Look two pages ahead and you’ll find a story about the student organization CommUNHiversity and their intentions to burn a six-foot wooden statue of a black bear at Boulder Field today in order to create excitement about the UNH-Maine men’s hockey game and stir up a rivalry that has lost some of its luster in recent years.
The event, to be called “Burn-a-Bear,” could have been a new tradition at UNH. It could have brought friends, family and alumni together for an annual weekend in Durham whenever the Wildcats were scheduled to play the Black Bears during hockey season. It could have been hockey’s response to football’s Homecoming, as one UNH student put it.
However, local safety officials wouldn’t grant the group the necessary permits to light the bear ablaze and administrators said the act was unsportsmanlike, so the group’s plans were shot down. Stopped in their tracks.
Permit refusals? Unsportsmanlike conduct? What a load of bearcrap.
Bonfires happen all the time: holidays, celebrations, camping trips. And in most circumstances, they’re used to bring a community together. It’s a huge event. Safety shouldn’t be a problem with such a common gathering; there are always enough trained firefighters and police officers to handle any situation that arises. So give CommUNHiversity their permit already.
And sportsmanship? Save that for Providence or Merrimack; this is Maine we’re talking about. You think Duke and North Carolina go out of their way to be especially cordial to each other during the week of their big matchup? Nuh uh. This is a rivalry.
Students flock to the UNH-Maine game. The line for tickets on Monday morning started three hours before the box office opened, and student tickets were all gone before the clock struck noon.
Hockey is the biggest sport at UNH, and the Maine game is the biggest of a six-month-long season. People who don’t even like hockey will wait hours in line to get tickets.
It’s the only game on the schedule that deserves an event like this, and there’s no reason the administration should step in because it lacks “sportsmanship.” Students would go nuts for “Burn-a-Bear.”
The administration was calling for more Homecoming traditions earlier this fall and they settled on color day, where students are encouraged to don their UNH blue and white proudly. What is this, high school spirit week? It’s a good idea, but that’s something students should do every week before a game; color day doesn’t constitute an annual event.
“Burn-a-Bear” does. We hope the administration and local authorities reconsider it in the future because it could bring back old memories for visiting alumni and create new ones for current students.
It’s a good idea and a fun way to celebrate the historic UNH-Maine rivalry, and it’s a shame it won’t happen this year.
