Narrator: Welcome to ECAC Survivor! The online competition where the ECAC schools compete to find out, who will be the ultimate champion. 12 teams will be divided into two competing tribes. Every few days, these tribes will compete, the winners survive another round, the losers will have their numbers thinned.
The arena is beginning to fill in, as fans from all the schools begin to file into their section, it seems that before anyone else can take to their seats, the entire Clarkson band has entered the arena, is set up, and playing loudly. They are also taunting everyone in sight, at this point that only includes the hot dog vendor and the empty net directly in front of them.
Narrator: What will happen over the next few weeks will be a test of ability, strength, endurance, and a real test of your sense of humor. Since mine has been called questionable at best. What goes on on the message board will affect what you see here. In a few moments the contestants will take to the ice to begin their game, they will be divided into two rival tribes, the "Nobsay tribe" made up of the Ivy League schools, and the "Safety Tribe", made up of the non Ivy schools....And hold on, there seems to be some sort of disturbance in the crowd, lets see whats going on...
The shot is on the "Nobsay" side of the arena, it seems that someone put the Harvard section right next to the Cornell section, and the Cornell fans quickly filled up their section and have taken over half of the Harvard section. The Harvard fans look disgusted, but are trying their best not to even look at the Big Red fans, and certainly not talk to them.
Commercial break
Back at the arena, things have settled down, and the announcer comes on over the PA system.
Announcer: Good evening ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the ECAC Survivor challenge! Now without any further ado, here are your team representatives. First we'll introduce the Nobsay tribe. (The entire side of the ice where the Safety fans are sitting boos, the Nobsay fans cheer) First, from Brown University, the skating pep band!
Narrator: Which everyone knows is the best part about Brown hockey...
The band skates out onto the ice, playing their fight song, many of the fans in the stands seem a bit confused, having never heard the Brown fight song before.
Announcer: From the Big Red of Cornell, Mike Schafer and Andrew McNiven!
The Cornell contingent takes to the ice, and the crowd loudly begins to cheer for their coach and captain.
Cornell fans: Kill Schafer kill, kill Schafer kill!
Announcer: For Dartmouth, head coach Bob Gaudet and captain Michael Byrne!
The Dartmouth fans cheer, as the coach gets out onto the ice first. We can see Byrne heading down the tunnel, then he is suddenly jerked back by something. We don't see anything for a moment, then Nick Boucher charges out onto the ice. He's got his arms up over his head, and he is screaming about how good he is. The Dartmouth fans cheer, everyone else boos loudly.
Narrator: It seems that Dartmouth goaltender, Nick Boucher, has relieved the captain of his duties and wants to represent the team himself. And look at this, he is just eating up the boos of the crowd.
Boucher circles the rink around the boards, taunting all the fans as he goes. The fans are all screaming right back at him, that is until he reaches the Cornell section. The Cornell fans are all just sitting there with a smirk on their faces. Boucher stops, not knowing what is going on, then he tries to taunt the Big Red fans even more to get a reaction. Then, in unison, they all point out to the ice behind Boucher.
Narrator: What is going on here? The fans seem to be pointing to something behind Boucher, but there's nothing there except for the empty net.
Boucher finally turns around to see whats going on. He looks at the net, but doesn't see anything unsual about it, then something inside the net catches his eye...
Boucher: NOOOOOOOO!!!
Narrator: What the heck is going on here, there seems to be a puck inside the net, I didn't even see how that got out on the ice, let alone in the net...
Boucher continues his tirade, in what can only be called colorful use of the English language. Meanwhile, the announcer continues.
Announcer: And from Harvard University, Ron Rolston and Steve Moore.
As the players take the ice, the Harvard fans cheer, while the Cornell fans sitting next to them all reach under their seats to pull something out of a bag that each of them has. One of the Harvard fans stops them by walking over and breathing on one of them. The Cornell fan looks right at him as all of the other fans stop to see whats going on.
Cornell fan: What the F@#! was that all about?!
