Bowling Green hockey doesn't compare to 'M'

By Ryan C. Moloney

Daily Sports Writer

BOWLING GREEN - The road trip down to Bowling Green, a school with at least two factual inaccuracies in its name, should be standard practice for anybody who calls themself a Michigan hockey fan - not just because there were plenty of pumpkin-colored bleachers to go around this weekend, but also because it's natural to become fat, sassy and unappreciative when you grow accustomed to the best.

And make no mistake, Yost Arena is the best.

Believe it or not, the Bowling Green hockey experience matches Michigan's in many respects. Both hockey teams boast a faithful fan base of retirees, alumni and students, both count the incomparable Mr. Spot's as sponsors and the cheers concocted by each student section are strangely similar.

But while the set up at Yost is major league Detroit, Bowling Green's is class A Fayetteville.

To be fair, Bowling Green's student section was able to hold a candle to Yost's in the beginning of Friday's game, with a clever introduction cheer for Michigan players and their own version of "C-ya." But when the game started to get out of reach, fair-weatherness set in. The ultimate low - as goaltender Tyler Masters flailed around for the puck, down 5-1 with Michigan threatening to score again, the students began cheering. Someone in Bowling Green p.r. started chucking hotdogs at the suddenly invigorated students - one got the feeling that it was a fairly standard down-by-four-goals ritual.

During the period intermissions on Friday, the falcon faithful were "entertained" by a supposedly grown person wearing a falcon costume who, by all indications, had never skated before that night. The falcon ankle-skated around, at once trying to rile the stands without falling down. At one point, for reasons unfathomable, the falcon began full-body smacking into the boards. "Smack, smack," this happened about five or six times - maybe it was prognosticating how many goals Michigan would end up with.

The symbol of Bowling Green's ineptitude nearly ran into Josh Blackburn as he attempted to leave the ice. Blackburn knocked the stick out of its hands, and having lost its means of support, the falcon nearly toppled over while trying to pick it up.

"It was invading my space," Blackburn later said.

The falcon's display would terrorize most small children, but it elicited mostly yawns -perhaps they've grown used to it.

But Bowling Green does line up with Michigan in one area - the resilience of its die-hard fans. On the opposite side of the player's benches sat people who have made Bowling Green hockey a part of their life's fabric.

Maybe that's a testament to the game itself, as Bowling Green's national prominence more or less evaporated after Rob Blake left in 1990.

When Bowling Green scored its first goal, the section burst into thunderous cheering - though Michigan had already scored four times.

One woman was asked how long she had watched Bowling Green hockey.

"About twenty years," she said without a hint of sheepish hesitation.

Even on this particular weekend, Michigan fans can take their hats off to that kind of dedication.