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Re: Notre Dame Hockey 2014-15: The year of the Freshman
So I have reached a life changing decision. I will no longer renew my season ticket package for Notre Dame hockey. My sister did not renew her season tickets beginning 2 seasons ago. I bet my brother will not renew either since I am not. For the first time in nearly 40 years, there will not be a season ticket holder with the last name of Wood at Notre Dame hockey games. The final nail in the coffin, you ask? Apparently, some people around us were "offended" (to use the usher's admonishing verbiage) by our complaints about the product on the ice.
You want to know what I am offended by? In no particular order, I am offended by:
1. the fact that the last piece to the puzzle for a national championship was this palace; yet we are further away from said trophy than when we played in a dump.
2. the sterile, impersonal quality of aforementioned palace. I become hooked on Notre Dame hockey, in part, because the players were so accessible. I was a 12 year-old season ticket holder who had the biggest crush on John Schmidt and he took the time (quite often) to stop and talk with me after games, at practices, even after he graduated when I saw him in Indy that summer. What 12 year-old can do that now? Just hang out with a player?
3. the separation of parents and fans. I remember from my earliest games getting to know the families of the players. Hell, I babysat Dave Poulin's kid brother when his family would take Dave out after games. His brother and I would hang out at the hotel, play video games and fall asleep. I won't even go into the relationship I formed with the Regan's. Or the White's. Or the Van Guilder's.
4. the fact that it took 2 years of complaining before someone finally listened and turned down the volume of the canned music.
5. the secondary reason for the CFIA apparently. Hockey is not the main focus anymore. It's salute a vet (even the ones they have to ship in because they've run out of Indiana vets). It's the Meijer sign extravaganza. It's the hyperactive fan of the game. It's the shrill weather girls explaining (every weekend) shufflepuck. It's autographs with Miss Indiana.
6. the fact that no one listens when I ask why the program doesn't also salute other heroes. You know, the ones NOT in uniform. Like, say, nurses, firefighters, Hospice volunteers, or others who read to the blind, deliver books to shut-ins or mentor elementary school kids. Is the university so terrified of appearing unpatriotic if they don't constantly genuflect to the military?
7. those people around me who think it is perfectly acceptable to allow their children to scream at the top of their lungs when the jumbotron implores everyone to "Get loud." No, it is not cute.
8. the loss of old rivalries because the administration is embarrassed that Notre Dame is in Indiana and wants desperately to relocate (if in their minds only) to the East Coast.
9. related to #8, the fact that our OOC schedule blows. Where's North Dakota? Where's Michigan State? Where's Denver? Where's Michigan? Bowling Green? Penn State? Yale? Quinnipiac?
10. the fact that I spend hundreds and hundreds of my hard-earned dollars and unless I am sunshine and roses, I should keep my mouth shut. Those who know me know one certain thing: Never tell Mary Catherine to shut her mouth.
I wish the hockey players nothing but great success, both here and in their futures, regardless of whether hockey is a part of that future. I'll save my money and watch the games from the comfort of my couch where if I don't sit on my hands or politely golf-clap, no one will chastise me.
So I have reached a life changing decision. I will no longer renew my season ticket package for Notre Dame hockey. My sister did not renew her season tickets beginning 2 seasons ago. I bet my brother will not renew either since I am not. For the first time in nearly 40 years, there will not be a season ticket holder with the last name of Wood at Notre Dame hockey games. The final nail in the coffin, you ask? Apparently, some people around us were "offended" (to use the usher's admonishing verbiage) by our complaints about the product on the ice.
You want to know what I am offended by? In no particular order, I am offended by:
1. the fact that the last piece to the puzzle for a national championship was this palace; yet we are further away from said trophy than when we played in a dump.
2. the sterile, impersonal quality of aforementioned palace. I become hooked on Notre Dame hockey, in part, because the players were so accessible. I was a 12 year-old season ticket holder who had the biggest crush on John Schmidt and he took the time (quite often) to stop and talk with me after games, at practices, even after he graduated when I saw him in Indy that summer. What 12 year-old can do that now? Just hang out with a player?
3. the separation of parents and fans. I remember from my earliest games getting to know the families of the players. Hell, I babysat Dave Poulin's kid brother when his family would take Dave out after games. His brother and I would hang out at the hotel, play video games and fall asleep. I won't even go into the relationship I formed with the Regan's. Or the White's. Or the Van Guilder's.
4. the fact that it took 2 years of complaining before someone finally listened and turned down the volume of the canned music.
5. the secondary reason for the CFIA apparently. Hockey is not the main focus anymore. It's salute a vet (even the ones they have to ship in because they've run out of Indiana vets). It's the Meijer sign extravaganza. It's the hyperactive fan of the game. It's the shrill weather girls explaining (every weekend) shufflepuck. It's autographs with Miss Indiana.
6. the fact that no one listens when I ask why the program doesn't also salute other heroes. You know, the ones NOT in uniform. Like, say, nurses, firefighters, Hospice volunteers, or others who read to the blind, deliver books to shut-ins or mentor elementary school kids. Is the university so terrified of appearing unpatriotic if they don't constantly genuflect to the military?
7. those people around me who think it is perfectly acceptable to allow their children to scream at the top of their lungs when the jumbotron implores everyone to "Get loud." No, it is not cute.
8. the loss of old rivalries because the administration is embarrassed that Notre Dame is in Indiana and wants desperately to relocate (if in their minds only) to the East Coast.
9. related to #8, the fact that our OOC schedule blows. Where's North Dakota? Where's Michigan State? Where's Denver? Where's Michigan? Bowling Green? Penn State? Yale? Quinnipiac?
10. the fact that I spend hundreds and hundreds of my hard-earned dollars and unless I am sunshine and roses, I should keep my mouth shut. Those who know me know one certain thing: Never tell Mary Catherine to shut her mouth.
I wish the hockey players nothing but great success, both here and in their futures, regardless of whether hockey is a part of that future. I'll save my money and watch the games from the comfort of my couch where if I don't sit on my hands or politely golf-clap, no one will chastise me.
-- Knute Rockne: All American
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