Harvard fan: You'll see..
Announcer: And from Princeton, Len Quesnelle and Kirk Lamb.
They skate out on to the ice, the crowd cheers, and there is nothing funny about Princeton.
Announcer: And finally, from Yale University, Tim Taylor and Dan Lombard.
Narrator: Well, Taylor just became the winningist coach in Yale history, but why is Lombard out there instead of team captain, Ben Stafford? Hasn't he been over worked enough? (He's played just about every minute in net for Yale this year, get it, ha ha ha ha)
Announcer: Now please join me in welcoming the Safety tribe, up first, from Clarkson University, Mark Morris and Kent Huskins.
Narrator: Well, here.........(He's drowned out by the horn that the Clarkson fans have brought with them this weekend, it looks as if they went all out and brought the one they use at home)
As they take to the ice, the Cornell fans all toss a sheet of newspaper out onto the ice, they then all reach down in unison to pick up another piece for the next entrance
Announcer: And from Colgate, Don Vaughan and Cory Murphy!
The crowd, well, doesn't do much of anything, the Colgate band is trying to make as much noise as possible due to their limited size, and the other fans will show up about half an hour late.
Announcer: For RPI, here is Dan Fridgen and Steve Munn.
Steve skates out onto the ice first, Fridgen appears a moment later and stumbles out onto the ice surface, he looks like he's had a bit too much of the "fire water" if ya know what I mean.
Announcer: And now, from the St. Lawrence Saints, Joe Marsh and Erik Anderson!
The SLU contingent takes to the ice and their fans go apeshit. In fact, they all begin an enthusiastic chant of "Let's go Saints" however not a one of them in in sync with any of the others.
Announcer: For Union, Kevin Sneddon and Bryan Yackel.
Yackel charges out onto the ice, skates full speed at one of the goals, and then throws hiself down in front of it.
Narrator: Ah yes, the famous diving Dutchman defense, well known in ECAC circles.
Announcer: And finally, from the University of Vermont, Mike Gilligan and Jerry Gernander.
Narrator: UVM of course being the only team eliminated in last years Survivor contest. There's no where to go but up for the Catamounts.
Announcer: And now, ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the on ice host of the competition, making a rare non Cape Cod apperance, assistant ECAC commissioner, Steve Hagwell.
For a moment nothing happens, then we see Hagwell appear near the rink entrance, he seems to be getting dragged by several other people. He is tossed out onto the ice against his will. He quickly turns around, but the door is already shut, Hagwell turns and tries to run across the ice, he slips, falls, and is finally helped up by coaches Marsh and Vaughan.
Hagwell: Ok boys, let's get this over with quick, I want to get out of here....
Announcer: And what would an ECAC competition be without refs...
Entire crowd: BETTER!!!!
Announcer:...Making his on ice return, the one, the only, Mike Noeth!
The crowd boos, hysterically. Noeth trips on his way into the rink, he loudly starts to chatter to everyone on the ice.
Noeth: Alright guys, we want a good game here, no rough stuff you got it?
He looks up and sees a "Noeth Sucks" sign the RPI band has brought along with them just in case something like this happened, Noeth spots the sign, crys.
Narrator: The teams have been introduced, its time to start the competition!
Commercial....
PART 2
We return to the Olympic arena the next day, all the teams and fans have had some time to get used to each other and the competition. It was a cold night for everybody who had to sleep out on the ice surface. But most people finally broke down and cuddled up with the other members of thier tribe for warmth, that is everybody except for the RPI people, because people from RPI never sleep with anybody.
The two tribes have separated, and each are in their "Zone" slowly waking up and going about their morning business. The teams are cordial with each other so far, but there has not been much intermingling yet. Steve Hagwell steps out onto the ice and signals to both tribes that he wants them to meet him at center ice.
