n For an entire year, I have had to put up with reading Anthony Flum’s columns. Usually, I wouldn’t intervene with another student’s writing. I almost did last week when he said Michigan State’s hockey team was in the Big Ten conference (“Terriers need more Law IV, less Durant,” Mar. 20, p. 12). I would understand if he mistook the team for being in another conference in the NCAA, but to say that it is in a nonexistent NCAA hockey conference is laughable.

Well, his last piece (“Flum reflects on four years of disappointment,” Mar. 27, p. 8) put me over the edge. Flum does not understand that national championships don’t come like a leap year. How many national championships does Boston University have in its history? Four. All in men’s hockey, I might add.

How many does Boston College have? Two, also all in men’s hockey (laugh, out loud). Flum’s expectations are completely ridiculous. If he was so sure he would see a national championship in his time here, he should have reconsidered attending BU.

University of California, Los Angeles would’ve been a more appropriate choice. (If the Bruins win the NCAA basketball tournament this year, their national championship tally will reach 100.)

Rather than consider any of this, Flum criticizes the hockey team for “giving up” at the end of the season. A fair-weather fan like Flum should not be allowed to do such a thing. The hockey team never gave up during the season. It faced potential elimination from Hockey East competition and possibly no NCAA Tournament participation, but managed to put together back-to-back wins against a very scary University of Vermont hockey team.

In the Boston College game in the Hockey East semifinals the team went down 4-0. However, none of the players gave up and neither did the fans, for that matter. This team achieved a whole lot this year and there is no way I would ever criticize what it did.

The Terriers won another Beanpot, guaranteeing that for next year, no matter what happens, when people look at the Beanpot history, BU will still own half of the championships. That’s impressive.

Who would have thought that the University of Maine, one of — if not the last — team to get into the tournament, which lost six of its last eight games entering the NCAA tournament, would be in the Frozen Four?

Hey, Flum, it doesn’t have as many NCAA crowns as BU does, either. In fact, BU has twice the number the Black Bears have. It’s not easy to win NCAA championships, and most of the time the teams (Notre Dame, Minnesota and BU, according to my Frozen Four bracket) that are expected to win it don’t. All these factors make it that much sweeter when your team does win. Ask your parents how many national championships they witnessed their school win. Chances are, they didn’t see any (unless they went to UCLA).

So, Flum should take pride in the Terriers instead of crying like a child. He should be happy he got to see BU raise three Beanpot trophies and the Hockey East title in his college career. If he had gone to Northeastern, the thought of such accomplishments would be a wild dream.

Brian Fadem

COM ’10