There hasn't been a preseason in my memory where I wasn't hopeful that come mid-March I'd be sitting in the Sullivan Arena watching the Seawolves play in the WCHA playoffs. Hoping for 6th place has never been in my psyche. Why would it be so? It isn't that finishing below 5th in the WCHA is somehow shameful. It isn't. Consistently, the WCHA has put 8 teams in the top 25 in computer rankings such as KRACH. Last year all 10 WCHA teams ranked in the top 25 at the end of the regular season. My point here is that even a bottom half WCHA finish can be viewed with some measure of respect. But believe me, it ain't anything I ever hope for.So it's definitely a good thing to hear when Coach Shyiak says that a WCHA home-ice series is a primary goal for the team. I thought I'd try to take a realistic look at what it will take to accomplish this goal. Here are the 5th place results for the last 10 WCHA seasons:
97-98 30pts
98-99 26pts
99-00 31pts
00-01 32pts
01-02 27pts
02-03 32pts
03-04 31pts
04-05 29pts
05-06 32pts
06-07 29pts
98-99 26pts
99-00 31pts
00-01 32pts
01-02 27pts
02-03 32pts
03-04 31pts
04-05 29pts
05-06 32pts
06-07 29pts
So over the last decade the 5th place WCHA team finished with an average of 30 points (yeah ... the math works out to 29.9 but we'll just call it 30 eh?). With 2 points for a win and 1 point for a tie there's any number of combinations that will get the trick done but realistically finishing with less than 13 wins probably ain't gonna cut it. 13-11-4 = 30 is the realistic minimum. It would be facetious to suggest a 2-0-28 could get 5th place.
Last year offers some excellent examples and lessons for this years opportunity. After the first 14 games last season UAA had 6 wins and 8 losses in the league. I think both fans and staff were pretty satisfied with the first half. Sure there were a couple of games that the team gave away (9-0 loss at MTU and a 7-4 loss at home to UMD) and a couple of heartbreakers (3-2 OT loss at home to Wisconsin and the 4-3 OT loss at CC) but a sweep at home of UND and 3 out of 4 non-conference wins against UAF made it feel pretty good overall. But realistically, I'm here to say that as good as it felt during the first half to be 6-8 in conference and 10-8-2 overall that such a first half is just a red "you know what" hair under what was needed. Nevertheless, it's useful to review that half and remember what sort of effort it took. It is that exact effort (and a wee bit more) that will be absolutely necessary from October 26th 2007 until March 1st, 2008. 14 Friday nights and 14 Saturday nights. There's always the WCHA coaches mantra of win at home and split on the road. It certainly applies.
The first half of the season this year the Seawolves play only two opponents that finished in the lower half last year. We get Mankato at home to open conference play and are on the road at Duluth the first week in December. Those are 8 points that need to be looked at as "must" have. On paper neither of those teams looks to improve much this year but then again neither of them are walkovers either. The two other home series in the first half are CC and DU. Both of these series will be tough tests. The two other away series are at St. Cloud and Minnesota and CC. The NHC remains as the only building in the WCHA where UAA hasn't won a game. It might have been different but for a certain referee (gag cough ... the notorious Todd Anderson) in the first game of that series last year so that is something that will have to change. Unlike last year St. Cloud will be here in Anchorage for a return series in the middle of February but lets put the haven't won at the NHC behind us in the first half eh? I think we're all on board with that. They'll need to get some league points at the Mariucci in the first half and they can look back to the playoffs last year to know what sort of effort that will take. The team will need some road points at UND and Mankato and DU in the second half. They'll need home wins against Wisconsin, MTU, and St. Cloud before finishing the the season in the Sully against the Gophers.
My natural optimism tells me to proclaim that 5th place is realistic. I've looked up and down the schedule since it's been announced. I've counted wins and losses with various scenarios running through my mind. Of course, the main problem with such an exercise is that it is completely contained with my cranium. Lots of things are likely to happen (positive and negative) that I can't possibly imagine no matter how much I call upon Edgar Cayce and/or Nostradamus. The games will have to be played but I find it nothing short of realistic to think that I'll finally be sitting in the Sullivan Arena on a weekend in the middle of March watching a WCHA playoff series for the first time.
