Your typical Chuck-a-Puck. But if a Chuck-a-Puck takes place and no one chucks a puck... (Photo: Flickr user Travis S.)

After weeks of missing live hockey because of my upcoming wedding, I am finally in the midst of a multi-game weekend. Thank goodness, because this multi-game weekend allowed me to see two of the oddest intermission events I’ve witnessed in years of attending hockey games.

Friday night, the Boston University men’s ice hockey team hosted Northeastern University in their last regular season home game. BU beat Northeastern 4-2, which would go miles towards improving their status for the Hockey East playoffs. It was a double mites team game, with both intermissions host to a youth hockey team scrimmage. The teams usually have around five minutes to show their stuff, with the announcer and music timing their scrimmage, before the waiting Zambonis rev their engines and warn them off.

During the second intermission, I was chatting with a friend and not paying attention to the mites. Around me, I vaguely heard the announcement thanking the mites for their time and congratulating them on a scrimmage well done. Briefly after, my fiance nudged me.

“They won’t leave the ice.”

Sure enough, the entire team of mites were still down on one end of the ice, skating as if this was their home rink. The Zamboni was in limbo, resting on the lip of the rink, nearly seesaw-like. The opposite side ice door was open, with the security guard awaiting the mites coming off the ice. And the mites were still playing. On the ice, Rhett the mascot looked mighty perplexed.

It took the announcer getting back on the microphone. “Can our mites team please make their way to the exit?”

The kids still skated around the goal, oblivious. The maintenance man off to drag off the net stood, stagger stepped and with a drill in his hand a few feet away.

Finally, the coach realized that yes, his team actually might have to leave the ice. He zipped the mites off the ice, the Zamboni impatiently inching out during the mad dash.

Saturday, while at the Women’s Hockey East Semifinal game between Boston University and the University of New Hampshire in Providence, the announcer kept announcing a Chuck-a-Puck contest being held during the second intermission. A few of us played around with the idea of actually taking part in it for sheer novelty purposes, but vetoed against it. We’d never win – we’re in our late twenties. Our aim is shot.

The second intermission begins, the BU women up 1-0 (they would eventually win 4-0). The announcer proudly announces that it is time for the Chuck-a-Puck competition. “Get your pucks ready….and fire!”

Nothing is thrown on the ice.

“Time for the Chuck-a-Puck!” he exclaims again, trying to will us all to throw something, anything, on the ice.

A little girl next to the glass starts throwing pucks. With aim unbefitting of her age, she throws her three pucks right near center ice. Two more join from the other side of the rink, not getting anywhere near center.

The announcer eggs us all on, “Last chance to chuck those pucks. Five! Four…”

He pauses, realizing that those five pucks on the ice are all there will be. A rink employee begins to stroll onto the ice to pick all five pucks up.

“Threetwoone,” the announcer rushes through, purely to make things official.

My fiance turns to our group of fans. “Why didn’t I enter Chuck-a-Puck again?”

Luke Popko in the 2009 Hockey East Championship Game (InsideHockey.com)

While livetweeting the Beanpot for BU Today last week, I remarked how much I enjoyed watching BU senior forward Luke Popko on the penalty kill. He may be diminutive, but he is one of the most effective penalty killers I have ever seen. He is especially effective when BU is two men down. He also doesn’t shy away from blocking a shot, and stays out there and gets peppered, often barely limping off the ice after taking several shots to his body. He truly plays like a second goalie, just without the extra padding.

During the Beanpot championship game this Monday (which BU lost 4-3), I was watching Popko on the penalty kill for the seemingly millionth time in the past four years when it finally hit me. Popko is a short, extremely effective, and fearless special teamer.

He is, by analogy, the Steve Tasker of the Boston University Terriers.

For those of you who think Tasker was just the sideline reporter for Sunday’s Super Bowl (who had the un-enviable task of interviewing Indianapolis Colts head coach Jim Caldwell post-game), au contraire. Tasker, as much as Doug Flutie, is every short Western New Yorker male’s inspiration for living. (Just ask my 5-6 tall father.) He was a member of the Buffalo Bills for 13 years, playing from 1985-1997.

Tasker is considered by many football journalists, football players and the like to be the greatest special teams player to play football in the modern era. He was tiny – listed as 5-9, but that must have been when he was wearing the Buffaloian uniform of five layers of socks, huge snow boots, and standing on a snow drift – but was fearless, throwing himself at punters and kickers, tackling kick returners twice his size by the ankles, and speeding down the field like a stolen Ferrari at 3am on kick returns.

