As a Section 8 season ticket holder, I am compelled to address Lauren Antocci’s letter “Fans should allow Clay to dance” (pg 6, Feb. 4). While I’m sure Ms. Antocci has the best of intentions, her idealistic views of fandom and school spirit do not hold water in the face of some realities about college hockey.

American Hockey Magazine recently ranked Walter Brown Arena the sixth most difficult college stadium for a visiting team to play. This is not solely attributable to our players’ intimate knowledge of the ice surface and the way the boards bounce. It wasn’t the grueling Orono to Boston bus ride that inspired University of Maine head coach Tim Whitehead to say, as reported by hockeyeastonline.com, “‘I am just pleased to get two points tonight because they are tough to come by here.'” (hockeyeastonline.com/boxes/0304/012304/bu-me.html)

Heckling is, for better or worse, an intrinsic part of college hockey. Our players get the same treatment when visiting Boston College’s Kelley Rink or the University of Minnesota’s Mariucci Arena. We would be remiss not to match that adversarial energy when opposing teams enter our rink. Walter Brown is a difficult arena, and Harry Agganis will be a difficult arena for opposing teams because of our enthusiasm. Don’t think we’re ignorant of this arrangement’s boundaries, either. At the BC home game Section 8 members were first to applaud Patrick Eaves-star player for the archrival-when he was lifted to his feet after Kevin Schaeffer’s slapshot downed him. It’s typically Dog Pound members who attend away game and accept the abuse they’d be dishing out at home. It’s disheartening to hear the these people’s fandom doubted because they don’t conform to an ideal requiring unilateral commitment to everything Boston University is and does.

A hockey game is not, and should not be, a mindless display of solidarity. True hockey fans don’t attend games so that they might sacrifice their individuality to an institution; they go because they love and appreciate the game. Clay, very simply, gave an unpopular performance. It was a performance I neither booed nor applauded, but I stand by my fellow students’ right to do either. The issue is not one of fandom or commitment to BU, and the presentation of it as such does a disservice to those of us who respect the sport.

Joseph Martin UNI ’06 [email protected] (617) 650-2406