59 comments:
Reality check...you won't be sitting in Anchorage for the first round series.
can i beat the previous anonymous. He is probably from squarebanks or some other lowly place. Even if it is not realistic, there is hope. And Dave has this program headed in a good direction, very happy with the way things are going, if the sophs step it up a notch and the freshman contribute it is very possible.
Does this team really look better than it did last year? I don't have an answer for that. I think about losing players like Beagle and Lawson as a huge loss, but realistically I think that's more because those were the guys that were coming up at UAA when I went to school there. In other words, its probably more nostalgia than anything else.
Anyway, back to my point, I think if we can build on last season's successes that 13 wins isn't terribly unrealistic. In fact, I would say that it is within reach with a little luck.
In any event, I would be satisfied if they just finished better than last place for once, which I think is definitely an obtainable goal (and there's nothing wrong with finishing 9th place in the WCHA since a team like, oh say, UAF would probably go winless in conference play there).
jjack,
UAA definitely lost a lot of talent from last year. Bourne, Beagle and Kronschnabel are big losses, no question. As far as the goalie situation goes, Olthuis pushed Lawson last season and Gordon is a very athletic and talented goalie. UAA will be fine there.
They also have a very talented sophmore class, with some good talent in the freshmen. From what I saw at the picnic (and all the seniors were not there), but I think we'll see excellent leadership from Beaverson and Tarkir.
I am concerned about attendance at the Sully. Shyiak has the guys in school reading to the kids, and they are pen pals as well. He is trying to get them more involved in the community. Shyiak is looking for input if you have any ideas!
The guys just need to believe in themselves. I think that Crowder is a very upbeat player, and hopefully that's contagious.
For the players who read this blog, we BELIEVE in you, make it happen!
Suze,
I'm trying to think of some things to remedy the attendance problem that haven't already been done to death. Having transferred out of UAA to a smaller college, I'm trying to think of how things differ.
I think one problem is a problem of the university as a whole and not specifically the hockey program, and that's the feeling that UAA doesn't have a very strong sense campus community.
Part of this is that the whole system is setup very bureaucratically. This is mostly, I believe, because there is a fairly large student body but the administration seems to be severely understaffed. As a result, students go through "the system" and don't really exist other than on paper. You can go your whole college career without ever seeing an advisor, no one would ever notify you if you filled out paperwork wrong or forgot to file something (until you say "hey where's my financial aid?)...basically no one even paid attention to the fact that you even exist. Now, you may be thinking, "what does this have to do with hockey?" Well, as a student, its hard to care about the university when the university really doesn't give a hoot about you.
The other thing is that they don't push you to live in the dorms. At the college I'm in, Freshmen have to live in the dorms. Practically no one at UAA lives on campus, and don't consider the university "home", and therefore the Seawolves are not the "home team".
As far as what the Atheltic Dept. could do to improve attendance...how about actually promoting the games? The most I saw of promotion when I went to school there was the same stale TV commercial again and again and again, and a flyer posted at the beginning of the season announcing the whole season schedule. How about sending e-mails to the students announcing home games? How about some big banners and sign boards around campus announcing the visiting team?
Maybe some pre-game festivities would be cool. Here in Butte they have tailgating at the football games (and it gets like -40 in the winter here, so don't give me any of that "it's too cold in Anchorage!" baloney!) Get everyone together before the game and paint them up in Green & Gold or something fun like that.
Finally, UAA has a certain stigma it needs to break, and that's of being "Anchorage Community College", in other words, the school you go to when you couldn't get into another college or you just didn't bother to apply anywhere. A lot of people who go to school there have never left AK and think that UAA is second rate, and therefor the hockey team is too (neither of which is true, in my opinion). The hockey program needs to do more to make it clear that it is a Division 1 program and plays in the best league in the game; that the teams they are competing against are the top dogs and convince the students that they are fortunate to have that type of competition available to them.
Finally, BUILD A NEW ARENA ON CAMPUS!
Win games and they will come. The team wins and only positive thing can happen. The ADN may not give the team the coverage they should at first but the more they win, ADN will have to provide better coverage and the local TV coverage will improve. They say Anchorage is a hockey town but if the team doesn't win people will stay home on Friday and Saturday. The guys need to believe they can win as many of us diehard Seawolves fans know they can. Give 110% each night for three periods and they will have a winning record at the end of the season.
