road trip of a lifetime

[ben03]

Liz I didn’t mean to slight you in the least … it’s just that the state of Minnesota claims the crown of college hockey and they were less than impressive in person (en mass). In fact, I think their fans were M-E-D-I-O-C-R-E,  MEDIOCRE, MEDIOCRE, GOOOOOOO GOLFING! :-P

All-in-all it was an awesome road trip and I had a great time. I didn’t mean to come off sounding bitter. We had a wonderful time and a great season not to mention we’ve got a lot coming back. One-on-one most Gopher fans seemd like great people with which I had a few really nice conversations. One in particular with on older couple who were thrilled to hear/learn Cornell was a land grant institution (as is the UM) and had a laundry list of questions for me.

I want to thank all the Faithful who made the trek to Minneapolis. We did the University, the boys, their families and ourselves proud. Hats off to all! Judging from my experience leaving the rink I think most UM fans (sans a few idiots) would agree, they all seemed to appreciate the opportunity to see what eastern/ivy hockey (and their fans) looks like in person. Here’s looking forward to a v. successful ’05-’06 campaign, Let’s GO Red!

[ithacat]

[Q]Ben Rocky 04 Wrote:

My feeling on the Minnesota fans is that they see gopher hockey as representing their entire state, and the "Minnesota" "SUCKS" cheer was taken much too personally by them.  They were silent through most of the game against us, most of their cheering coming when there was an icing call.  They desperately need a student section and need to be less shocked when opposing fans get loud.  As whole, they were polite to us and very impressed by the faithful, with a few notable exceptions who were total classless jerks.[/q]

You're probably right about that first part: of course, over 40% of the players in the Frozen Four are from the state of MN. UM (81%), CC (48%), ND (28%), and DU (14%). That's pretty impressive.

Personally, I'd love to see a new version of the "University of [etc]...Sucks" cheer. Maybe one where "sucks" is replaced with something in Latin. It could be more creative and mysterious. It could be more of an inside joke that way, and it'd reserve the "sucks" for the one and only school that truly deserves it. But, that's just me.

There were some Minny fans that were surprisingly obnoxious, but calling someone's mascot a douche bag or yelling for the cheerleaders to drop someone being held up in the air is going to bring out the lesser side of some. By far most of the people I met were really nice and friendly. Still, I'm glad to be in Ithaca & I'm looking forward to October.

[Josh '99]

[Q]Jeff Hopkins '82 Wrote:
 Do you think Gopher football or basketball will ever win the Big Ten let alone a national championship?  Of course not.  All they have is hockey.  If they lose, they have nothing.  And they're still stuck in flat, boring, cold Minnesota.[/q]On the other hand, Minnesota did win the last two Big Televen championships in mens' swimming and diving.  :-D

[ugarte]

[Q]ben03 Wrote: In no other sport can I readily think of, do the dementions of the playing surface change within the tournament. Different sized sheets makes absolutely no sense and should stop [/q]Are you familiar with the World Series?

[Tub(a)]

[Q]ugarte Wrote:

 [Q2]ben03 Wrote: In no other sport can I readily think of, do the dementions of the playing surface change within the tournament. Different sized sheets makes absolutely no sense and should stop [/Q]
Are you familiar with the World Series?[/q]

He said sport, not commercial for GNC.

*runs away

[David Harding]

To help set the scale on Minnesota hockey:
The best Minnesota athletes play hockey.  A fellow down the hall from me freshman year was from Minnesota.  He explained it this way.  Typically a high school hockey team can beat that school's basketball team in a basketball game.  

[RatushnyFan]

[Q]David Harding Wrote:

 To help set the scale on Minnesota hockey:
The best Minnesota athletes play hockey.  A fellow down the hall from me freshman year was from Minnesota.  He explained it this way.  Typically a high school hockey team can beat that school's basketball team in a basketball game.  
[/q]
They are good athletes but the hockey team can't beat the basketball team at basketball.  That's absurd.  There are generally far taller kids on the basketball team.  I'm from MN and I have to call b.s. on this.

