Put Up Or Shut Up
I told you yesterday this post would be bossy, and there it is in the post title.
If you are a real hockey fan, you will show up this weekend to watch tUMD play Bemidji, and show your support for the program. Yeah that’s right, you’re not a real hockey fan if you only support men’s programs. I don’t care if you attend games from mini-mites up through the NHL every second you can; if you’re only attending boys’ and men’s games, you are not a real hockey fan. You’re a real men’s and boys’ hockey fan, sure, congratulations, pat yourself on the back. But don’t tell me you love hockey.
If you are in the hospital or stuck working a weekend shift or something, of course, I’m not going to castigate you for missing the game. Turn the TV in your hospital room to My9 on Saturday and tune in!
This is a big series for tDogs, on and off the ice. tUMD needs to take care of business against all teams below them in the standings. Bemidji has both beaten the Gophers and lost to Lindenwood, so who knows which team we will see this weekend? Bemidji is the sole loss the Doggies have taken in their 12 for 13 run. tDogs need to push hard to stay strong in the PWR and maintain their spot in the NCAA tournament.
This is a big series off the ice because it is their first series after Coach Miller was not-fired-but-really-c’mon-people, to use a technical term. This is a big series because it’s a chance for fans to put their butts in the seats and show they support the team. There were a lot of angry people on the Interwebs (and a few gleeful neanderthals), but if those angry people don’t show up to the games, what is the point? Hashtag activism isn’t really activism.
Fans have been encouraged to show up to show their support for Coach Miller and their disapproval of the administration’s decision. I am here to tell you that while it seems like there are only two sides to this story (unconditional Miller support or unconditional loathing for Miller, women’s hockey, female athletes, and women in general), there’s middle ground. I am going to encourage hockey fans to show up who don’t support Coach Miller and/or approve of the administration’s decision. Show up because you support the team, the women on the ice who are having a fantastic season and who we do not want to lose to other programs. Show our juniors, seniors, and freshmen that you will be there to cheer them on next year, that your support of the program is not tied to Coach Miller. Show up because you support the legacy of the team, because you don’t want a program with five national championships to fall into obscurity. You can even make a sign that makes it clear you are ok with a new coach, lest anyone mistake you for a Miller supporter (quelle horreur!)
Do not show up if you’re just going to make fun of or marginalize the coach, the players, or the program. Self-immolate instead.
Put your money where your mouth is this weekend, hockey lovers. I’ll see you at AMSoil, 3:07 PM, Saturday and Sunday.
Runnin' With the Dogs 
“Do not show up if you’re just going to make fun of or marginalize the coach, the players, or the program.”
Well put. We all know that only the author of this blog is allowed to make fun of or marginalize those she disagrees with…
Slow hockey no matter the coach…team has been trending downward and that is way too much money to pay a second tier coach.
Well after those two games I have noticed some changes that happened.
1.) The coach that was on the bench was not the same coach that coached before this contract started. She kept quite about bad calls, she wasn’t yelling or cussing. If she felt she did nothing wrong? Why is she changing her attitude on the bench? Hmmmm
2) Lack of programs. This is a first for me, and with a month off they can’t say that this is due to running out of them. My thought is that the team doesn’t want those to find out the stats of the team, and realize that the team is indeed going downhill. To see that she’s 11-38-8 against UND, Wisconsin, and Main U in the past 4 seasons.
3) Players didn’t change how they played. They still lost to Bemidji, a team they are 67-6 on, and half of those losses have come the last two seasons. 2 being this year. Those that are inconsistent stayed inconsistent, those that a good stayed good, those that are bad stayed bad. This shows me that this isn’t news to some as it is to Shannon or they really just don’t care.
I’m frankly sick of Shannon and sick of the hole she is digging the program into.
I’m not going to say a new coach will be better right away, or even at all. But this program needs a new coach if it will ever be on top again
Ashlee, my biggest concern is who the next coach is going to be. I don’t have trust in the administration to hire someone who will have the right connections, experience, and knowledge to bring the program back to the top of the WCHA. Even though I knew all along the non-renewal had nothing to do with financial considerations, I do feel like they will cheap out on the new coach. Your final paragraph makes it sound like you don’t care who they hire, which I am sad to read.
If the administration had said at the end of the season, “We want to take the program in a new direction to get it back on top,” I would have supported their decision. I don’t trust that will even enter the minds of the AD and the chancellor.
I do care. I am just saying in the final paragraph that I realize that a new coach wouldn’t be an automatic turn around. I do care, and frankly I think administration will pick the best applicant.
They could of waited until end of season to announce it. But Shannon speaking to the team, and making it public prevented that. She made this public now, she made the team know ASAP during finals week. She prevented the school from being able to tell the public the real reason. The school handled it poorly, but it didn’t need to come out until end of season. Shannon said otherwise
I’m glad you do care and clarified your comment! Thank you. I wish I shared your optimism about who they will choose. This will be our AD’s first big hire, as I believe Wiese was hired before Bob was gone. I hope very much to be proven wrong.
Coach Miller was, of course, not the only person whose contract was not renewed. I disagree that the coaching staff should have kept that decision from the team. Having a lame-duck coaching staff lying to the team and to recruits about their situation would be a serious problem.