Last years decent record was driven by the freshman class. Those guys are all a year older. This years freshman class is likely (yes ... likely) to produce similar numbers to last years class. Defense will be better. The PP should improve (to do so they just need to fire the puck more often) and the PK will remain effective. Improvement requires applying the lessons learned last year. I see a staff that understands that and knows how to keep its players aware of what needs to be done.
If that isn't a formula for an improved record then I don't know what is.
hahahah, halarious donald the duck, uaa wont get home ice in your lifetime, have fun sucking again................
and lost talent?? dont you have to have talent to lose talent, what a joke, go to the cha
Your blog has hit the big time, Donald. You have a fully dedicated troll.
Just a note to the reasonable people that more often than not comment here.
Dolts like this anon twerp from Green Bay show up here when Chris from the Western College Hockey blog link to posts I make.
For some good examples just go read virtually any of his comments.
A decent portion of his readership are guys that seem to be obsessed with sniffing the jocks of 15 year old kids; it's sorta creepy but that's just part of the big picture on the Internet.
They do provide an opportunity though for me to practice my "tear a new asshole in an asshole" retorts.
/end colostomy
I agree that winning games will help get the butts in the seats, but that's not the entire picture. Even the Aces have had problems selling out when they are playing great.
I wish I knew what was different between now and the early 90's when (then) Prime Cable had a TV Season Ticket package because there were 500 people on the waiting list for season tickets. I really think that when the Aces came to town, people's allegiance was divided as most can't afford both UAA and the Aces.
A new arena will definitely help, it will be a better atmosphere, and will help recruit top players.
any news if GCI will air the away games, or say they will do it and then back out come game time
suze,
Ticket prices shouldn't be a factor if they're trying to get students into the stands because they literally give the tickets away to anyone with a student ID. Hell, I've gotten into games without a student ID by giving the dude at the ticket table a sob story.
I'd say that the only reason I got into UAA over the Aces in the first place is that I could go to a UAA game for absolutely free and an Aces ticket is outrageous after you add in taxes, fees, etc. For a college student on a budget, a UAA game is obviously the more attractive option.
Getting the greater public interested is a plus but considering there are roughly 12,000 students on the Anchorage campus and probably only a few hundred of them attend your average home game, there has to be some other problems besides finding room in your budget for a ticket.
Off topic - but with 15 minutes into the first period, the Alaska Av's have taken SIX penalties and the Kenai Brown Bears are ahead 1-zip (at the Menard Center in Wasilla)
I couldn't find a radio link (probably since it's just a pre-season game) but the score is live on Pointstreak-
http://www.pointstreak.com/prostats/boxscore.html?gameid=520837
C'mon Valley boys, stay outta the box!
larissa
ummm actually i think i remember adn.com saying that game is at the soldotna sports center. just a little fun fact
Jeff, I just noticed that on the top of the Pointstreak scoreboard.
Good thing I didn't drive up to Wasilla.. LOL!!!! :o)
It was Kenai 3, Wasilla 2 last time I looked (2nd period)
larissa
It's nice to know we have another NAHL team in alaska. It should help us out with recruiting. I read that they're trying to get a 4th Jr. team up here as well. the more the marier if you ask me.
first i would like to say that there some very loyal UAA hockey fans in green bay, secound it is nice to have a lots of juior programes up in alaska but the quality of those programes need to be good the avs have had a few rough seasons i think 3 is a good number for right now and hope that one fo them can bring a junior championship to the state that will help UAA a lot in recruting
Reply to the person who tried to "beat" me with this:
"can i beat the previous anonymous. He is probably from squarebanks or some other lowly place. Even if it is not realistic, there is hope."
I am not from squarebanks, I am not from Soldotna, nor Kenai, nor Homer, nor Deep Creek. (It was fun naming those places I've been to though!) I am from Minnesota, but am not a Gopher fan. Got any more guesses now that I've given you the help you so certainly need?
Anyway, you made my point by saying it is not "realistic", hence my phrase "reality check" to start off the blog. Hope floats...that's all it does.
Tyler, GCI is supposed to air most of the games this year.
anon:
I know something else that floats. Turds.
In this case it's such a perfectly appropriate label for some naysaying troll who shows up with no other apparent purpose than to try to shit on something that (s)he has zero idea about in the first place.
