When the Cheers Changed into Tears

If Dartmouth is the Big Green, then Michigan State is the Bigger Green.

Friday and Saturday, the Jolly Green giants paid a visit to Bright Hockey Center. "Ho, ho, ho," they said, "Harvard's got to go."

And, sad but true, Harvard went. But not before putting up a good fight on the ice and a good rat-a-tat-tat, take that in the stands.

So, Harvard was losing, 4-2, with three minutes left in the final game of the two-game, total-goals series. So, the Crimson had lost, 6-5, the previous night.

When Michigan State shouted "scoreboard," the Harvard crowd yelled "Board scores." When MSU spelled out "S-T-A-T-E," the Crimson band shot back, "Now spell Michigan." And, after a pause, hinted, "It begins with an M."

Oh, and the mob teased Kevin Miller--MSU's returned Olympian--asking him how difficult his course load was this semester.

No wonder Ron Mason, Michigan State's poolshark coach, told The Detroit Free Press a week ago that the Harvard crowd is "obnoxious." Not, said Mason, because it's loud, but because of all the nasty things it says.

On the ice, true to its underdog form, the Crimson never said die--probably because it was out of breath.

When Josh Caplan scored a short-handed goal with two minutes left in the final game, he breathed some life into the crowd, if not some oxygen into the wilting Crimson.

Caplan's goal was too little, too late for a team without any big guns, however. The Crimson's three-point shooters--Allen Bourbeau and Lane MacDonald--won't be back until next year.

But even without superstars, the Crimson put on a good show this year. A show, no doubt, Harvard fans will remember.

And, as for you Ron Mason, you're not a sieve, you're a funnel.

No, you're not a funnel, you're a vacuum.

No, you're not a vacuum, you're a black hole.

No, you're not a black hole, YOU JUST SUCK!

And you call us obnoxious, coach?