THERE'S ALWAYS TOMORROW: Boston's been free of snow this winter, but the heart of the Crimson sports teams would probably feel better if the first part of their seasons had been buried under about 50 inches of blizzard.

With hockey on the verge of ECAC extinction, basketball in pursuit of a record 13-game losing streak and women's swimming wondering where all the swimmers have gone, first semester results brought tears to the eyes of players and nausea to the stomachs of fans.

From frustrated Frank McLaughlin to reticent Bill Cleary, coaches have balked at the progression of events; but the eternal optimists hope rest, recuperation and the end of exam pressures will bring much needed relief to the athletic heartburn plaguing some of the Crimson teams.

Three cheers for Rolaids.

Men's Hockey

Somewhere around Boston, at Walter Brown Arena or in the ruins of Harvard's Watson Rink, coach Billy Cleary must be praying. Maybe he's asking for a miracle, maybe for a divine inspiration; but in any case, Billy Cleary is hoping something comes along to turn around the forces of his nomadic Crimson charges.

You can't really explain a team that posts a 5-10 record, 3-8 in the ECAC and 0-3 in the Ivies, while beating number four Notre Dame and narrowly losing to top-ranked University of Minnesota.

But you can't justify the play of a team that loses embarrassingly to Brown twice and Dartmouth in the season opener. Fleeting glimpses of brilliance have been obscured by serious lapses in coherence.

But the second season begins tonight against Providence in Rhode Island, and senior winger Gene Purdy will be back in action after sitting out 11 games.

Purdy will join senior superskater George Hughes (the team's leading scorer) and the amazing freshman duo of Dave Burke and Mike Watson in an attempt to right the Crimson offense in time for the 27th annual Beanpot, next Monday night.

But before that game, there's Princeton, this weekend; and the ultimate humiliation for this season of frustration would be a loss to the Tigers. As the prospects for a playoff berth and a salvaged season appear dim, a Beanpot win and a respectable record would make things brighter along the blue line.

Men's Hoop

In search of the unlucky number 13--that's the situation for the hapless Harvard hoopsters as they carry a 12-game losing streak over from the pre-exam disaster slide.

The team is recovering from a Western trip that provided lots of unsatisfying almosts and a Cambridge return that sparked some of the season's most inconsistent basketball.

At 3-14 overall, 1-2 in the Ivies, the team McLaughlin defended in January as "tired from the exhausting road trip" has had time to rest and recuperate. But the question remains, can Harvard put together 40 minutes of top flight basketball? So far this season, the team has been unable to do that.