Home ice for the Seawolves is a stretch. To many loses to players leaving with years left and a couple of players not being eligable ( Carlson, Rengert, Haddad, Bales) and Lawson in net. Could be to much to overcome.
anon @ 8:21:
Not knowing the difference in usage between "to" and "too" isn't exactly giving anyone confidence that you have any opinion worth listening to. It doesn't help that you list a recruit that didn't make it through the NCAA Clearinghouse as being "ineligible" while at the same time list 2 players that we've all been told will be playing in December as "ineligible" and then add a 4th player from your imigination as being "ineligible". I'll be nice and just give you a "D" grade for all that because without Carlson, Haddad and Bales in the lineup there is more than sufficient talent in the freshman class to match or improve on the production from last years freshman class. Couple that with the anticipated production (which I've discussed in several posts during this preseason) from the other three classes and I see 5 more WCHA wins which would likely be enough to earn home ice.
Naturally, the games must be played. Come back and apologize in March when you're shown to be wrong eh? If you do I'll raise your grade to a "C".
Reply to Donny and his "turd" mouth:
You seem to be spewing alot of crap over in the KFAN College Hockey blog. I se you also like to $hit on your own site also. You are no gift to the Internet blog community, meh boy.
Why do you think I have zero idea that your "squad" (if you call it that) will not get home ice? Reality check squared (not squarebanks!): You will not.
That's Reality Check!!!
anon@7:13
I don't think you have any idea what the hell you're talking about for one simple reason. You've provided nothing by way of criticism except for the usual crap that trolls like you spew.
As for KFAN ... it isn't a Blog. It's a fan forum and if Sioux fans are going to say stupid shit and nobody else calls them on it then I'm happy to step in and correct the misstatements. That's the nature of a fan forum. In general they're full of people like you that just come in thumping their chests and crowing with ZERO substantive backing up what they are spewing. In some cases, it makes for good entertainment if the chest thumper has half a brain and is capable of expressing themselves. More often than not though that isn't the case and people like me are left to deal with insipid morons like you.
Let me break it down in terms even you can understand. In this post I expressed that I think it is realistic to hope for 5th place. I backed my assertion up with some rationale about the team and reasoning about the situation.
You on the other hand just come in and spew that it ain't gonna happen ... that's all, you provide nothing but horribly inane half-assed attempts to shit on UAA. No worries ... I wouldn't have even acknowledged your presence except to note from whence it came. But you insist on coming back and saying NOTHING more than just the first time. How stupid is that?
The primary readership here is people who are interested in and/or are fans of the UAA program. They know what they get reading me. If you come by once in while in between sniffing the jocks of 15 year olds and prance around like some meth riddled face-picker than you're going to get smacked around. If you come here and disagree politely and/or with some sort of aplomb then you'll get treated with respect.
I hate fairbanks
Jeff:
We all do.
i was just changing the subject because blog wars are lame, especially since the anonymous dude wont give out his identity like some of us. It seems like they can dish it but not take it.
jeff:
I just wish they'd differentiate themselves. Not so much a real name but at least some sort of moniker/alias so I don't have to go look at my stats to see if I'm talking to the same dolt. I tend not to worry or bother with one-timer trolling comments but when I see the same person come back over and over. You know you've got a hardcore obsessionist when they visit the site 12 times in a day.
It's all pretty much just a sideshow carnival.
Adam Murray to DENVER. I would say that this is another big loss for UAA. Another Alaska kid going to a WCHA rival.
Anon at 6:04 AM. Old news. Goalies are overrated. We all thought Lawson was going to be a huge asset to the team, but he sucked it up his last two years.
You just never know what kind of a player these kids are going to turn out to be.
Donny Dunlop:
It is your trashmouth like that previous spew to me that makes me not take you seriously either. You comment on my idiotness...do you know my education level? Probably not, cuz you can't imagine that far. It is higher than a bachelor's degree, OK? So you and your pimple-faced bratness can stay on this site and cater to the half-dozen UAA fans that peruse this site where you rip anyone who disagrees with you. Shame on you, Doanld.