He got kicked in the head, he got flattened by men double his size, and yet he yearned for more playing time. He rarely got looks at wide receiver (much like Popko is mired on the fourth line), but when he did, he made the most of them. Quarterback Jim Kelly begged head coach Marv Levy to insert him as a receiver because Kelly could count on Tasker’s athleticism to make a difference on the down. You could rely on Tasker to make key special teams plays in every game, much like you can count on Popko to be one of your most consistent penalty killers (considered special teams in hockey) no matter how many of his teammates are hanging out in the penalty box.

Much like Tasker never makes it to Canton (he has made it to the list of semi-finalists several times, but the voting committee is loathe to give a spot to special teamers because they only play a “third of the game”), Popko is never going to be Player of the Week, Player of the Month, or under Hobey Baker consideration.  But heck, you don’t want to be on the penalty kill or kickoff without one of them.

(For those of you who did not grow up with a father who promoted the legend of Steve Tasker at every single meal, here is a good summary from the NFL Network.)

The back of the Gryba Senior Shirt.

This year’s shirt honors BU senior defenseman Eric Gryba – lover of flannel, avid hunter and fisherman, and the tallest defenseman since Tom Morrow (the subject of Jason’s 2006 shirt). Gryba is a fan favorite everytime he checks an opposing player or even thinks about getting in a position to score. The BU student section responds to Gryba much like fourteen year old suburban teenagers react to Nick Jonas – there’s screaming, cheering, and the occassional sobbing.

Gryba is a stand-up defenseman who is very comfortable with his role on defense – he’s not often trying to be fancy with the puck, and he very conscientious of his duties at the blue line. He holds the program’s record for penalty minutes, set during January 2nd’s game, but he’s not necessarily a dirty player. His penalties come from his tendency to play at the boards during defensive situations – he isn’t always laying guys out, elbowing, or aiming for player’s heads. It will be interesting to see what he does after college.

Gryba may not be my favorite BU player ever, but he’s definitely a personality I have enjoyed watching progress through his collegiate hockey career. Thus, I took $15 out of my wedding fund and ordered one of these shirts from Jason.

If you too want to commemorate the personality that is Gryba by purchasing a t-shirt, find “The Hockey Shirt at Boston University” group on Facebook and chat with Jason. The shirt is only $15, which is a deal when it comes to any fan shirts. Orders are due Tuesday, February 9th.

Let's Go Fishing - a childhood fave for me and thousands of other kids

Playing “Let’s Go Fishing” with my favorite four-year-old (a cousin of my fiance’s) this New Year’s Day with the dull portion of the Winter Classic flickering in the background, the topic of conversation turned from what kindergarten would be like next year to the Boston Red Sox. Favorite Four-Year-Old, like every child born and raised in the Greater Boston area, understood that he was a Red Sox fan prior to understanding that hands were for picking things up, not chewing on.

Over the summer, Favorite-Four-Year-Old and I had played “Big Papi” and “Jason BAAAYYY” in his backyard – a catch-tag megamix named after his two favorite members of the Red Sox roster. This afternoon, I wondered if he knew what had conspired a few days before.

We held our faux primary colored fishing rods over the faux thrashing primary colored fish. I sighed, and asked the question that had to be asked. “Who is your favorite Red Sox player?”

Favorite Four Year Old’s head snapped up, forgetting about the fish. “Jason BAAAAAAAYYYYYYY!” he exclaimed, proudly, with a giant grin on his face. He quickly returned to faux-fishing.

I was left with a dilemma. Was I susposed to be the one to have the “free agency” talk with Favorite Four-Year-Old, or was this a talk that his father or grandfather needed to have with him? This was an important talk in the life of a young sports fan, and I felt that it needed to come from a close relative, and not just little ol’ me.

I looked around, trying to find Favorite Four-Year-Old’s father. He was busy in another room eating. His grandfather was no where in my sightline either. Favorite Four-Year-Old didn’t seem to sense the turmoil within me.

So I said nothing and set to not lose too poorly in “Let’s Go Fishing.” In that four-year-old’s world, Jason Bay could still be his favorite Red Sox player. If only just for one more day.

Cesar Millan, the Dog Whisperer.

This weekend, Agganis Arena kept running promotions for an event next weekend with Cesar Millan, the “Dog Whisperer.” (Aka, a dog behavior expert that dog owners turn to once they realize that raising a dog may, in fact, take actual work.)

My immediate thought during the first ad Friday night was, “Gosh, Jack Parker could use a Dog Whisperer. He’s got a whole roster of Terriers that keep giving him trouble.”

What would happen if during his Agganis visit next weekend, Millan spent some time analyzing the problems of this year’s Terrier team? I think it might go something like this:

Parker: I can’t believe I’m turning to you.

