Hockey players not happy with decision to cut their sport

The University's decision to drop varsity hockey stunned the youthful group of Quaker icemen. The students learned of the move in a pre-practice meeting yesterday afternoon with coach Bob Finke. "It was completely unexpected. I heard some rumors last year about cutting the program, but you never take that stuff seriously," remarked leading scorer Tom Cullity. "I knew something was in the air this afternoon. I thought maybe somebody had died. Then coach came in and told us the news -- our team had died." "I'm pissed off as hell," fumed a dejected Bob Sutton, reflecting the attitude of most icemen. "I'm very, very bitter against whoever decided to make this cut. They didn't give hockey a chance." The freshman goalie, who has starred throughout the Red and Blue season, blamed the University administration for the lack of funding. "They shouldn't have mismanaged things so badly that they needed to cut a sport like hockey," he said. One example of Penn mismanagement was rink location, said Sutton. "The rink is on the far end of campus where no one can get to it," added Cullity. "You won't want to walk out here with all the bad weather we've been having." Freshmen roommates Greg Dudzik and Jay Wisentaner were equally flabbergasted by the decision. "I'm extremely disappointed," Dudzik said. "We're a young program just starting, and boom! They pull the rug out from under us." "You get the feeling that the administrators don't care about anything but the dollar sign," said Wisentaner. "It makes you stop and wonder. Is hockey just a figure on the budget sheet? Are we just IBM numbers?" "I bet they don't know the name of one guy on the team," echoed Dudzik. The centerman criticized lack of fan support as a factor that led to the move. "I get the feeling that the people here don't give a shit about a losing team." The players were unanimous in sympathy for coach Finke. "I feel more sorry for Finke than I do for almost anyone else," said Cullity. "Coach Finke worked like hell to get this program off the ground," Dudzik remarked. "I'm disappointed for the young guys who came here and for the coach who worked in good faith to bring them here," said left wing Dave Taylor. Player sentiment was mixed over plans for the future. "Everyone is going to transfer and get the hell out of here," said Cullity. "If anyone will take us. The hardest thing about leaving will be leaving the guys. I met the greatest guys in the world on the Penn hockey team." "I've played hockey for 13-some-odd years," commented Dudzik. "I've put in plenty of hours on the game, but I came here for academics first. I'm at Penn to get an education," he said, indicating he would not leave the University. He did admit, however, that "I wouldn't have come to Penn if I could get into an equally prestigious school where there was hockey." "We've been shortchanged," Sutton commented caustically. Said junior Taylor, "Since I only have a year to go, I will stay. I'll feel lost next year, though. Hockey is why I came to Penn." Now the icemen face the unnerving prospect of playing the last four hockey games ever.