Most of the posters on the college hockey fan forum are true WCHA fans. IF you cared, you'd see how many posts they have on that site (in the thousands)and they have some intelligent commentary. By the way, Doc Lundy, the poster you ripped cuz that's who you are, is a very respected person in the community and on that site, so go freeze your brain some more in Anchorage...you've done quite the damage already. What you said about respect on this site applies to any other site you post on also, Doanld. Shame on you X 2.
You probably pay people to post comments on this site just so it will look like anybody cares about UAA. Sorry, nobody else does, so keep talking to your multiple-personality self, Donny.
Deejer
Dee:
The fact that you feel the need to come here and tout your "higher than a Bachelor degree" status as some sort of defense of your previous trolling is hilarious.
Just to review:
1. I say UAA can finish 5th and provide an analysis of why I think that way.
2. You say ain't gonna happen and provide no reasoning.
3. I say you have no credibility without some sort of rationale.
4. You say you're really smart.
Since you insist on defending your previously vacuous assertions with a confusing series of attacks of completely unrelated issues, I'm left with little choice but to ask exactly what is keeping you from taking that extraordinary higher than a Bachelor degree brain of yours and figuring out how exactly to disappear from this site.
I'll just leave it at that, since I have to go mail out a bunch of checks to all my paid commenters.
Your analysis of finishing 5th or higher consisted of you perusing the schedule and counting wins (which probably will turn mostly into losses, but you a UAA fan so it always is good to have "hope").
Stick yo this site, your home territory, and all your "analysis" will be just fine and cozy. Go put this rationale on another site and you'll also be told to stop posting there, cuz finishing 5th or higher is high on hope and low on substance.
See...I just don't go away Daonald. You can rip other people and shut them up, but you've met one who will not. Live with it.
"Dee"
The coaches and players are all positive about this season, especially coming off of their upset of Minnesota in the playoffs. What a feat, being the FIRST team to beat them in a playoff series at the Mariucci.
These are college students who love to play the game, they are not getting paid. Too bad some people can't respect that and instead find every chance to ridicule them. I guess they have to make themselves feel better by tearing others down.
Every team is positive when the season is yet to start and the record is 0-0. Every team in the WCHA is thinking they have a shot to reach #5. But we are talking about being REALISTIC, not hopeful.
Realistically, they are going to have a tough time, like every other year, of making the top half of the standings.
There are no ridiculing players here. But thanks for throwing in the bleeding heart sob story just to make your point seem valid.
No ridiculing players? I guess you need to take a reading comprehension class.
"hahahah, halarious donald the duck, uaa wont get home ice in your lifetime, have fun sucking again................
and lost talent?? dont you have to have talent to lose talent, what a joke, go to the cha."
Although, it does sound like it was written by a ten year old.
To the poster at 8:19 AM:
I did not write what you are referring to, for facts sake. But the quote still does not ridicule players. It said UAA won't get home ice in your lifetime (which is probably a stretch...nobody knows that) but it does not ridicule players...I guess you want to think it is. I also don't think saying UAA doesn't have talent consists of a ridicule. They have minimal talent, and the "talent" that UAA loses is probably not considered "talent" at some other WCHA schools.
Believe me, I've more than likely taken more "comprehension" classes than you will ever take in your lifetime.
As Donny coins me:
"Dee"
Deejer:
Still hanging about? It's curious that you're so acutely concerned about whether UAA may or may not get home ice this season. Perhaps you should spend more time worrying whether the team you support will EVER win an NCAA game. Is it 0-5 or 0-6?
Donald,
I expected more out of you than to fall for that overused "win an NCAA tourney game" line. It's like still ripping the U for losing to Holy Cross...unoriginal. It would be nice, but it is something that is out of my direct control, so it would be pointless for me to "worry" about it.
It's funny that the "goal" you tell recruits who play for Anchorage is to beat Fairbanks. Oh, I'm sure that is a lofty goal. I'll tell all of our SCSU recuits to beat Canisius the opening weekend, OK? Forget about the WCHA (the league you play in), the Final Five, making the NCAA's...let's cheer for UAA to beat Fairbanks!
Wooo Hooo!!
(In case you take everything personal, I usually post stuff consisting of alot of sarcasm, so laughing and taking it for face value will lower your blood pressure...just wanted you to know I do not post only to rip teams)
I was gonna put your Anchorage team at 8th in my personal rankings, but some seasons I've seen your squad lay down late in the season, so I did put them last. I would say a realistic goal would be to finish 7th, since I can't see Anchorage getting above that position this year...but that's why they play the games.
I actually desire to have Mankato finsih last, since Jutting is the most overrated coach in this league.
Deej
The fact is that every team in the WCHA has talent. When the last place team can give the first place team a run for their money in the playoff's that is saying something. So i dont want to hear anything about UAA or any other WCHA team not having any talent. It is the toughest conference in college hockey. The last place team in the WCHA is probably a top 5 team in the CCHA or any other conference in college hockey except the CHA. Any team in the WCHA is capable of winning the CHA crown.
Well said Jeff, some people obviously have an axe to grind.
"The last place team in the WCHA is probably a top 5 team in the CCHA or any other conference in college hockey."
Here are last season's top 5 CCHA teams:
1 Notre Dame
2 Michigan
3 Miami
4 Michigan State
5 Nebraska-Omaha
You think UAF is better than any of those 5 teams? I doubt it. I might give you Neb-Omaha, but that means your better than NEbraska hockey. Not too much to ask, but I still think they take 3 out of a 5-game series.
Nobody has an axe to grind here. But why would you root so hard to beat Fairbanks when they aren;t even in your conference. It would be like me rooting for SCSU to beat Bemidji State...
Focus on your conference opponents, getting through the first-round, to the Final Five, and then to the NCAA'ss like SCSU has done. Then you'll be making progress.
Deej
It's called an in-state rival. Minnesota has too many teams to have any kind of real rivalry. Alaska has simply 2 teams that compete for the governors cup every year. And UAA did defeat Nebraska Omaha via shootout in last years Nye Frontier Classic even though it goes down as a tie in the books.
SCSU hockey stated in 1931
UAA hockey started in 1979
How many times has SCSU or UAA won the WCHA regular season?
SCSU=0, UAA=0
How many times has SCSU or UAA won the NCAA tourney?
SCSU=0, UAA=0
Looking at it that way, UAA and SCSU have made the same amount of progess, and SCSU has been around longer
Tyler, Tyler Tyler....
Yes, your stats are correct, however it is what you leave out that makes your stats look better than they are.
1. SCSU won the Final Five and was a #1 seed in the NCAA hockey tourney circa 2000. They had to play Michigan IN THEIR HOME ARENA in the NCAA's cuz Michigan was the Midwest region host school that year. Thanks, NCAA committee.
2. SCSU has only played in the WCHA since the late 80's...before that they played in a division which did not have NCAA qualification berths, so you're misleading comments regarding 1931.
3. 2 years ago SCSU played in the Final Five title game, losing to North Dakota. Last year they finished 2nd in the WCHA regular season, made the Final Five, and made the NCAA tourney as a #2 seed.
...and what has Anchorage done in the last few years besides beating Minnesota one game in the WCHA playoffs, in which you must win two to advance? Oh yeah, SCSU has lost once to Minnesota in the last 7, count 'em 7, meetings between the two teams, so your victory isn't all that special.
...and by the way, this year's high school recruiting class Bob Motzko has put together consists of some very good players from Minnesota HS hockey...probably the best recruiting year I've seen in many years here since Mark Parrish, Matt Cullen, and that class Craig Dahl brought to town in the late 90's. They won't all play together next year cuz some are verbals from some juniors in HS that will go to junior hockey, but the next few years are looking very bright for SCSU in terms of talent level.
So which team has made the most progress there Tyler?
And the troll leaves out the fact that SCSU has never won an NCAA playoff game. They went 4 straight years with what St. Cloud fans would wholeheartedly agree was their "greatest team" and they choked.
UAA on the other hand pulled what is widely regarded as the greatest upset in NCAA playoff hockey history by sweeping BC in a best of 3 series.
Troll,
Do you for a second begin to comprehend the meaning of something that is intended to be "entertainment". My "Dear Incoming Recruits" post was a dig at our primary rival ... a rivalry that is usually ranked in the top 5 when the pundits and mavens make such lists. You can imagine that the Gophers are St. Cloud's rivals but Gopher fans consider your pathetic program as an afterthought to UND and Bucky.
