I realize that, not being a Utica fan, many of the intended audience of this message will not read it, but I'll post it anyway:
I'm confused. Is this the the thread about Utica (which, as I already stated, means discussion both positive and negative about the team in question from fans of both UC and other DIII teams... That's the way this board had worked since its inception), or is this the "we hate the long-time posters of this board that we recently DECIDED to join so we're going to whine about it to no end" thread? Seriously, you're spending more time whining about Remy than talking about your own team. Remy is who he is. The others, too. They are passionate fans of their own respective teams, and proud of the histories their teams have. But they've also been around here long enough to see, as they've stated, fans of Geneseo in the mid 2000s and fans of Adrian after that come swarming in here trumpeting their team's amazing potential, only to see them disappear when their teams fell short (in the case of Genny), or when the lack of a chance in the tourny was no longer something to complain about. Most of them considered those not buying into the hype as "trolls" just like you guys are... But the funny thing is that many non-genny or non-adrian fans considered most (although certainly not all) of the fans of the team in question to be the "trolls". That's what he meant when he said you were like the new Geneseo. And that's why they can at times be so aggressive with you: you didn't **** them off, but similar posters to yourselves who came before certainly did.
Ultimately, believe it or not, history does come into the discussion at the end of the year. First of all, the team's history and reputation affects the OOC teams that the coach can schedule, thus affecting the SOS indirectly. But secondly, and more importantly, the selection process for at-large bids (upon which UC, being a member of the ECAC-W), is dependant), while being based on a number of statistical criteria, is a somewhat subjective process because the ranking committees are left some wiggle room to weight the criteria as they see fit. It's actually very rare that anybody (even Matt Webb and Josh Carey over at d3hockey.com, long-time writers and board moderators here who left due to disagreements with the USCHO administators, who have done annual bracketologies for years now) to correctly guess the entire field of at-large bids, and to my knowledge no poster/writer on either board has ever correctly predicted both the field and the bracket pairings. But my point is: history matters, even if it is just a little. So these posters who are trying to remind you when you get really indignant over not beng ranked highly that UC has a reputation of both not being great away from home AND of always falling apart and fallng short in the end, ought to be listened to. Because that Reputation DOES exist, and there is every chance in the world that it will impact the team at the end of the season.
And I would just like to say that I do think UC has a lot of potential. The problem that's keeping me from jumping on the UC bandwagon just yet is that, like many other DIII fans, we've seen a few teams, including UC, suddenly have lots of potential and then ultimately fade away: a flash in the pan. If UC can finally put it together, that will go a long way toward improving the reputatin the team has. Just look at how little heated discussion is happening around Adrian: there was a time when EVERY thread on the front page of this board, regardless of its original topic, was a vile argument about how AC got hosed or about how Mitch Albom was a moron. Now, they're in a few threads, but it's a more pleasant conversation. Part of it is that, once Adrian got into the tourny with a brand new AQ, there was no external adversity to complain about and the trolls who attacked anyone who so much as THOUGHT that AC weren't the automatic National Champions disappeared because pleasant informed conversation was of no interest to them. But the other part of it is that AC proved where they stood in the DIII ranks, and so their detractors died down a bit, too.
There, I'm sure you can glean my personal thought-out opinion from that somehow. Anyway, I may not always agree with Remy, or other long-time posters on this board, but I will always defend them when they are personally attacked. Remy is, like I said, a very passionate Plattsburgh fan. He is also fairly well-versed in eastern DIII history, which will greatly affect his opinions. And when he disagrees with something somebody says, sarcasm is ALWAYS his method of choice for expressing that disagreement. If you can't handle a bit of sarcasm mixed with a bit of dissenting opinion, then I feel sorry for you.
For the record, I wouldnat this point have UC ranked above Plattsburgh. An argument can be made of Oz, but I would have no complaints if the Pioneers were ranked above the Lakers, too. If UC makes it to Placid (or even if they don't?) I look forward to meeting some of you there. I'll be there, cardinals or no cardinals.