Between the last post and now, the sports world has overseen some changes and been witness to some major events and topics of debate. In the meantime, I've been savoring my last few weeks of freedom back home, adjusting to school and accepting my new life as a beat writer, having abandoned my column in hopes of helping better prepare me for a possible future career in journalism.
Believe it or not, the life of a beat writer is far more time-consuming than that of a columnist, so that could possibly account for the extended absence. Or it might just be that I got tired of doing long, drawn-out posts where I rambled on and went on so many tangents I lost focus. Or because BU Athletics news was at a minimum and I don't feel like expanding much beyond that because then this blog's just like any other out there. Or maybe because I need to spend more time boosting my GPA than working on a blog. I digress.
For the most part, H&V is going to look more like a traditional blog: shorter posts, but still with the occasional long ones. Basketball season's coming up, so more news will be here on that, and hockey's starting to get in full effect, so there's always that too.
Anyhow, as an attempt to make amends for lost time, I'm going to premiere (or re-premiere?) with some assorted thoughts of sports topics from the past month or so, BU related and not.
- Many props to PRP and my dad's alma mater Butler on a play that cracked the Sportscenter Top 10.
Was a player down at some point? Probably, but nonetheless, pretty awesome. Kentucky high school football, represent.
- This backlash at LeBron is really starting to get disturbing. Racial slurs and threats directed directly at him via Twitter? Really? I understand that everyone's big, bad and tough when they can hide behind an internet persona (trust me, read some of the comments on my FreeP columns, a bunch of regular BAMFs right there) but even this takes it too far. Sports are important and exciting, yes, but they should never be that important or bring out that kind of passion. Shows we still have a long way to go as a society in our views on race. And yes, I'm starting to feel bad for LeBron.
- Getting over BU choking away that game against UMass, a team widely picked to finish last in Hockey East. Blowing a 2-0 lead in the third period's unacceptable especially after showing such early dominance. Maybe we're getting ahead of ourselves by annoiting BU a top-10 team. That said, though, they look exponentially better than they did last year, and have certainly exceeded my expectations so far
- Vinny Saponari to BC? Don't feel as strongly about it as everyone else here evidently is. Do I like the kid? No, but in all fairness I never really did. He just seemed to embody the smug arrogance and sense of entitlement that so many people display after they've been told how great they are for their entire life. But he got kicked off the team and wants to play college hockey, so he should be free to go wherever he wants. Is there an element of vengence here? Probably, but so be it. The kid's a punk, so he's more than welcome to "get his revenge" on BU while he's on BC's third line.
- Is anybody going to beat BC in hockey this year? My God they look good. Might be looking at back to back titles in Newton.
- Please be quiet James Harrison, I beg of you. First you call Obama a front-runner because he would have invited the other team if they won the Super Bowl (well, duh, that's kind of how it works, my friend) and now all this retirement talk. Here's a better idea: stop doing helmet-to-helmet hits, which are already illegal and have obviously altered your mental capacity in the process.
- Trend I'm not feeling:
http://www.cardchronicle.com/2010/10/18/1759215/quincy-miller-likely-headed-to-baylor
- Trend I am feeling:
- My fantasy team's 1-5. I give up.
- Men's and women's basketball were both picked to win the America East Conference. The women should threaten at running the conference table like they did in 2008-2009 since they're really that good, and young, surprisingly. The men I'm not as sold on. I see this as a transition year, what with seven freshmen and three transfers. The team's going to struggle early on unless they gel at an abnormally fast pace. Besides, they've been picked to win the conference for the past few years and they haven't followed through yet. I'm actually going with UNH this year, but BU's going to own that conference next year and for the foreseeable future.
- Great for Teddy and I to get to go to media day. Obviously nice to get to talk to Greenberg and Chambers, but the highlight by far was getting to meet our personal favorite AE coach, Randy Monroe of UMBC. Strong handshake from a man of unparalleled awesomeness.
Also of note from media day -- Mark Macon was present and did not seem to be stashing any stolen TVs. Also, Will Brown may or may not have been drunk.
- Projected Starting Lineup: Matt Griffin at 1, Darryl Partin at 2, Holland at 3, O'Brien at 4, Junk at 5, with Hazel as the 6th man. Look for Junk to eventually get supplanted by Ugly John.
- Working the men's soccer beat, Neil Roberts is quickly becoming my favorite BU coach -- dry, cynical, with a biting wit. Love it.
- Looks like Hot Dog and Jesus are going into semi-retirement having graduated, thus leaving a void for go-to BU general sports blog. This is part of the reason I'm coming back, because competition has emerged in the form of this:
http://baystateroadsports.blogspot.com/
Nothing against these guys -- I'm sure they're fine young gents, but in the words of Jay-Z: I...WILL...NOT...LOSE
- I'm going to have to show some serious restraint for my preview for the BU-Kentucky basketball game right after Thanksgiving break because if I don't, it's going to make the reaction to my angry Dayton trip recap look like a toddler's tea party.
As an aside to all those UD fans, I'm still remorseful over that post: the parking situation threw me off and you all seemed like a great, and underrated group of fans. So apologies again to everyone...except for the guy who said "Sucks to BU." No soup for you!
- As a final note, I've developed a full-fledged man crush on Charlie Strong. I know it's early, but I really think we've got something special.
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