The Butterfly Goalie Effect

Its All Mannino's Fault

(left) Peter Mannino and Alyssa Hampton lead Boone's Rebel Alliance against the Administration

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We all know the basic premise of the Butterfly Effect that encapsulates the more technical notion of sensitive dependence on initial conditions in chaos theory. The phrase refers to the idea that a butterfly's (or Red-Tailed Hawk) wings might create tiny changes in the atmosphere that ultimately cause a tornado to appear (or prevent a tornado from appearing). The flapping wing represents a small change in the initial condition of the system, which causes a chain of events leading to large-scale phenomena. Had the butterfly not flapped its wings, the trajectory of the system might have been vastly different.

For the purposes of this article, a young sophomore at the time, Peter Mannino, decided to decorate his goalie mask with the past (Boone) and present (Jelly Donut-photo left) logo/mascot's of the University of Denver. This seemingly harmless act two years ago has set off a cataclysmic chain of events that's being called the Boone Revolution and threatens to pit the DU Student Body in a standoff against the administration and athletic department. Fittingly, Mannino has appointed himself a general of the Rebel Forces.

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