Livin' on a Prayer

They blew it, really bad. You don't want to get tossed out of any hockey tournament by a score of 7-1, let alone the NCAA final four, but that's just what the Miami University Red Hawks, one of the last hopes for the sport of college hockey, did last night. They got trounced by the Eagles from the outhouse on the Hill, Boston College.

As a sophomore at Boston University, I love to down the guys over in Newton as much as possible, but all kidding aside, I need to give them the respect they are due.

They have a great college hockey team this year. They bounced back from a less-than-satisfactory year in 2008-2009 to dominate their schedule. They boast a flurry of top scorers and with their goalie, junior John Muse, returned to form, they are not a team that anyone wants to play down the stretch. They've proven their ability, beating BU for the beanpot, Maine for the Hockey East Conference Championship, and Alaske-Fairbanks, Yale, and Miami on their way to the National Championship game. They will face Wisconsin for all the marbles on April 10th, a team that crushed the living daylights out of Rochester Institute of Technology 8-1 last night as well.

BU and BC have combined for the last two national championships, making Boston the talk of the college hockey world of late. The rivalry between BU and BC is intense. I can't hate BC for the same reason that I hate other teams. They are not the New York Yankees, who buy out the free agent market every year to ruin the competition of major league baseball. They are not the Los Angeles Lakers, who employ one of the biggest villains in professional sports. They are not the Pittsburgh Penguins, who get their jollies by cheap shotting other teams' best players and sidelining them for the year. And they're not the Indianapolis Colts, whose quarterback looks like he's going to cry every time he blows it in a big situation- (most of the time).

So why hate the BC Eagles? Well, as a student at Boston University, the reasons become all the clearer. First and foremost, they encroach on our turf. Not only do they reside on the same street as the home of the Terriers, they took the name of a great city and slapped it on an institution that doesn't even want to be there. BC is indeed on Commonwealth Avenue, but they call their home Chestnut Hill, Newton, and Brighton. If anything, they should be called CHuNkyBC- Chestnut Hill using Newton kuz... yeah (oh yeah and) Brighton College. Or at least, they shouldn't be called Boston College. Every time I hear their band play Shipping Up to Boston, a sacred tune around these parts, I cringe at the lack of tonality and the disgrace that it brings to all properly allocated Universities. If you're going to take on the name of Boston, at least don't scamper to the outskirts of town and set up a pretty,-pretty-princess-castle of a University. Embrace the busy streets and hustle and bustle of the city. I could not be more proud whenever someone asks me the question, 'Don't you hate not having a campus at BU?' I do have a campus, it's the greatest city in the world.

Alright, so even the location of the school isn't all that great a reason to hate BC. But here's one that is more valid. BC has a basketball team that has made it to the sweet sixteen multiple times. Their baseball team is consistently competitive, and they have a football program that has produced multiple legends. LET US HAVE THE HOCKEY! BU has thrived on their hockey program. Their football is long gone and their basketball, although thrilling, can only fight to a spot as a 16th seed in the big dance every year, almost sure to be eliminated in the first game. Hockey is our sport. We have the history, the passion, and the drive behind it, where BC just doesn't. Superfan t-shirts that carry over from football season and jerseys that look like they came back from a time machine set to 2050 are signs of a team without a deep hockey tradition. BU's tradition goes much deeper than BC's. From Walter Brown Arena to legends who played in the miracle on ice game in 1980 to the long-time coaching of Jack Parker (the rink is already named after him and he's still going strong), hockey is what defines BU. When you think of BC, you think of Doug Flutie and Matt Ryan, not their hockey program. That alone is a valid reason for fighting to keep them down on the ice.

The Terriers did that to the best of their abilities this year. Despite losing many key players from last year's championship team, BU managed to win the highest attended college hockey game ever at Fenway park vs. BC in early January. It was a victory that some called more important than the Beanpot this year. BU beat BC on their home ice as well, and were one of three teams in Hockey East to have a winning record against the Eagles on the season. The Terriers entire season, however, was a disappointment, as inconsistent play left them without a chance to defend their nation championship title in the post season.

And so, BC found a clear path to the top. They are poised to win their fourth national title if they can beat Wisconsin. With a win, they will be one shy of the Terrier's five national title mark, the pressure will be back on for BU, and the 09 championship season for the Terriers will look a lot less appetizing sandwiched between two championship seasons for the Eagles. If they lose, BU will owe quite a bit to the Wisconsin Badgers. The Red Hawks, on the other hand, will have to head home at the hands of a Boston hockey team again. (This is the 5th straight year they have been sent home by BU or BC in the NCAA tournament.) I wouldn't want to be them.

Either way, the rivalry goes strong. Even with a win on the 10th, BC will still be looking up at BU on the hockey stage (4 national titles to 5, 15 beanpot championships to 29, and 0 Frozen Fenway wins to 1). The Terriers will come back next year with a vengeance, something to prove, and a whole lot of fight. The battle of Comm. Ave. will wage on, and the aptly names Boston University Terriers will hand it to the CHuNkyBC Eagles. Until then, go Badgers, and thank goodness for college hockey.