Millan: Oprah does.

Parker: Fine. I guess I’m desperate. As I mentioned in my post-game comments after Friday’s tie to Vermont, “my team does not know how to get ready for a hockey game.” They then went on to emphasize that point with a 4-1 loss against BC on Saturday. What changed between my 2009 national champions and this team?

Millan: If you watch my television show, you’ll know I am all about owners quitting babying their dogs. If you baby your pets, they’ll walk all over you and develop behavior problems that you’ll end up paying me thousands to fix. I see you with somewhat of the same problem – this team is walking all over you.

As hard nosed as you are, you lost a huge part of your bite when a coach’s dream of a captain, Matt Gilroy, graduated. His age and superhuman-esque determination gave you an extra coach in the locker room. And let’s not forget about John McCarthy, a quiet, but impactful leader, especially among his classmates. Then you had that whole senior class – essentially, you had five or six captains.

According to many accounts (including a close reading of Burn the Boats), Gilroy and McCarthy did a lot of your coaching for you last season. They called out guys when they got lazy. They set the tone at practices. They instilled the goal-setting mindset of the team as a whole. You also allowed them much more reign than other captains had. And with this age group, acceptance by peers can be much more powerful than by authority figures, giving your captains that much more clout.

BU coach Jack Parker (Photo: College Hockey News)

Parker: But Shattenkirk has a lot of captaincy experience. He was captain of the USA Under-18 Team and the World Junior Team.

Millan: But there is only one of him, he’s a junior, and he thought he’d be assisting a captain Brian Strait this season. No doubt Shattenkirk is a good player and leader, but he now leads alone a team made up of a bunch of individuals who have been spoiled by a national championship.

Parker: A bunch of individuals?

Millan: Two glaring examples: On the ice, Colby Cohen always must take the slapshot instead of passing it to a more open or closer to the net teammate. It is as if he honestly believes his overtime winner in the national championship game will happen every time he shoots the puck. It won’t. It was a fluke play that bounced off a Miami player’s leg.

Then you have Vinny Saponari, who has decided that he wants to be the Southern Alex Ovechkin. His puck handling could win him points for presentation, but this isn’t figure skating – it’s hockey, and if he would stop his focus on being fancy, he could be a national leader in goal scoring.

Parker: Two out of twenty-six. Fine, I’ll figure out what to do with them, but something else has to be ailing us.

Millan: Speed. The North Dakota-like speed that signaled that this was a different team than usual during the October 2008 Icebreaker has vanished somewhat. Every team is now catching up in terms of speed, and while there have been games where you come out of the gate all speedy, you lose it much too quickly.

Secondly, the team needs to work on breakaways and rebounds. They are tending behind on both. They are not taking advantage of opportunities because they’re either focused on making the fancy play or thinking too much about what to do with the puck. There’s only one thing to do with the puck – get it somewhere where it can end up in the net. Is that a closer or open teammate? Is that the net? This thinking needs to be snappier.

Parker: What about my goalies?

Millan: Last year was like adopting a dog and having me with you for a year training it, then taking me away and expecting everything to be normal. You had two freshmen goaltenders in front of some of the most outstanding defensive players the program has ever had. You also had forwards who understood their defensive roles. This year, you still have massive, pounding defensemen, but you also have three of them thinking they are also forwards. Plus, your forwards are no longer defensively minded. No one is there to help the goalies, so you now see what they are really made of.

Am I saying either Rollheiser or Millan (who must be a distant cousin of mine or something) are bad? No, but they need to adjust to the lack of help they have in front of them. Their own teammates are screening them. Defensemen seem to be maintaining some set distance from the net – did the two goalies put out a restraining order on the team or something?

Parker: The boys and I have a break coming up. What can I possibly do to turn this season around? I mean, I’m beginning to think I should have hung it up after last year.

Millan: First off, bench kids. Bench kids with names. Bench seniors. Bench juniors. You were never afraid of benching “stars” in the past – why are you now? Bonino wasn’t prolific until you benched him last November. Tough love – you’re not their mother. But you do demand great things from them, and you can’t do that if you are afraid of hurting their feelings or thinking they can fix themselves. Bench unproductive players. Bench selfish players. Tell them that they don’t play until they take the game and the team seriously.

We also know you’re stuck on this, “Let’s not mention the National Championship bit,” to the team, with the team not allowed to be announced as the defending national champions and all. But hockey players crave motivation, and maybe putting the title out there – hey, we’re defending national champions, but we aren’t going to be able to defend until we have non-selfish, consistent effort – could be just the motivation that will click.

