No "Classics" (by Sioux 7)

I’m getting on my soap box, so watch out for opinions.

I hate it when they call games “classics” that aren’t, like the “Camp Randall Hockey Classic” coming up this Saturday. They have never had a hockey game at Camp Randall (that I’m aware of). How can you call it a classic, since there is no tradition of UW playing outdoor hockey, and before it happens. Everyone throws this word around, without thinking about what it truly means. IF, Saturday’s game turns out to be a great, exciting game that fans will be talking about for years to come, then AFTER the game is over you can call it a classic, but not before. Both U-Wisc and U-Mich have classic hockey sweaters, UW has had it’s Wisconsin written from left to right at a downward angle for a long long time. Same can be said for UM has had its big M on theirs for years too.


Merriam-Webster defines classic as:
1 a: serving as a standard of excellence: of recognized value
b: Traditional, enduring
c: characterized by simple tailored lines in fashion year after year
2: of or relating to the ancient Greeks and Romans or their culture
3 a: historically memorable
b: noted because of special literary or historical associations
4 a: Authentic, Authoritative
b: Typical
5 Capitalized: of or relating to the period of highest development of Mesoamerican and especially Mayan culture about A.D. 300-900


I think we can all agree that the “Camp Randall Classic” doesn’t fall under numbers 2, 3, 4, or 5. So that leaves only number 1, and I can only see it falling under letter b, since in traditional days hockey was played outdoors. So why not call it something like “Traditional Outdoor Hockey host at Camp Randall”?

Make no mistake about it; I’m not picking on this game only. I dislike the NHL’s outdoor game on New Year’s Day is called a classic. I also dislike that UND’s Thanksgiving tournament is called the Subway Classic. I believe that you need to do things the old fashioned way, play your outdoor game(s) once a year, and then after, oh, say 10 years of doing it, now it’s a tradition, and then after another, oh, say 5more years, then you can call it a Classic. Okay, now that I’ve gotten that off my chest I will step down off by soap box.