Hagwell: Ok guys, it's time for your first immunity challenge, the winning tribe will get this, the immunity idol. (He holds up a cup like trophy, the two rival tribes are just staring right at each other) This is something you are going to want to win and hold on to, because the tribe that has this, does not have to go to tribal council, the loser will have to come back here and one of their members will be voted off the rink. Ok guys, lets get to the challenge.
Noeth skates out onto the ice, he's got some cones in his hand, which he begins to place around the outside of the rink. He also moves the nets so they are both set up along the same goal line on opposite sides of the crease. The players look on to see what they are going to have to do, while Hagwell begins to talk.
Hagwell: The name of this game is "Player of the Week", what we've done is set up a competition that will simulate the player of the week awards ranging from the 4th week of the season, up until two weekends ago, they do not include the first three weeks, because Nobsay hadn't started competition yet, and they won't include last weekend, because I haven't announced the winners yet, even though I was supposed to today. Here's how this course will work, both tribes will line up behind their goals, the first player for each tribe will skate down the ice, pick up a puck at the other goal line, then skate back as fast as they can. The first player to reach this blue line will recieve one rookie of the week point. They then skate to their rivals net, and try to score a goal. Then they are the goalie for the next leg. If the skater scores, he gets a player of the week point. If the goalie makes a save, he gets a goalie of the week point. Whichever tribe gets the most points, will win the challenge. Is that clear? (The Players nod) Ok then, lets decide who is going first, immunity is up for grabs.
The two tribes talk to each other briefly, then Nick Boucher pushes his way to the front of the line, the Safety tribe elects Huskins to start first. Both players line up next to the empty net, Boucher assuring his tribe that he can smoke Huskins, he's not paying attention to Noeth, who is signalling the start of the race. Huskins takes off to a quick start, skating much faster than the goalie, he picks up the puck on the other side of the ice, then comes charging back, He crosses the blue line while Boucher is still in the other zone. He skates to the net, and puts the puck in the empty net. The Clarkson fans lead the Safety tribe fans in a cheer, as Boucher crosses the line and scores on the empty net.
2-1 Safety
McNiven and Gernander line up for their turn to play the game, the whistle blows, and both players take off, their fans cheering them down the ice. They are in a dead heat approching the blue line, and Noeth shakes his head to indicate he didn't see what happened, McNiven comes in close, dekes, and loses the puck in his skates, the puck goes wide. Gernander tries a spin o rama, but Boucher sees it all the way and makes an easy save. He then leaves the net with the puck, and starts bragging again. His teammates look up to the scoreboard.
2-2
Munn and the Brown band move up to the starting line. On the whistle, Munn takes off, most of the Brown band stays behind, as they bump into each other, but there's one trumpet player who speeds out ahead of the rest. He tries to kick a puck, but misses, and takes of to the other zone, he crosses the line moments ahead of Munn, loses control, and skates head first into the boards between the two goals. Noeth signals a rookie point for Brown, the RPI and Safety fans start screaming, Fridgen jumps off the bench, and walks over to Noeth. Meanwhile, Munn sees McNiven lose his concentration and fires off a wrist shot, it hits the post. The scoreboard says 3-2 in favor of Nobsay, but Munn starts screaming at Noeth.
Munn: Are you crazy, how can you give them the point? They didn't even get the puck, I beat their brass section across the line by 40 feet!!
Noeth pretends not to hear, and Munn is finally pursuaded to go and stand in the goal for the next round.
3-2 Nobsay
Yackel and Moore head up to the line, on the whistle they take off neck and neck, they both grab a puck, but Moore pulles out into the lead coming up to the blue line. Munn is still distracted by the call by Noeth, and continues to scream at him.
Noeth: Play the game!
Munn cant believe this, and flips off Noeth, as he's turned with his middle finger extended, Moore tries to get off a quick slapshot, incredibly, it hits Munn right in the hand and falls into the crease just as Munn drops to the ice in pain. Yackel enters the zone a moment later, and fires off a slapshot straight for the net, the Brown band scatters, and the goal light comes on.
