a tradition that we know very well, and have the scars to prove it.  (And anyone who doubts it should be sentenced to repeated viewings of the 87 and 93 seasons.)

But I do remember being an undergraduate myself, and I am forever grateful to all the various deities that there was no internet to broadcast my own sophomorisms.  Everybody has past words which, recalled, cause an involuntary wince of embarrassment.

So, in my humble and aged-as-Solomon opinion.  Mike: I grasp the intent, but the letter is just Not Funny, even as a satirical piece.  Everybody puts out a clunker now and then (Emerson's poetry?  Ghastly.)  Write a one line apology to the coach and let it go.  Everybody else: Let him off the hook, in the spirit of not casting the first stone and all that.  Personally, I'm calling out his *letter* and his *response* as silly.  The student himself is just a fellow member of the Carnelian legion.  And he'll be paying for my social security.  Sucker.

Be magnanimous.  STANDINGS!

Now I will drag my withered bones away, with the hope that pretty coeds will find me pleasant in a fatherly way, and treat me well in my dotage, at Placid in the Spring.

[Faithful \'01]

1) having waited on the ticket line as a student

wait a minute, I never waited on  one line and I am definitely a "Faithful." I was just in the pep band. We just didn't have to be bothered with all that. :-)

[CowbellGuy]

But then you willingly went to Harvard, instantly negating any Faithfullness you might have acquired... :-D

[judy]

and now to spread a little love on this board, I think we all need it after this thread...

You people are wonderful! This message board is always more informative than any press release the athletic department puts out, though sometimes disagreements occur...but then, the Lynah Faithful is like one big, sometimes dysfunctional family. Okay, that's it with all this happy, love crap...I think the mood has left me :-P

I'm going back to playing hooky from work and running errands..stuff I should've done over the weekend, but then, I'm never here on the weekend.

Greg, somehow, I don't think you're the old fogey you make yourself out to be...;-) You were in school after my dad graduated and I still can't think of my dad as old (though for some reason, I can think of myself as being old).

Wow, these smilies are dangerous...one day I may have a post that's just filled with smilies and you'll all probably hate me for it  :-O

[Greg Berge]

Hey, as I said, there are no fixed requirements.  I had a non-Cornell girlfriend who shared the 11 hour drive with me from North Carolina to Ithaca three times.  I'd say she's in, too. ;-)

[judy]

Greg, HOW!!!? did you do the drives from North Carolina? I go up to Ithaca from Maryland and while I love the team, the drive and the lack of weekends to run errands just drives me crazy!!!!!

[Faithful \'01]

Na ah, I work at MGH, which is a Harvard Medical School hospital. I don't go there, nor do I technically work for them. I will not even put Harvard anywhere on my resume. I don't have to...

[CowbellGuy]

heh. That's ok. I wasn't serious.

[Greg Berge]

Greg, HOW!!!?

Two words: Mike Schafer.  It was '95-'96.  After Mike was hired and lit a fire under everybody from the captains to the Zamboni driver, I would have driven from anywhere to see that team play.

And boy did they not disappoint!  :-)

I'm not crazy.  I don't drive to see them from Oregon.  I fly.