[ithacat]

[Q]David Harding Wrote:

 To help set the scale on Minnesota hockey:
The best Minnesota athletes play hockey.  A fellow down the hall from me freshman year was from Minnesota.  He explained it this way.  Typically a high school hockey team can beat that school's basketball team in a basketball game.  
[/q]

Flying back I sat next to a young guy from northern Minny who was on his way to his Peace Corps orientation in Detroit. He said he had wrestled in high school and had been ostracized.

[CUlater 89]

[Q]jmh30 Wrote:

 [Q2]Jeff Hopkins '82 Wrote:
 Do you think Gopher football or basketball will ever win the Big Ten let alone a national championship?  Of course not.  All they have is hockey.  If they lose, they have nothing.  And they're still stuck in flat, boring, cold Minnesota.[/Q]
On the other hand, Minnesota did win the last two Big Televen championships in mens' swimming and diving.   [/q]

The basketball team did make the Final Four not too long ago.  IIRC, the fan support was impressive.

[ben03]

[Q]ugarte Wrote:

 [Q2]ben03 Wrote: In no other sport can I readily think of, do the dementions of the playing surface change within the tournament. Different sized sheets makes absolutely no sense and should stop [/Q]
Are you familiar with the World Series?[/q]
somehow i missed the nations national-waste-of-time ... and though boringball is played on different sized fields, IMHO, do not think size has nearly as much of an impact on the game as it does in hockey (and/or soccer) ... and i was refering to college sports. pro sports are lame.::whistle::

[David Harding]

[Q]RatushnyFan Wrote:

 [Q2]David Harding Wrote:

 To help set the scale on Minnesota hockey:
The best Minnesota athletes play hockey.  A fellow down the hall from me freshman year was from Minnesota.  He explained it this way.  Typically a high school hockey team can beat that school's basketball team in a basketball game.  
[/Q]
They are good athletes but the hockey team can't beat the basketball team at basketball.  That's absurd.  There are generally far taller kids on the basketball team.  I'm from MN and I have to call b.s. on this.
[/q]
My friend was from a relatively small town where the pool of athletes was not very big.  He played on the varsity basketball team and had enough contact with the rest of the school to be able to compare their ability to his.

[David Harding]

[Q]ugarte Wrote:

 [Q2]ben03 Wrote: In no other sport can I readily think of, do the dementions of the playing surface change within the tournament. Different sized sheets makes absolutely no sense and should stop [/Q]
Are you familiar with the World Series?[/q]
In the World Series each team gets to play approximately half the games on its own home field, neutralizing the difference.  There are other differences, such as one team having played the whole season with a different number of players than the other.

[Meng \'94]

[Q]Liz '05 Wrote:

For what it's worth, I consider myself a huge fan of Cornell hockey.  I've got a fairly good working knowledge of the rules, but when a penalty is called, I usually can't tell you what it was until I hear or see it, and in situations that are borderline-legal, I usually have to wait and see how the more knowledgable fans around me react.  I never notice offsides.  If 3000 fellow fans are booing, the average fan would probably join in (I would).  I'm working on it, but my point is, you can be more than a casual fan and still not know a lot about the game.  Those that DO know a lot about the game are far more easily drowned out in Mariucci than Lynah, and especially with the number of children there, there are probably a lot that are similar to me, in that they're still learning.  Then again, they are in the "state of hockey"
[/q]

Unfortunately, most of the fans in Minny just boo whatever call go against their team even if it's the correct one.  The few knowledgable fans that exist stay quiet or point out that it was a bad call (I was fortunate to sit next to one in the WCHA playoffs).  Liz, just watch as many hockey games as I have (WAY TOO Many) and you'll be able to predict plays and know the penalties even before the refs call them.

You part of the crowd that was wearing the Cornell hockey uniforms (in rows ~10ish)?

[Liz '05]

Meng,

I have a feeling I'll be watching Cornell hockey for the rest of my life.  Considering that three years all I could've told you was the number of players and that the puck should go in the net, I have faith that I'll manage to get the rest of the way.

I wasn't wearing a jersey (Lynah Faithful t-shirt, here), but I was with a bunch of people that were.  I was in the front part of the Cornell section, but I have no idea which row, as I had a SRO ticket.  I was next to DevilDerby (Hornby jersey) most of the time, if that helps.

[A-19]

liz and the rest of us (most in jerseys) were around row 13 of the cu section