Re: LSSU hockey 2013-14
Sorry. Those last two BGSU games really, really, really hurt. Bad hockey in an empty arena.
My sster had a friend who was living on campus when Frank was just getting the team rolling in the late-80's. He went door to door. And he didn't just stop and chat for a second. He would spend time talking to the students, one on one, about why their cheering at the hockey game mattered. And he sold it. And the students knew he meant what he said, even if maybe they mostly didn't believe him. But at the end of tense, crazy, loud games, when the students were cheering a stunning "LSSU shuld not win this game" victory, Frank would often point to the students. And the students would cheer louder. Why? He made everyone part of the team.
LSSU is small school (obviously). But that isn't the half of it. The Canadian students generally return to Ontario no later than 3:00 Friday afternoon. Its a small, tight-knit community. We all ate a the same place. We all generally ended up in many of the sme classes and many of the same parties. We all saw each other at the same bars. Frank, in the 80's (and I know that sounds like ancient history) made his hockey team a part of the student community. And I recall conversations about how the administration didn't like his tactics -- there were those who felt Frank was overstepping his authority; Frank was bypassing the AD's office by going directy to the students; It was WRONG for Frank to pur pressure on students in their dorms! Frank -- as we all know -- did not care.
Frank ignored all other sports, all other activities. If there was a D-I home hockey game, his opinion (at least it always seemed on the outside) was that you OWED it to the school and your community to be there, to be loud, to be proud.
Does LSSU need a dose of good old crazy-Frank boldness to inspire -- and remind -- the students that THEY make the atmosphere, not the other way around?
Yes, the Admin are puritanical jerks who employ your own fellow students in kiddie-cop uniforms to harass the student-body. Yes, the Admin don't want noise at the game unless it is good natured clapping. Yes, the Admin treat the students like infants. So the students can do one of two things: Flip off the admin, grow up, assert your rights, and make the Norris so loud and miserable that THEY are the ones staying away, not the students. OR, the Students can just meekly submit to being treated like fodder -- sober fodder, at that.
I think Frank's Lesson is one that needs to be relearned by the LSSU Students: This is YOUR team. Not the Soo's, really. Not the admin's. Not Jim Roque's. Not Lakerblue's. Not Fricker's. Not Turthy's. The Hockey team, above any and all other organizations and operations and associations at LSSU -- the hockey team belongs to the Students. For it through the hockey team, and virtually nothing else, that the LSSU Students are known to the world. It it through the hockey team that LSSU derives 90% (unscientific guess) of its recognition and awareness. The big stadium on campus is for hockey. The bulk of the money in athletics is earned by, and spent on, hockey.
I think its high time the students came out, en masse, and made this THEIR team again.
I know, when the wins and national titles started piling up, the Admin could not relegate the students any further away. They ignored the student fans, and took them for granted. Well, all of the admin people are long gone. The Students still remain, year in and year out. I think its high time the student took back THEIR rink from theAdmin.
Jus my thoughts on that topic.
Sorry. Those last two BGSU games really, really, really hurt. Bad hockey in an empty arena.
My sster had a friend who was living on campus when Frank was just getting the team rolling in the late-80's. He went door to door. And he didn't just stop and chat for a second. He would spend time talking to the students, one on one, about why their cheering at the hockey game mattered. And he sold it. And the students knew he meant what he said, even if maybe they mostly didn't believe him. But at the end of tense, crazy, loud games, when the students were cheering a stunning "LSSU shuld not win this game" victory, Frank would often point to the students. And the students would cheer louder. Why? He made everyone part of the team.
LSSU is small school (obviously). But that isn't the half of it. The Canadian students generally return to Ontario no later than 3:00 Friday afternoon. Its a small, tight-knit community. We all ate a the same place. We all generally ended up in many of the sme classes and many of the same parties. We all saw each other at the same bars. Frank, in the 80's (and I know that sounds like ancient history) made his hockey team a part of the student community. And I recall conversations about how the administration didn't like his tactics -- there were those who felt Frank was overstepping his authority; Frank was bypassing the AD's office by going directy to the students; It was WRONG for Frank to pur pressure on students in their dorms! Frank -- as we all know -- did not care.
Frank ignored all other sports, all other activities. If there was a D-I home hockey game, his opinion (at least it always seemed on the outside) was that you OWED it to the school and your community to be there, to be loud, to be proud.
Does LSSU need a dose of good old crazy-Frank boldness to inspire -- and remind -- the students that THEY make the atmosphere, not the other way around?
Yes, the Admin are puritanical jerks who employ your own fellow students in kiddie-cop uniforms to harass the student-body. Yes, the Admin don't want noise at the game unless it is good natured clapping. Yes, the Admin treat the students like infants. So the students can do one of two things: Flip off the admin, grow up, assert your rights, and make the Norris so loud and miserable that THEY are the ones staying away, not the students. OR, the Students can just meekly submit to being treated like fodder -- sober fodder, at that.
I think Frank's Lesson is one that needs to be relearned by the LSSU Students: This is YOUR team. Not the Soo's, really. Not the admin's. Not Jim Roque's. Not Lakerblue's. Not Fricker's. Not Turthy's. The Hockey team, above any and all other organizations and operations and associations at LSSU -- the hockey team belongs to the Students. For it through the hockey team, and virtually nothing else, that the LSSU Students are known to the world. It it through the hockey team that LSSU derives 90% (unscientific guess) of its recognition and awareness. The big stadium on campus is for hockey. The bulk of the money in athletics is earned by, and spent on, hockey.
I think its high time the students came out, en masse, and made this THEIR team again.
I know, when the wins and national titles started piling up, the Admin could not relegate the students any further away. They ignored the student fans, and took them for granted. Well, all of the admin people are long gone. The Students still remain, year in and year out. I think its high time the student took back THEIR rink from theAdmin.
Jus my thoughts on that topic.
Last edited: