A Tale of Twin Cities

ST. PAUL, Minn.--She stood out in the crowd. No, it wasn't her gold hair that won her notice. It was her gold sweater. She was a Minnesota fan in Harvard's section of the St. Paul Civic Center.

She wasn't afraid to show her colors. Or shout, "Go, Gophers."

Harvard fans tolerated her. Although the woman in the yellow sweater may have been an anomaly in the Harvard crowd, she was the norm in the arena. Of the more than 15,000 fans who attended the NCAA hockey championship game, easily 90 percent were Minnesota fans. The University of Minnesota is located 10 miles from the Civic Center.

One Harvard spectator did not tolerate a Gopher infiltrator. When a young boy in Gopher grab stood on the stairs in the Harvard section, the Crimson fan turned to the kid and snapped, "Don't you have someplace to go? Like to bed?"

Championship games bring out the best in everyone.

The Minnesota cheerleaders had a grand time. Initially, the NCAA ruled the Gopher cheerleaders could not take their act onto the ice between periods. The cheerleaders sobbed. The NCAA relented. The cheerleaders cheered.

Between periods of the championship game, the nine-woman unit was in skates on the ice.

Becoming a Gopher cheerleader is almost as hard as becoming a Gopher player. Tryouts are in April. Practices last all summer.

Being an ice hockey cheerleader is more demanding than being a basketball cheerleader.

"Our season is so long," cheerleader Co-Captain Kim Rosha said. "We have two games a week. I don't know if any of the basketball cheerleaders can skate. A lot of our girls have taken figure skating."

The cheerleaders were the main attraction at a Gopher rally before Friday's Minnesota-Maine semifinal. Five hundred Gopher fans jammed the lobby of the Radisson Hotel to chant, "Here we go, Gophers, here we go." Minnesota Assistant Coach Bill Butters addressed the cheering crowd. "Make sure you yell loud because--who are we playing tonight? Oh, Maine. Right. Maine will have lots of support."

March Madness, hockey style, energized the Twin Cities. The local newspapers carried slews of stories on the tournament.

But the good journalists did not always get their facts right.

The St. Paul Pioneer Press Dispatch mentioned several times Harvard was appearing in its second championship game. The Crimson was actually appearing in its third title tilt.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune gave Yale a plug. The Star Tribune said Yale had blanked the Crimson, 3-0, in January. The final was actually 3-1.

But if it makes those Yalies happy, give 'em the shutout. After all, Yale has to suffer yet another setback at the hands of Harvard.

The Crimson is the NCAA hockey champion. Yale is still just Yale. Hector I. Osorio