Kathy's first article: It takes more than talent to be the best!

Takes More Than Talent to be the Best - by Kathy Raphael.


Michigan had undoubtedly the most talented team, but that doesn't necessarily make them the "best" team. Michigan played the best during the regular season, but unfortunately for Wolverine fans, this won't get you a national championship, which to most people means you're the "best". N.D. played the best when it counted the most, beating the team that defeated Michigan, so doesn't this make N.D. the best? After all, the definition of "best" according to Merriam Webster is "excelling all others".

Whenever an underdog wins a championship, there's bound to be controversy as to who was truly the "best" team. For the Wolverines, they were on a mission and anything short of a title would be a disappointing season. It was unbelievable how much pressure and expectations were put on that team. And it's especially hard to realize that a team like UND, who had not even been to the Final Four in 10 years, could win the national title.

Also, I don't agree that Michigan would've won the title if the NCAA playoffs followed the NHL format. Look at the Detroit Red Wings this year. They only finished third in their conference and the Philadelphia Flyers were expected to win the Stanley Cup because of their dominating talent and size. The Wings not only won the first game (in Philly), but the next three as well. Mighty Michigan was #1 all season and played incredible against Minnesota at the West Regionals (I was there in person). So it was certainly a shock to everyone when they lost to BU only four days later. Michigan and the Flyers learned the hard way it takes more than talent to be the "best". It also takes dedication, determination, and a total TEAM effort. And you can't measure these on paper. Also, Michigan played and shut out Boston University 4-0 in the 1996 NCAA semifinals, so they had a pretty good idea of BU's playing style.

Maybe if it wasn't a single-elimination tournament, we'd be singing a different tune.

Maybe if Minnesota would've got a better seed in the playoffs, we'd be singing a different tune.

Maybe if Michigan didn't play so, uh, bad against BU, we'd be singing a different tune.

Maybe, shoulda , woulda, coulda..........

The Sioux are the 1997 NCAA hockey champions. And that's the ONLY tune we're singing these days. Champions may be lucky, but the lucky aren't necessarily champions. Champions make their own "luck".

To the people who don't think North Dakota is the "best team", the coach who played against both N.D. AND Michigan disagrees with you. After playing North Dakota, BU coach Jack Parker said "We played a team that was relentless......the BEST team won the national championship". And he's probably the most qualified person out of all of us who would know "best", right?

Kathy.

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