He was peppered with any projectile at hand and reportedly had a tuba held up to each ear, but the Crimson legend sat there smiling, all the while taking the pressure off of his team.

In 1997, the last time Harvard played at Cornell in the playoffs, the fans supposedly did not bother to wait until game-day to waylay the Crimson. Somehow, the numbers of the team's hotel rooms in Ithaca entered public domain, and of course, the team was crank-called all night long.

Harvard can expect a similar nightmare this weekend. In its 6-2 loss this year at Bright, a group of Big Red fans had painted "J.R. Sucks!" on their chests and when Prestifilippo was pulled, quickly gathered some more friends to spell out "Jonas Sucks!"

But that was just a road effort.

"If you thought improvising 'Jonas Sucks!' was impressive," Cornell senior John Lynch said. "You should see what we can do in our own house with a week to plan and a few buckets of red paint."

Of course, the easiest solution to the crowd problem is winning. Even the most inspired spectators succumb to the specter of impending elimination from the playoffs.

"As players, we get fired up by the crowd as much as they do," junior defenseman Tim Stay said. "It's such a great environment to play."