Boston Lee Party: Lynah Faithful Overpowers Rink as M. Hockey Bows to Cornell

ITHACA, N.Y.—Dov Grumet-Morris motioned to the small boy sitting in his father’s arms near Harvard’s end of the rink. The boy was wearing Cornell red, as were the surrounding fans, but the Crimson goaltender still gently tossed the puck over the boards as Harvard finished its warm-up. The boy grinned with glee as his father handed him the puck, but a voice interrupted the scene of holiday cheer.

“You still suck!” screamed the red-clad fan behind the pair.

Welcome to Lynah Rink.

If you’ve ever wondered about social life at big schools in the middle of nowhere, check out the Harvard-Cornell game in Ithaca where local establishments name coffee concoctions after players. The sellout attendance of 3,836 is a weekend constant for the Lynah faithful, a following to which words do not do justice. You have to be there to know what Big Red hockey really is.

The tradition of the Cornell fans’ fish-throwing has become infamous over the decades of rivalry. It began in the ’60s, when Crimson fans tied a chicken to the Big Red goal at Bright Hockey Center, poking fun at Cornell’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and the Big Red retaliated in fowl fashion. And as one of ushers at Lynah explained to me, “What’s Boston known for but Beantown? Fish.”

Two years ago at Lynah, one fan hit the target, in this case, the face of Brett Nowak ’03 immediately following the national anthem. Nowak doubled over, stunned and in pain from the seafood onslaught.

On Saturday, I had hoped to avoid the rank smell after Cornell coach Mike Schafer and Big Red athletic officials asked fans to instead toss stuffed animals over the boards as part of a charity drive for underprivileged children. And while toys graced the ice, the occasional fish, and even a lobster, also made an appearance as the Harvard team entered the rink before the first period. Students had taped the seafood to their bodies to avoid being discovered when patted down at the rink’s entrance.

Throughout the warm-up, the Cornell aficionados had hollered a range of insults at the Crimson players while the well-orchestrated band played on. However, as soon as the fish hit the ice, the voice of the Lynah faithful condensed into an organized, and honestly frightening, block.

Even the national anthem was Cornell-ized. When the band got to “…and the rocket’s red glare,” the Big Red crowd’s scream of “RED” was jarring as students punched the air with the word and thousands of voices echoed through the small building.

The band’s integration with the fans was really the most impressive part, as the bandos dressed in Waldo garb (red and white striped shirts) led the cheers.

There were the typical jeers, all heard in Starr Rink on Friday night when the Colgate fans repeated, “Grade inflation,” “Safety School” and the ever-popular “You suck” until even they seemed bored.

But the Lynah faithful managed more creativity, thanks to stellar organization. Websites such as elynah.com inform the public of Cornell cheers and game plans so as to avoid embarrassing moments like when Harvard fans mumble the middle lines of “Ten Thousand Men of Harvard.”

The chant of “We had sex in high school” missed its aim, as it was too faint to distract the players and I don’t know of any other Harvard students in the stands besides me. For my part, I was stationed with the Crimson parents, a sparse quiet group in a sea of red, too few and too reserved to counter the Big Red taunts.

When I caught sight of Cornell winger Mitch Carefoot, the question “Where’s Tenderheart?” immediately sprang to mind, but remained there as I would have been just one voice in the wilderness of Lynah.

The Big Red following also applauded its own in addition to goading the Crimson. To greet freshman goaltender David McKee, who hails from Irving, Texas, at the beginning of the second period, Cornell fans burst into song as the band led “Deep in the Heart of Texas.” Schafer also garnered encouragement as Lynah screamed “Kill, Schafer, kill” when the coach argued with the refs after Harvard was caught with six men on the ice in the second. The chant is a leftover from Schafer’s days as a Cornell defenseman from 1982-1986.

When the Crimson was called for a penalty, the Big Red arms immediately shot skyward as they intoned “Ah, see ya, you goon!” and waved at the player heading to the penalty box. It was easy to keep track of Harvard’s three penalties.

It was even easier to keep track of Cornell’s goal in the third, as antics approaching crowd surfing commenced in the student section. However, listening to the Lynah faithful, you would have thought that Grumet-Morris had scored the goal on himself rather than having played the best game I’ve ever seen him play. The Crimson goaltender had lit up the ice, with somersaulting saves and a keen eye for the Big Red players that all too often hovered over the crease.

Dov’s name proved too long to be jeered at effectively, so the Cornell crowd instead chanted “Hyphen” at him, as well as the customary “Sieve” call, on occasions throughout the game. But the students became particularly, and predictably, cruel after the goal.

“It’s your fault” was the first and deafening cheer that boomed through the building, followed by a running discourse on all the horrible things that the goalie had incurred. According to the Lynah faithful, no one would sit next to Grumet-Morris on the bus and his mother would hate him, a fairly usual rant in its text, but unusual in the fan unity.

The ridicule stung a bit more as time expired with the scoreboard in Cornell’s favor by just one after a truly great game. Assistant captain Tyler Kolarik banged his stick against the pipes in frustration as the Crimson lined up to shake the hands of the victors. Meanwhile, the Lynah faithful snuck in a final jibe, pointing to each team and announcing “Winning team! Losing team!”

Snowbound, the Harvard hockey team had a long Saturday night to spend in upstate New York, and a long bus ride back yesterday, made worse by the fact that the six seniors on the bus hadn’t won in Lynah during their four seasons.

“We tied them freshman year and I don’t think I really understood the whole ‘game’ up here,” senior Tim Pettit said. “I was really looking forward to it, and I guess we’re not going to get another shot at this, but it was nice to come in here and put forth a good effort, even though we didn’t come out with the win.”

Two more veterans made the trip to the northern reaches of the Empire State, but seniors Kenny Turano and Dave McCulloch weren’t on the team bus. Turano broke his ankle in just the second game of the year and will likely miss the remainder of the regular season. McCulloch suffered a high ankle sprain last week and may not return for a month. However, the hobbled pair—both injured their left legs and were thus able to drive—made the long trip up together to watch their classmates stage a final battle in Lynah.

“It was nice to see them here,” Kolarik said. “It would have been nicer to see them in the lineup.”

Turano, recognized for his extraordinary work ethic, also lamented his absence from the ice and the manner in which he left Lynah.

“It doesn’t feel good at all,” Turano said. “I’d really like to be out there with the guys, but we get ’em in our building later this year, so we’ll look forward to that.”

The Crimson hosts the Big Red on Jan. 9 and the ticket policy adopted by the Harvard athletic department has already gotten the Lynah faithful riled up. Fans may either claim one of 100 tickets distributed at the Cornell ticket office or buy a four-game package that includes the Crimson’s games against Princeton, Rensselaer and Massachusetts. Tickets are also available via the limited number held by the Cornell Club of Boston and for season-ticket holders.

The new policy is designed to increase Harvard student attendance, but may not succeed in curbing the antics of Lynah on Crimson home ice. Cornell followers are organizing to purchase the packages, and even to travel to the other three Harvard games to heckle the Crimson players further.

“No, I don’t have any affection for the Cornell fans,” Turano said.

Pettit demonstrated a bit more humor, but focused on the upcoming game at Bright and other opportunities when the Lynah faithful might not be able to point to its own as “Winning team.”

“We’ll miss the Cornell fans, but we’ll see them in the playoffs even if it’s not in Lynah,” Pettit said.

I left Lynah not wishing that I was clad in red, but that there were more dressed in crimson, even at Bright. And wanting to make a public service request: Guys in sections A-E, if you make the trip to Boston in January, please keep your shirts on.

—Staff writer Jessica T. Lee can be reached at lee45@fas.harvard.edu.