Break out every single passing drill ever known to man. A team that can pass to each other can score. This team is dropping passes right and left.

And tell the team that if they can’t make fancy plays until they make some All-Stars skills competition in their pro careers. But if they can’t score on rebounds and breakaways, there will be no All-Star skills competitions.

Order Gilroy make a video where he threatens to make them run the Charles hungover at 4:30am if they don’t win a game. Or tell Shattenkirk to get amazingly angry, and let Gryba get mean with him, and then get Gryba involve his other seniors. If the balance of the team won’t listen to you, they should be listening to their angry, older peers.

Parker: Well, as much as I can’t believe I am accepting your opinion on this, some of it seems pretty legit. By the way, I hear you’re gonna have dogs in my arena. You leave my arena clean next week, you hear me? So help me if there is dog anything stuck to my ice…

Millan: Tsst. Tsst. Down.

Unless you’re an athlete. Because if you are an athlete, sports fans – fickle ones, at that – make it their own pastime to comment about your bad day, remind you about your bad day, and hold it over your head for days, weeks, months, years, lifetimes on end.

Heaven forbid said bad day occurs due to an injury. Then you’re “injury prone,” “weak,” “not a professional,” “disingenuous.” Injury equals weakness, and unless the limb is severed, many believe you ought to be out on the field, ice, court, or pitch.

Jason Bay is having a bad week. Maybe a bad month. (Photo: Flickr user lifes ill)

One could say that Boston Red Sox’s outfielder Jason Bay is having a bad week. Maybe a month. After he pulled a hamstring this past weekend, he had to sit out two games. Nevermind that Bay was the last Sox player to take a day off since the All-Star Game. Nevermind that the last day he had off was when he was hit by a pitch around Memorial Day. Bay suffered from a bum hamstring, and Sox fans took to the Boston.com comments labeling the guy as a “bust,” as “lazy,” as being not worth the money he allegedly is asking in a new contract.

Bay came back for Wednesday evening’s game against Tampa Bay (the 2009 home of everyone’s favorite Californian Jewish Outfielder, and your June interleague play run leader, Gabe Kapler), and tweaked the hamstring again. Hamstrings are a fickle part of your body. Any athlete will tell you that. You can aggravate it running sideways, in the beginning of a vertical jump, on the landing of a leap – all routine parts of an outfielder’s game. It shouldn’t be a great surprise that maybe Bay shouldn’t have played Wednesday. He most likely felt fine on Tuesday, and then in the routine movements of playing his position on Wednesday, felt the injury again. That happens. Heck, as a teenager, my permanently wrecked knees felt great when I wasn’t throwing roundoffs or doing my ballet bar exercises. And then I would do such things, and holy heck, I thought someone was splitting my knee open like one would take a cleaver to an avocado pit and eating the bone alive. But you wouldn’t know if you would feel the pain until you tried physical activity.

No tears were shed for former fan favorite Bay in the comments section of Boston.com. One of the first commenters to the report about his hamstring re-aggravation claimed that, “Star players step up,” and accused Bay of being lazy, and that he ought to get out there and play like a professional. Others followed the negative suit, saying that he isn’t worth the money he might get in a new contract, that he’s been nothing but a disappointment, and that he ought to be replaced by farm system players. One commenter even went as far to describe Bay as “injury prone” throughout his career – Bay, of course, being the guy who played all 162 games in 2005, 159 in 2006, 145 in 2007, and 155 in 2008. If that’s injury prone, I would hate to see that commenter describe JD Drew or Carl Pavano.

Bay had been out 2 games as of Thursday morning. He had been out maybe 4 games all season.

I know most newspaper commenters exaggerate in their comments. That the majority of commenters don’t think before they type. But listen to sports radio. Read blogs. The commenters are just joining in the negative fray of those contributors. How disingenuous is a fan that their first thought upon the injury of a player on their team is that the player is lazy or undeserving of a chance to heal? Bay isn’t the first one to be held to the impossible standard possessed by sports fans, and he won’t be the last. Athletes may be paid for their physical ability, but they shouldn’t be put down and used for glue the minute they suffer a muscle pull. Sports fans ought to lose the barbarian-ness and reestablish their humanism.

Because, after all, I don’t see strangers publicly criticizing stenographers suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome who need to take a day off, or a lunch lady for missing work because she’s sick from caught-from-first-graders flu.