4-4
Murphy and Lombard are the next to the line, before we can start, Taylor informs Lombard that he wants him to skate an extra lap in the far zone just to get some extra work in. Murphy outskates the goalie and picks up even more ground when Lombard skates his extra circle. Murphy hits paydirt with a slapshot from the circle. Lombard finally makes it into the zone, but is sucking wind, he lets off a weak wrist shot from the point, and as soon as it even looks like hes about to shoot, Yackel falls to the ice and absorbs the shot.
7-4 Safety
Finally Anderson and Lamb square off on the line. On the signal, Anderson takes off to a quick lead, and never looks back. But Noeth is distracted by the RPI fans behind him, and misses him crossing the line. He dekes, and puts in a shot that sneaks past Lombard. Lamb skates into the zone, sees the scoreboard, and throws his stick down to the ice as the Safety tribe begins to celebrate.
Final score 8-4 Safety
The two tribes both react to the scoreboard, the Safety tribe congradulating each other, the Nobsay tribe tring to offer each other consolation, but mostly sticking to themselves. Hagwell approches them.
Hagwell: See you guys Wednesday at tribal council, Safety tribe, this is yours for now.
He hands the winning tribe their idol, while the Nobsay tribe slowly skates back to thier side of the rink.
To be continued....
The next update will be Wednesday with the results of the tribal council for the Nobsay tribe. What happens there will be a result of what goes on with the vote and what happens on the message board. Nobsay fans have one day to talk about who they want to get out of their tribe, Safety fans can talk about who they think should go. Tuesday is a day for plotting your next move. Here's how I figured out who won the challenge...
Team Player of the week ROTW GOTW total
Brown 0 1 0 1
Cornell 0 2 2 4
Dartmouth 2 0 2 4
Harvard 1 2 1 4
Princeton 0 0 2 2
Yale 0 1 2 3
Clarkson 4 2 1 7
Colgate 2 3 0 5
RPI 3 4 2 9
SLU 5 0 2 7
Union 2 0 1 3
Vermont 0 2 2 4
The final winner is decided by a tribal average, this will keep it fair as one tribe will have more members than the other now. At least 2 teams from each tribe will make the merger by hook or by crook. I did not run the numbers for this challenge until today. I have the other challenges set, but did not run the numbers for them either, the real score of this event is..
Nobsay 3
Safety 5.8
Part 3
It's hours before the vote, both camps are tense. Nobsay because they know one of thier own is on the way out, Safety because they know this first vote is very important strategically and its a chance for the individual teams to jockey for position. In the stands, the ballot is slowly being passed around, and all the sections are talking amongst themselves. Some brave souls on the Safety side are crossing from section to section to drum up support. "Get rid of Harvard, they could be trouble later on." "Will someone please put Brown out of their misery" "God damn it, I just don't like Cornell!!" Over on the Nobsay tribe, things are not as tense as they might seem, no one group is convinced they have anything to worry about in this vote. That is except for the Brown fans, who notice all the sets of eyes staring at them after the first immunity challenge loss. Many of them have even begun to pack up.
They have reason to be nervous. Some Cornell fans are going from group to group. In the Brown section, they can't hear what is being said, they can only see arms being pointed in their direction, then a nod and a handshake. One Brown fan goes on the defensive, standing up to defend his school.
Brown Fan: Hey guys, just remember, if you ain't Brown, you ain't sh!t!
But no one seems to be listening, or even looking him in the eye.
Brown fan: But we've got a skating pep band, look at them, isn't that neat?
Still no responses, the man sits down and nervously clutches his seat next to him as he tries to think, his young son tugs on his arm..."Dad, do we have to leave first?" The man just slowly looks at him..
Brown Fan: Now son, I don't want you complaining, at least we got to see what Lake Placid looks like this year..
On the other side of the arena, they might have some more support than they think
A group of Safety fans, some from each school are gathering to plot stradegy.
Vermont fan: Ok guys, we pick off their weaknesses, one by one, Brown goes first. It's simple as that.
