Re: 2013-2014 Union Dutchmen - Can U Three Peat?
Good game again by the Dutchmen and another situation where someone needed to step up to lead Union and this time it was the Ghost...
A few thoughts from watching the video feeds this weekend and lurking in the social media streams:
1. Hats off to RPI TV...Great streaming quality even on my ancient, crappy laptop...And free to boot...Much better than Union's pay to watch feed....
2. I stand by my original post that if Kasdorf had been in net for RPI, the games would have been closer. Some of the onus for the 8-spot Union dropped on RPI this weekend goes to the team D, but Diebold had his issues as well....
3. The Ghost was excellent and the odds are in favor him leaving at the end of the season, especially with Philly floundering so much this year.....
4. I will take an educated guess and expect to see Union back in the national rankings this Monday after beating the #10 team twice...I think RPI is overall better than what they showed this weekend and they will not leave the Top 20....
5. A quick word on the ugliness at the end of tonight's game: Coach Bennett and Coach Appert put it simply...Hockey is an emotional game and frustration/immaturity comes easily in a series like this, especially with the history and the bad blood between the two schools. WaP tweeted that BOTH teams played with poor sportsmanship in the last minutes tonight and that is spot on...However, WaP is also partially guilty for the poor sportsmanship shown by SOME RPI fans with the constant tweeting with the hashtag #HateUnionWeek...I didn't see any #HateRPIWeek hashtags anywhere in the Twitter world...I went to Union in the late 1980's and the rivalry was strong back then with both sides ribbing the other given half a chance...However, both schools are excellent places to get an education and both schools are located in hardscrabble, blue collar cities with plenty of urban issues and problems to go around...The comments about "SCCC", "#26", "Messa is a sewer" and referring to Union students/players as "clowns, jerks and idiots/morons" by SOME RPI fans and any mean and nasty items that some Union fans post are petty and childish and embarrass both the posters and the schools they went to...
6. Furthermore, we live in a social media realm that is unprecedented in its ability to disseminate data to the masses...After the Colgate letdown for Union last weekend, I was looking at my Twitter feed after the game...I noticed that ELynah tweeted that their comeback tie against RPI " pairs nicely with a win over Union" the next night...We have a Cornell fan who had already penciled in the outcome of a game not played...That's extremely cocky...Frankly, that tweet is prime locker room bulletin board material at its finest...Every player in this league has a smartphone and tweets constantly like all young folks do...If the Union players didn't catch that tweet right away, they go it when I sent it to all of the players I follow...Along with the assumed Coach Bennett tirade, the result the next night against Cornell was not a big surprise...#HateUnionWeek was unnecessary and filled with venom and hate coming from SOME, not ALL, of the folks that support RPI hockey...There was a lot of talk on the score thread tonight about Union's classlessness at the end of the game...First of all, BOTH teams were stupid and immature at the end of the game...Second, I wonder why the Union players would react to the crowd in that way??? Social Media, perhaps??? #HateUnionWeek??? A lot of yapping from SOME of the RPI faithful and no back up on the ice...Anything wrong with #GoRPI or #BeatUnion???? Just after tonight's game, my twitter feed blew up with former Union Hockey players and assorted Union Hockey fans tweeting all sorts of nanner-nanner stuff and they are justified in doing so after their team got it done where it matters: on the ice, not in the crowd....One tweet talked about renaming the weekend the "Rout 7 Rivalry"...You reap what you sow...Don't embarrass yourself and complain about sportsmanship and being classy when you or one of your crew threw one of the first punches...
All of that said, the final regular season contest at the Toaster Oven should be a good one...
Also, congrats to the RPI football team for winning back the Dutchman Shoes...They had a 4th quarter comeback and then held on to win a close one....They finish the season with a 5-5 record and looking to build for the future...Union finished the season with a losing record...I remember when Union football meant something and we either went undefeated or had one loss all season...Time for Coach Audino to resign gracefully and get some new blood into Union football....
Enjoy the rest of the weekend....
Keith.