When Hockey was more interesting

So, in the course of my chronic insomnia I was watching the NHL channel and I caught the 1979 Stanley Cup semi-finals between Boston and Montreal. Game went down to the wire but I was struck by how very cool hockey was back then (especially with Don Cherry behind the bench for my B's). Peter McNab, Rick Middleton, Terry O'Reilly, Mike Milbury, etc etc etc. Great teams and almost all of them played without a helmet (wasn't until the early 80's where the helmet rules were put in place). As a post-collegiate lacrosse player who played with a ton of hockey players, we had more to talk about then just lax.

I live in DC, but there are times when I really miss this time of year in Boston. High School hockey is in the first part of their season, college hockey is up and running, and the early morning trips to the rink with dad are the true causes of morning traffic on a Saturday morning. The greatest hockey tournament comes in February with the Beanpot featuring the four universities in Boston. Harvard, BU, BC, and Northeastern hit the ice the first two mondays in February and the winner gets bragging rights for a whole year. In Boston (prior to the Red Sox and the Patriots winning, bragging and Boston weren't very friendly) having bragging rights is huge, huge. The winner of the tournament almost always makes the D1 tourney (most of the time the winner makes it to the Frozen Four). I miss hockey, good hockey. You just don't get it down here in DC and most folks treat it as a small amusement. Hockey is a great sport, with sick hits and amazing athletes, and it's a blast to watch.

now that baseball is over . . .

I'm a bit torn now in regards to sports. I mean, I like football, but I don't love it (even though I played for two years in High School and I understand most of the plays that are run). Hockey has some allure for me given where I grew up (ol' Beantown with the greatest college tournament ever, the Beanpot where the four rival division one hockey teams play each other the first two Mondays in February each year), but I'm still kinda stuck for good sports entertainment. I could root for the Pats, but I'm pretty spent from this past run the Red Sox made in winning their second world series in four years.

So, I guess I could watch college hockey, that always gets me charged. Unfortunately, I don't have ESPNU anymore (Comcast doesn't carry it, dag nabbit) or CSTV either for that matter. I played collegiate sports (soccer and lacrosse) and I love college sports. I think I found my answer.

My oldest son plays soccer (U-8, or "under 8) and I've gotten into watching the game again (I'd love to play in an adult league, I'm defintely playing lacrosse this spring, definitely). I forgot just how challenging the game is in generating a good shot and how the defense sets up to kill the opportunities to score.

Hopefully, this winter/spring can generate some good college sport events (basketball is great, don't get me wrong, but I tire of the ESPN gluttony on sports coverage) to lather my sports fan soap.

Red Sox fans

Bill Simmons, one of the page two contributers to ESPN.com wrote a hilarious article about the phenomenon of Red Sox Nation. The article captured almost to a perfect "T" how confusing it is to be a Red Sox fan these days when you grew up with Bucky Dent ruining your life or Buckner forgetting glove to the ground or Jim Rice's catlike reflexes in hitting foul balls. The article begins with a friend of his chiding him that he missed the CURSE. Well, I for one, don't miss that gibberish chatter and for once getting Yankees fans to shut the bleep up. What's weird now is that folks are now comparing the Red Sox to the Yankees, especially their fan base. That's blasphemy. I've gone so far as to tell my southern friends "don't call me a Yankee, I'm from Boston, they're not the same." I've gotten to know many Yankees fans in my short life, and for the most part they are simpletons (some are very savvy, but they are the exception, not the rule). Now wait, I'm not discounting the massholes who comprise 60% to 80% of Red Sox nation who are knuckleheads themselves, however, many Red Sox fans have a pretty good knowledge of the game beyond a "our team won!" or "wow! what a home run!".

After 2004 and the Sox finally winning it all for the first time in a bazillion years all these Red Sox fans came out of the woodworks. I used to go to Orioles games when I first moved here to Washington DC and I could count on one hand how many Red Sox fans there were in the stands. Now I go to the "Yard" and I'm right back with the "bleachah creetchahs." Surrealism is no longer the purview of the French, it has been supplanted by the strangeness that has become Red Sox Nation.

I remember I went to a game last year at the Yard to see Schilling pitch. I was walking from my car (Baltimore may be a bit scruffy but they have better parking than Boston) and I'm waiting to cross W. Pratt St. when all of a sudden I'm engulfed by Red Sox fans. I started hearing "Dude, look at all the cahs" and "Oh yar, Manny's good for two" and "they have a microbrew beeyah guy?" I thought I was back in Kenmore Square. I saw maybe two Orioles fans as I was walking into the park, and they worked there! Strange.