Union fan: No no no, we pick off thier strengths, then they are left weak for the next challenge.
The argument continues, they discuss whose strong, whose weak, and who should go. The Clarkson fan becomes quiet. He looks like he wants to speak, but doesn't say anything just yet. Finally he looks fed up.
Clarkson fan: Enough, this is simple enough, screw stradegy, lets just vote for the team we don't like.
RPI Fan: Isn't that what we are trying to decide?
Clarkson Fan: No, it's obvious, what school do you guys hate more than anything?
RPI Fan: Clarkson?
Clarkson fan: No dipwad, from the Nobsay tribe.
Colgate fan: Cornell!
SLU Fan: Actually, I'm with RPI on this one, Clarkson.
Vermont fan: (slowly) Yeahhhhhhh. Cornell.
Clarkson fan: See, even elephant boy here got it.
The Vermont fan shoots him a death glance.
Union Fan: Ok, so none of us like Cornell, but that doesn't mean they should go first.
The argument continues...
Steve Hagwell comes out onto the ice. And he nods his head at the Nobsay tribe, who has been nervously avoiding each other up until now.
Hagwell: Welcome to tribal council. I want you to gather around the face of circle,each one of you has one of your teams hockey sticks, tonight one of them will be broken. Mr Moore, who do you think is in jeopardy tonight?
Moore: Well, I know it's not us, because we are Harvard, I don't think we really talked about this, but I would say the group that needs to worry the most is the one whose school name rhymes with....Brown.
The Brown band skates back and forth nervously.
Hagwell: Very well, what about your tribes strengths?
Boucher: Well, we know that even if we lose this stupid @$$ game, which we wont, we're still better than any of those safety rejects.
Lamb: What he's meant by safety rejects is, none of them could even get into a safety school.
Hagwell: Interesting to hear you speak up Mr. Lamb, as has already be stated, there is nothing funny about Princeton. Do you think your lack of comic potential makes you vulnerable?
Lombard: I don't think you get it, we can't lose.
Hagwell: Well, denial or not, it is time to vote. You all have a ballot, as does everyone from the other tribe, and everyone in the crowd. The losing team will be asked to leave immediatly, but their fans may remain in the stands.
Ballot boxes are passed through the Nobsay part of the stands, as fans discuss their next move. Conversations are intense, as the boxes keep getting passed from person to person. Finally they reach the end of the sections, are collected, and brought down to center ice.
Hagwell: I'll tally the votes.
The first ballot box is opened, and Hagwell reaches in, then pulls his hand back out, surprised.
Lombard: What?
Hagwell: This box is empty.
The commish grabs the next box, and sure enough, it's empty too, as is the next one. The fans begin to whisper to themselves. The Cornell fan's are particularly excited.
Cornell fan: This is great, we might have been the only people to vote! Harvard is gone!
Fan 2: You mean Brown?
Fan 1: Actually, I forgot to vote, but either one is fine with me.
Fan 2: Crap, if you didn't vote, that means none of us did.
Finally, the last ballot box is opened, and turned upside down. A single slip of paper falls out. The players crowd in to see what it says.
Hagwell (confused and dissapointed): Batman?
In the stands, there is confused whispeing, and one Brown fan stands up and waves.
Brown fan: Hee hee, I'm funny.
Hagwell: There was just one vote, and it was for Batman? What the hell am I supposed to do now?
The players shift back and forth, but the Brown band looks particularly nervous. Three people in particular. Hagwell notices this, and walks up to the one who looks the most nervous.
Hagwell: What?
Brown band member: Jimmy's nickname is Batman.
The squeeler gets punched in the arm.
Hagwell: Great, your out then, all of you.
There is a slight uproar as the other players are pleased by their good fortune, the Brown section gets very upset.
The Brown fan: No wait! That's not what I wanted! This isn't fair!
Another Brown fan: No wait, the band sucks, let them go, just let us stay, no one watches the shows anyway.
Hagwell: You're right, I should kick all of you out....