Forgetting Sportsmanship

The end of the BU-UNH hockey game this Sunday was a disgrace. BU is one of the best places for college hockey, and BU has done a fabulous job representing the sport on a national stage for the past 70 years. UNH has an equally long and respectable tradition.

The BU fan behavior at the end of the game was totally unacceptable, and I was ashamed to be sitting with friends who were throwing things on the ice. I would like to personally apologize to Coach Parker and the players on the team for being part of that melee, delaying the game, embarrassing the school on television and causing any problems.

That being said, the behavior exhibited by the UNH players and staff was downright deplorable. The players have all the right in the world to be excited about their sweep of the #6 Terriers, but to celebrate on the ice with 7 seconds to go (as goaltender Michael Ayers did) and to make gestures toward the students with their gloves clearly intended to resemble the middle finger (as many players did after the empty-net goal) are examples of the lack of class UNH exhibited on Sunday night.

But one does not need to look very far to understand why the players acted that way. The coaching staff behaved in the exact same way. When a friend of mine, sitting near the UNH bench, leaned close enough to the coaches to tell them, “You are a classless team,” the assistant coach (I don’t know which one) looked right into my friend’s eyes and shouted an obscenity at him. None of the coaches made any effort to get their players who were taunting off the ice. Instead they picked fights with the fans. When you represent your university as a player or as a coach, there are certain things you cannot do. Yelling at the fans is one of those things. My friend did not threaten the coaches or direct his comments at them in a personal manner. It is totally unprofessional for the coaches to react in that manner, and it is easy to see why the players acted in such a classless manner as well. When you see your coach jawing with the fans, how can you expect to be disciplined for your behavior on the ice? You can’t. And judging by the behavior of most of the UNH players on the ice, it is clear how this lack of discipline manifests itself.

UNH is a good team, and Dick Umilie is a great coach, as well as a good person, I’m sure. But the behavior of his team on Sunday night has forced me to lose all respect for the organization. It is one thing for fans to behave poorly, but the BU student-fans will never represent Hockey East on a national stage. I know after tonight, I will root very hard for a team other than UNH to make it to the final four from Hockey East (that is, of course, if BU isn’t there). I would be embarrassed to have this organization represent our conference on a national stage.

Both schools were out of line for their behavior at the end of the game, but the behavior of the fans and the behavior of the players have to judged on different scales. And UNH was clearly the worst of the two groups on Sunday.