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.

Another Thanksgiving

Here it is another bird thursday in November and I can only think of the greatest football game I ever saw, BC vs. Miami in the Orange Bowl. I remember with immense clarity watching Flutie heave that "hail mary" pass to Gerard Phelan and cement himself as one of the greatest college quarterbacks of all time and a Heisman winner. What a game.

A game like that was unique since it was the first of its kind, the day after Thanksgiving, regular weekday, and it was the only football event on at all (now there's like 10 or more) and it was on CBS (ESPN was barely on the radar screen at that point). "Flutie flushed right . . . " I remember screaming my head off when he caught it, even my father, a phelgmatic gentleman if there ever was one, got excited, he stood up from his chair and said "Oh my God, he caught it."

You can have your Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions, I'll take the Boston College Screaming Eagles and Doug Fluite eight days a week and twice on Sundays. College football has much more aura to it than professional football, there's a longer tradition, there's a prestige to it, and it's fun to watch an upset or a great comeback (something you rarely see in the professional ranks). I like college football because of the rivalries. I was watching the Michigan/Ohio State HBO special yesterday morning and I loved it! There's nothing like college rivalries. Having played college sports myself, I have a deep appreciation for them. Most folks could take it either way, but for myself, I love the theatre it creates.

I played against Boston College, well, their varsity club team, but we got to play at Alumni stadium and played them to a tie. Man, I miss playing.

So, Thanksgiving is here, but I'll always remember that Friday in 1984, the day after bird day.

Strange things and not so strange

Well, Beckett gets screwed over this week. For some reason he lost the Cy Young Award to CC Sabathia, even though he had more wins, more quality starts, and was undefeated in the post season. Strange for certain. Boston College lost Saturday to an inferior Maryland team and they're still eligible for the ACC championship. Very strange indeed.

It seems that A-Rod has been in contact with the Spank-the-monkeys. That's hardly strange coupled with the fact that the Fagyankees don't want to deal with Scott Boras (what a jerk).

The Celtics are undefeated for the season, matching the Patriots current win/loss percentage. Most strange. The New England Revolution have an opportunity to finally win an MLS Cup which would be great and not so strange since they've been there three times over the past five years. I grew up with the Patriots and the New England Tea-men sharing Schaeffer Stadium (soccer does not belong on astroturf, except for indoor) and later watched the Boston Bolts play. The Revolution could really bring home the bacon for a soccer crazy area like Southern New England. Again, this isn't very strange.

so it's Friday and ah, what's next?

Did anyone see the Revolution vs. Fire game last night? The craziest goal since "Victory" with Pele and Stallone by that Taylor Twellman. Here's a link for it http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/video/videopage?videoId=3101364&categoryId=2378529

It's crazy - we all dreamed of doing it in a game, or if we're lucky, practice and pray we don't screw up our backs trying it. Maybe New England can finally win the whole thing this year and join the Red Sox as champions. Next up will be the Patriots getting it all (I doubt they'll go undefeated, but they are pretty damn good) and then who knows? Celtics? Most likely the Bruins will squeak into the playoffs and Boston College has dropped off the radar, but they'll most likely get a BCS bowl if they can win out.

In regards to BC they're playing here at Byrd Stadium (pretty nice place to watch a game, great venue for lacrosse too) against the hapless Terrapins (fear the turtle? right, as if we're all rabbits?).

One of my alma maters start their season tonight (George Mason, my MA school) against the Catamounts of Vermont. Should be a tough game, Vermont's coach won a division III title with a local school here (Catholic University, another of my alma maters, PhD land) in DC and he's shown a knack for the D-1 field of opponents.

New England has a bye-week so Vegas can recoup some of its losses from the previous 8 weeks. Interesting article on how the Patriots are killing Vegas bookies (http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/sports/ordine/blog/2007/10/patriots_run_roughshod_over_bo.html)

Well, we'll see what's what come Sunday night.

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.

It's great to be a Boston fan

Well, this weekend has been great for this Boston fan (horrible for sleep, working on such a low level of alertness). I could not believe how masterful the Red Sox were against the Rockies. Outscored them by double digits easy. With BC winning last Thursday and with the Red Sox sweeping up the pebbles (oops, Rockies) and the complete pasting the Patriots put on the Redskins I am pleased.

I'm soooo wiped out today and I've got three meetings. Not going to be fun today. Congrats to Boston!