The post had many elements including text related to WCHA competition that exceeded the little dig at FBX. Your attempt to misconstrue it was clearly an abandonment of that "higher than bachelor" level education of which you're so proud. Twisting my words on my blog is very bad form and will not benefit you in any way. Trust me, (seriously, I'm being nice).
Go away. That is as succinct as I can be. Go away. Really. Your trolling is entirely unwelcome here.
Anony.....
yes, SCSU has made some accomplishments, that exactly what I was talking about, yeah, your school has had almost 50 years to get the kinks out, establish recruiting and alumni support.
I think that UAA has done a good job with what they have had to work with since we have such a young program and are in the non-debatable, toughest conference in college hockey
Troll,
It would have been nice if you'd respected my request to not post here again.
Donald,
Bad form is not letting others express their viewpoints. You want your views to be the only ones heard here, then you need to go back to 1985 and jump across that little body of water called the Bering Strait and then you'll have your communistic type of blog you so truly desire.
It's not that time, nor are you in that place, so please stop deleting people's differing views. You are participating in "bad blog form". Capeesh?
Dwayne.
Dwayne,
Just for your own future reference it's "capice". I know it looks weird but it's a weird word; appropriate though in the context you are using it.
Naturally, I understand it is distasteful to delete others comments. Let me tell you why I understand this. I have been subject to two similar situations on the Internet. The first at USCHO's boards where I was a regular poster for several years representing UAA. I was not without controversy and had the troll label applied by others on more than one occassion. I would debate that judgement and instead say that I would definitely incite. That being the case I was suspended on occassion and you could say I didn't learn my lesson though my ultimate banning from the joint was over a truly minor infraction of thier arbitrary rules and enforced by a person who had a specific grudge against me. If you're interested then put USCHO into the search window at the top of my blog and you'll find my accounts of that situation fully documented along with comments by other involved parties.
The second case was at Gopher Puck Live where I participated for not quite a week before I had an entirely innocuous post deleted (after I'd made about 20 of the best posts that joint had ever seen from an opponents fan). In response to the overreaction from the adminstrator in deleting my post; I removed all of my previous posts because I figured if some of my words were judged to not be worthy on their site then non of my words were. I was banned for removing my posts.
I describe each of these situations to you in order that you have part of the history that leads me to these distasteful days. And I'm honestly disgusted that I've had to take the action I have. I've only deleted ONE other comment in the nearly two years I've been blogging. You'll find any number of opposing views expressed here in various methods from trolling to articulate.
My history on the Internet is one in which my posts/ideas and/or style can be clearly polarizing and controversial. Read my response to a commenter in the comment section of the post above this one for some additional perspective.
Now with all that preamble, onto the matter at hand. I clearly gave DJ two very clear and direct messages that his continued trolling was not welcome. His views are intact. I have deleted three comment's he's made since the one you can see (I left the "comment has been deleted" info for context) and anytime I notice I will delete anything he posts for the rest of the time I write this blog. The comments I've deleted from him range from a word that would get a person smacked if they said it to me in real life to him thanking you for your support. But that aside, it should have been enough for a person to be shown the door. If you were to get kicked out of some establishment would you go back and give them your business? I sure wouldn't.
To summarize:
I've got lots of experience with good and bad on the Internet. I'm all about free speech. I'm not all about giving every troll free reign on my blog. I'll continue to allow comments without moderation and continue to allow anonymous comments. Especially those that take offense with something I've posted. It takes all of about 10 minutes for someone to start their own blog though so at some point (the point where I use "my" best judgement) it becomes nothing other than a lose/lose situation to allow trolls to have their way.
I hope that answers your concerns. Please keep reading. If you're a fan of another WCHA team (or UAF) you'll be pissed sooner or later at something else I've said. I hope when you are that you comment again.
Donald,
I've read the entire string and do not see the reasoning of banning that person's posts from this forum. I see you making some UAA points for finishing 5th, and him saying they are not realistic. Yes, UAA can possibly finish 5th, but I also would agree that it is not too realistic an expectation.
Anyway, the posts are just disagreements with other posters, in which valid and factual points are made on both sides as you read down the blog (regarding the UAA /SCSU comparison in response to a UAA fan's posting). They are also disagreements with you, in which both sides have name-called during the posts. So you can say they are not welcome on your blog because of what they say, but your own language use in this blog string refutes that argument immediately (pot-kettle).
