With the 10-game losing streak finally broken, 5,146 fans huddled into the Houston Field House to get a free hat, watch some hockey, and see RPI try to advance its 18-game Big Red Freakout! undefeated streak. While they did get the hats and there was hockey being played, there was no such luck on the record. After 18 straight years of having won or tied the big game, RPI faced its first loss and the count goes back to zero.
What caused the Engineers to be defeated in the game that 14 generations of students had never seen us lose? Some people will blame the fans for failing to cheer when the score dropped to 3-0 and the hockey team stopped trying. Others will blame the hockey team for not trying due to the lack of cheering which caused the decline in effort put forth by the players. Or perhaps it is because records are not meant to last.
This was also the case in the “Freakout! of Football,” which occurred this Sunday night. The Patriots went into the Super Bowl with an 18-0 record, just like our Engineers, and we all know what happened. I think it’s fair to say that if the Patriots can ruin an 18-0 record, then maybe we shouldn’t be so hard on our team for doing so. After all, Tom Brady gets to have sex with a Victoria Secret supermodel when he loses a game. I can’t imagine Coach Appert’s punishment is as thrilling.
When it comes to streaks, our 18-game win/tie record is pitiful when compared to that of the UCLA Bruins basketball team in the ’70s. Led by Coach John Wooden, the Bruins managed to win 88 consecutive games. That is roughly 488.89 percent more impressive than our own record, or so math tells me. It also means that Coach Wooden’s team won every single game from January 30, 1971 to January 19, 1974. Just like the Freakout! game this past Saturday, the good times had to end and they did on a 70-71 loss to Notre Dame.
The point I was trying to make is that we can’t win forever. While we may not be a ranked team anymore, and we ended up losing 10 games in a row, and we lost a lot of early leads, and we haven’t come close to other impressive sports records, and no one on the hockey team is dating Gisele Bundchen, it doesn’t mean that we can’t be proud in what our team has accomplished—a solid first period effort. Chances are we’ll look back on this day in 19 years after the Engineers have fought their way to another 18 game Freakout! undefeated streak and we’ll laugh. Or, if you can’t wait that long. watch RPI play Dartmouth in the Houston Field House this Friday.
