Stupid Comment Of The Day

Today's stupid comment comes from Zach Kwartler, a senior writer for the Daily Princetonian:

Traditionally, ECAC Hockey is one of the toughest leagues in the country. In a conference where cakewalks are not so much hard to come by as unheard of, last year’s league tournament typified the close competition that the teams in the conference see week in and week out.

If there existed an Onion for Ivy League sports, I would expect to see something like this.

I think the comment on the Princetonian site makes some valid points:

The first paragraph of your article highlights your utter lack of knowledge of college hockey. Since when, praytell, in the last 20 years, has ECAC hockey been "one of the toughest leagues in the country"? With a whopping 0 NCAA championships since 1989, and then another 19 year break since 1970, I hardly consider the ECAC to be one of the toughest leagues in the country "traditionally." While the ECAC has seen recent comebacks over the past couple years, let's be realistic here; fans around America do not call it the "EZ-AC" for nothing.

Plus, it's not like the 2009 ECAC tournament was upset central. There were two upsets in the first round (out of four series). Then, there were zero upsets in the quarterfinals, as Nos. 1-4 (Yale, Cornell, Princeton, St. Lawrence) all made the final weekend in Albany. Nos. 1 and 2 met in the championship game, and Nos. 3 and 4 met in the consolation game. Pretty predictable. I wouldn't celebrate as evidence of national parity events like last year's pathetic Brown team beating slightly-less-pathetic Harvard in a playoff series.

Until an ECAC team (besides Cornell) starts winning in the NCAA tournament, or Cornell makes the Frozen Four this year, I don't think the ECAC can claim to be a top conference. The WCHA, Hockey East, and CCHA all feature tougher competition on a nightly basis, and the ECAC still has too many bottom-feeders.

Thanks MA