{"id":34450,"date":"2024-04-22T14:06:48","date_gmt":"2024-04-22T18:06:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/?p=34450"},"modified":"2025-02-17T15:38:48","modified_gmt":"2025-02-17T20:38:48","slug":"iconic-tradition-winner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/iconic-tradition-winner\/","title":{"rendered":"The Most Iconic Cornell Tradition: Cheering Big Red Hockey in Lynah!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The votes are in! Sports fandom beat out 31 other beloved activities, from Hot Truck to Wines to Libe Slope sunsets<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Corey Ryan Earle \u201907<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After five weeks and nearly 6,000 votes cast by readers, we\u2019ve narrowed a field of 32 Cornell traditions to one final winner. According to you, the most iconic Cornell tradition is \u2026 cheering for Big Red hockey at Lynah Rink!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In the championship bout, our winner took home 58% of the votes over \u201cSavoring a late-night snack at Louie\u2019s Lunch (or Hot Truck).\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cornell hockey\u2019s winning ways are perhaps one of the most consistent experiences for Cornellians over the last 60 years, with every decade since Lynah\u2019s opening in 1957 experiencing at least a pair of men\u2019s Ivy League titles and NCAA tournament appearances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Women\u2019s ice hockey came to Lynah in the 1970s and dominated the first six years of Ivy League tournaments.<\/p>\n<\/div>

\"An<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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In recent decades, the Big Red women have offered Cornellians a chance to cheer on some of the best players in country, including several Olympians and a half dozen players in the new Professional Women’s Hockey League.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there\u2019s one clear takeaway from the bracket, it\u2019s perhaps the unique way that college campuses evolve while also remaining a time capsule of alumni nostalgia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can a PMP today ever taste as good as it did when you were 21 years old, standing in the cold on Stewart Avenue? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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If there\u2019s one clear takeaway from the bracket, it\u2019s perhaps the unique way that college campuses evolve while also remaining a time capsule of alumni nostalgia.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

We strived to select traditions that stretched across generations, and all of them spanned at least the last 50 years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But only about a quarter of the competitors are truly timeless, like snow, sunsets, and skipping class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A real highlight of this competition has been the comments and feedback on each week as alumni shared their own memories and favorite traditions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Truly timeless: A Slope sunset. (Ope Oladipo \u201917)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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(Apologies to the many tray sliding enthusiasts who protested its omission from the bracket as a now-prohibited activity!) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some alumni recalled experiences that might be baffling to an undergraduate today, like Peter Smith \u201966 remembering \u201cbeing grateful for curfew so I could exit a bad date\u201d and Gina Strauch \u201980, BS \u201985, suggesting \u201cthe grand course exchange\u201d in Barton Hall. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other suggested traditions that have disappeared with the passage of time include \u201cWhen skirts were required at meals, putting together the weirdest possible outfits\u201d (Joyce Thompson \u201970); \u201cCamping out in Barton Hall for hockey tix\u201d (Steve Coulombe \u201974, MEng \u201975); \u201cMeeting at Jim\u2019s Chapter House\u201d (Richard Gibson \u201968); and \u201cEating at the Pancake House\u201d (Karen Wilk Rubin \u201978).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Diane Goldman Lawrence \u201969 suggested that the bracket should have been divided into a varsity and JV, split at the Class of \u201979, to ensure that traditions from the earlier era weren\u2019t outnumbered and outvoted by younger classes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But despite fears of youth voter domination, seven of the eight traditions to make it to the final were as applicable in 1964 as they were in 2024\u2014with the only exception being Slope Day.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Read the comments on each week\u2019s matchups:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n