So really, if you are gonna ban people because they disagreed with you or your fan's postings, then you are in for a rude awakening. Sorry, but you still are practicing Soviet-type rule on this here website by controlling" posters. This is a fact no matter how you want to phrase it.
By the way, my preseason gut tells me Anchorage slides into 8th place at regular season's end. I just think the 7 teams I've got above them, all except Mankato and UMD, are just better than Anchorage. Nothing against UAA, but that's what I sense.
Dwayne.
Dwayne,
Thanks again for your perspective. I'll not bother to review the sequence of events on this string of comments as they are (excepting of course the still continuing comments of the troll) there for any reader to interpret for themselves and then choose whether or not to come back here and read anything else I have to say.
My totalitarian commie predisposition aside; there are almost no situations in life where there are absolute truths. It is always colored by perspective. The one thing I have done on this blog (and will continue to do) is to be open and honest about what I say and my reasoning behind it. So while you view it as a "pot-kettle" situation, I view it as a someone who refused to leave after being diretly and frankly told they were unwelcome.
Just like TV there are plenty of channels to choose from there are nearly innumerable options for College Hockey fans to express themselves. I've never promoted myself in any fashion as being some kind of a journalist or living up to some defined set of standards other than using my judgement as best I can.
I started this blog with the title "UAA Hockey Fan" and the subtitle "A Place to Share Information About UAA Hockey" with due consideration as to the content I wanted to have here. I didn't call it the "UAA Hockey Free-For-All" with the subtitle "A Place for St. Cloud Fans to Crap On My Team". Everything I write here is with that in mind. The #1 rule in writing anything is to know your audience and I write for UAA fans. They're my audience. Anyone else that reads here is secondary and if they're entertained enough to come back even though they're not a UAA fan then kewl beans. If they're not ... then it's no loss to me.
There is nothing stopping anyone from starting their own blog calling "UAA Hockey Fan Blog Sucks" or "UAA Won't Finish in 5th" or whatever. It takes 10 minutes. Building a readership though is an entirely different matter. I'm a self-confessed uncompromising ass in many ways but my feedback through email, the community and comments here are pretty positive in general .
So ... I'm all good with my decision. I'll reiterate here ... this is only the 2nd time in almost two years that I've resorted to this action.
Why were they unwelcome? Just because they disagreed with you? That is the only thing I see in here is some disagreement, some analysis, and some pot-shots, which will happen in any blog. I'd be pissed too if some know-it-all blog host banned me because I disagreed or had another viewpoint. Sheesh.
Anon@11:44:
Dear Dwayne,
Thanks for signing your first two posts questioning my decision to delete posts from a troll. I gave my answers with due consideration to the fact that you did so. However, your failure to sign this last comment is curious to me.
(These are rhetorical questions); Did you somehow not think you had already made that point? Did you not see the change the channel answer? Do you know some of the common traits that obsessive trolls share? Does Prudential Securities computer services route all their traffic nationwide through a server in Roseland NJ?
I won't comment further on this matter.
LOL, too funny! I wonder how Prudential Securities feels about their employees spending their "on-the-job" time in this manner.
Suze:
This guy trolled my blog from home and work for an average of about 10 visits a day. I'd estimate (I didn't bother adding up all the visits) in total he's spent about 6 hours reading various pages of my blog over the last five or six days. He actually pretended to be someone other than himself after I started deleting his posts and at one point even thanked himself from home for something he'd posted earlier in the day at work.
It's a bit sad that I didn't figure it out sooner but perhaps my comments explaining it all will serve some purpose. I doubt it though, mostly it was a major waste of my time.
This isn't the government or something. It's the internet. You're taking this "censorship" way too seriously. First of all, it's pretty shortsighted to say that anyone on the internet is censored when you can go to Blogger.com and launch your own blog in a matter of seconds.
And last time I checked this was the UAA *fan* blog. It's not ESPN or USCHO or somewhere where you would expect unbiased coverage. Keep in mind that the only reason people come here to tell us their low opinions of the Seawolves in the first place is to get a rise out of us. There's no other reason anyone would come to a FAN blog and feel the need to inform us of their enlightened opinions. I really have no sympathy for trolls who are "censored".
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