25th Anniversary

We should all take a moment today to recognize the 25th anniversary of the Miracle on Ice and the overall accomplishments of the USA Men's Hockey Team of the 1980 Lake Placid Winter Olympic Games... or as I like to call them "Rizzo, Silky, O.C., Craig and those 16 dudes from the Midwest." Thanks guys.

Three Simple Rules

ESPN's Pat Forde has three simple rules for fans of the home team at an NCAA basketball game:

1. Maintain absolute conviction that the refs are conspiring against your team.
2. Never let an opposing player forget it when he shoots an air ball.
3. Never rush the court when your team has the higher ranking.

Now, it's very difficult to know when Rule #1 is violated, because it can be a non-vocal thing. They can just be seething at the refs under the surface. Of course, for the most part, it's a very vocal rule, that can often extend well beyond the actual end of the game. In any case, this is not one of the rules that was violated yesterday in the ways that Rules #2 and #3 were broken by the fans of the University of Nevada and Boston College, respectively. Late in Nevada's Bracket Buster Saturday game against the University of Vermont, Catamount power forward Taylor Coppenrath unleashed a long three which bounced off of the front of the rim. Nevada Wolfpack fans proceeded to chant "air ball" through the next possession and into the commercial break. Bravo. Sounds like the people of Reno need a "Basketball 101" course to properly explain the concept of an "air ball," i.e., a shot that hits nothing but air. On the Heights, Eagles fans rushed the court when their #6 ranked team beat the #9 Syracuse Orangemen. Congratulations, you win when you're supposed to win... just like when you defeated Northeastern and Providence... except this game was on national television, so it's "LOOK AT ME, I FOUND AN EXCUSE TO EMBARRASS MYSELF AND MY SCHOOL ON TV... WHEEEEEEEEEE. HI MOM!"

For your violations of decency and self-respect, I proudly salute you Wolfpack and Eagle fans. Well done.

Sux2BU

Ah yes, that old Boston chant "Sux2BU." At times it is heard as often as "Yankees Suck" on Huntington Avenue, on the Heights, and in Harvard Square. Both of these phrases were invented by those bitter and envious of the nearby hegemon, the team that shatterred their dreams so often, that many wanted them to lose more than they wanted their own teams to win.

Through all of this though, fans of the Boston Red Sox never had the gall to say it was the Yankees fans who were bitter and envious.

Yesterday, however, Boston College's school newspaper issued an editorial which was entitled "Always Remember: It Sucks to BU," in which they state "There's no two ways about it - the Terriers are just plain envious of all things BC."

National Championships: BU-4, BC-2.
Beanpot Titles: BU-25, BC-13.

Oh yeah, BU is quite envious of that outstanding track record.

Boston College, in their blind arrogance, likes to pretend they are the dominant force in New England collegiate sports, but Boston College has fewer national championships than many of the other schools in New England, including Boston University, Yale, Connecticut, Vermont, Harvard, and Dartmouth. Their best ever performance in the NCAA basketball tournament was an appearance in the Elite 8, which puts them in a tie with BU (way to go!) and behind other local programs such as Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Providence.

They like to chide BU fans for not having football, and blame "megalomaniac ex-chancellor John Silber" in the article for cutting the program. Football was cut only a couple years after an undefeated regular season (wow, that's right kids, more recently than BC) , because there was little fan interest, because football fit BU's demographics poorly, and because it was decided that it would be better to save the lost money for a new venue for hockey and basketball and to renovate Nickerson Field to make it better for soccer. Similar decisions have been made by Vermont and Providence. BC, meanwhile, struggles through an easy schedule, never wins its conference, never sells out a small stadium for anyone not named Notre Dame (who has announced they will stop scheduling BC in favor of BYU), and plays in illustrious minimum payout bowls such as the Carquest Bowl and Continental Tire Bowl. Here's a trivia question for everyone, which Boston based school has played in a bowl game in Pasadena, California, in college football's most revered stadium? That's right kids, Boston University. The school that dropped football, because it doesn't make economic sense in a region that doesn't watch college football.

Another pearl from the article was "Boston College: No. 37 in the nation, according to U.S. News and World Report. Boston University? No. 56, and you'll never hear us chanting "safety school."" First of all, school's are ranked by silly criteria like library size and a average alumni donation and not actual academics in the U.S. News Rankings. Boston University, along with several other schools, has elected not to participate in U.S. News self-administered survey, which causes a bunch of "N/A"s to be averaged in... for which we are penalized. This is why this is the only poll BCers ever bring up, because every time real criteria is used, either the difference becomes negligible, or BC falls behind BU. I'd also like to take issue with the never chanting "safety school." I've heard it with my own ears. I've also walked up an aisle at Conte Forum wearing a BU jersey while hundreds chanted "BC Reject," which I'm sure was because I deserved it, and not because ever envious BU had just beaten BC in the conference hockey tournament. Not that it matters anyways, because once graduates of either school travel west of the shelter of Route 495, they learn that if you went to BU, people assume NYU rejected you, and if you went to BC, that Notre Dame rejected you.

More jewels from the article include "Remember John Sabo? He was the BU forward indicted on charges of aggravated assault after he stomped on someone's head outside a local bar. Go Terriers!" BCers will remember Bill Romanowski right? You know, the guy who had multiple suspensions for violating the NFL's drug abuse policy, and who ended his career by assaulting a young teammate in the locker room (ending the young man's football career as well)? How about William Green? He got a 4 game suspension last year for violating the league's substance abuse policy too, plus a suspension this year for taking a swing at an opposing player during pregame warmups. How about Mike Cloud? Might he have violated the substance abuse policy too? This doesn't even bring into account the two gambling scandals in recent memory. But John Sabo is a bad person whom BU should be derided for.

I could go on, as the BC article continues to move from the outdated, to the false, to the laughable, but anyone can read the article on their own if they just click the following link and give Boston College a bunch of personal information:

http://www.bcheights.com/news/2005/02/07/Editorial/Always.Remember.it.Sucks.To.Bu-854708.shtml

Lastly, congratulations to the Boston University Terriers for defeating the Boston College Eagles 2-1 in the opening round of the Beanpot on Monday. Boston University has never failed to make the finals in my time as a fan, and has never lost an opening round game to Boston College, in 7 meetings, during my lifetime. Thank you for keeping these streaks alive because I am so envious of Boston College's outstanding accomplishments.

Not Quite the Same

There's something not quite the same about the atmosphere for me before, during and after Super Bowl XXXIX as there was when the Patriots won Super Bowls XXXVI & XXXVIII.

Before XXXVI - Dorm food and friends on Bay State Road.
Before XXXVIII - Broadcast a smacktalk filled campus radio show with a Carolina Panther fan.
Before XXXIX - Did Property homework.

During XXXVI - Watched with 1,000 people in the George Sherman Union on Commonwealth Avenue.
During XXXVIII - Watched in a packed apartment on Park & Beacon Streets.
During XXXIX - Watched in an apartment in Cleveland, with few fans of either team, and most people not even watching (no offense guys).

After XXXVI - Enjoyed Boston's first sports riot in presumably a generation (at least), witnessing the festivities both in Kenmore Square and on Lansdowne Street.
After XXXVIII - After making a face appearance early in the Kenmore Square riot, took a seat at P.J. Kilroy's Pub, when those there decided to stream out and take part in the riot.
After XXXIX - Watched the Simpsons, and did more Property homework. Weak.

But hey, the important thing is that the Pats won, again. To all those who ask, and some already have via phone, there was never any fear. These are the Patriots, and they always win.