Phil Kessel's college style of play could hurt his chances of staying in Boston. (Photo: Flickr user egasbarino)

Two Sundays ago, Kevin Paul Dupont’s Boston Globe Hockey Notes column led off with a discussion was whether or not the Boston Bruins will resign restricted free agent forward Phil Kessel. Said Dupont:

“For all his flash, dash, and goal scoring, Kessel has some troubling holes in his game. It’s a contact sport, one full of one-on-one battles, and in most cases, Kessel prefers to motor around those battles. When he is forced to battle for a puck, he usually looks for a different option….

Remember, this is a team that puts great weight in what Cam Neely thinks of players, and No. 8′s standard read on a skilled-but-soft contributor has been, “That dog won’t hunt.”

Having listened to Neely’s reads for more than two decades, and knowing both Kessel’s strengths and shortcomings, I think the words of the prophets are written on the subway walls for Kessel.”

Despite his breakout season, the Bruins appear not to hold signing Kessel a priority. Front office supporters may argue that the proposed amounts of $4.5 – 5 million are quite high for a 22 year old who has quite awful luck when it comes to injury and illness, who needed benching to shake up his game during the 2008 playoffs, and who has only “proven” himself for one year.

But what concerns me about the Bruins’ discussion of Kessel is the parts of his game they are picking on – very much the college aspects of his play.

Kessel played one year at Minnesota, and prior to that, played with the US Under 18 team when it was stacked with name players in 2004-05. Although he played less college hockey than a lot of players out there, it still influenced his play. College players are passionate, skilled players – but they have to play a different style of hockey than their major junior counterparts. Fights are avoided.  Players aren’t going to put themselves in circumstances where a fight could develop because they know they’ll get tossed if one does. It affects the game – maybe a college player doesn’t engage in that “one-on-one” battle for a puck as much.

That style of hockey might take longer to get out of one’s system than others, or some, particularly those with a combination of injuries like Kessel’s, is never going to be a style that they engage in. What the Bruins have to decide is if this difference in playing style is something they can live with.

I believe that the way the Kessel matter is resolved will set the tone for the Bruins’ dealings with other college-raised players in the future, such as Blake Wheeler. Wheeler also plays a college style of hockey, and has been treated similarly to Kessel – being benched during the playoffs for “poor performance.”

NHL teams seem to be heading in two directions right now – those, like Pittsburgh, who embrace college-raised players, and those like Detriot, who do not. There is not nesscarily a right or a wrong to this. Some teams have more luck with college players than others, and some would rather pluck talent out of major junior and develop them at a younger age.

If the Bruins get rid of Kessel, then is that a statement that their system doesn’t value the college style of play, and that any college player in their system needs to lose that style of play quickly? Further, does this then set the developmental mindset with their AHL affiliate in Providence and future player acquisitions towards one of a major junior path rather than taking a chance on college players?

The decision on Kessel could end up having little to do with his college style of play, and be a more straight numbers decision. Or it could have everything to do with his style of play, as Dupont seems to warn in his column. But in an era where we have reached a hay-day in college hockey and it continues to grow as a popular option for some of the most talented youth hockey players, is the eschewing of the college style of play a message the Bruins want to send? And if they do, will it screw them out of college talent moving forward because they don’t value the style of play those players accustomed to?

My favorite college hockey player makes a pro roster.

The AHL’s Providence Bruins are currently battling the evil Hershey Bears (the Bears dismissed John Curry’s Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins from the playoffs in the last round…but more about Curry later this weekend), and need reinforcements due to a few injuries here and there.  The Baby Bruins looked no further than Boston University, and signed Jason Lawrence to an Amateur Tryout Contract (ATO) today. Lawrence brings a nice dose of American-ness to an otherwise Canadian and European exclusive forward roster (see the list above – ON, ON, ON, AB, Serbia…Saugus, MA. It sticks out like a sore thumb.)

What does this mean? Well, an Amateur Tryout Contract allows a pro team to essentially engage a player who had never played within the NHL/AHL/ECHL system in an extended tryout that may include game play. The Providence Bruins, and in some regard the Boston Bruins, needed to strengthen their forward ranks for the rest of the playoffs, and wanted to take a look at Lawrence for the future, thus they signed him to a short-term contract with no obligations past the end of this season.

Now, don’t you all feel more knowledgeable?

This does not mean my favorite college hockey player will actually see game time – he might not even dress. This does not mean I can purchase a “Lawrence 18″ Providence Bruins jersey just yet…I mean, not that I would. That was hypothetical, of course…

It’s always good to see an athlete find success for his hometown team, and that’s why Lawrence’s chance with the Bruins is such a good story. He played with the Boston Jr. Bruins as a kid, so to play for the AHL Bruins has to be a dream come true.  I always say you should live your life making 12 year old you proud – that’s one of the reasons why I write this blog – and that’s definitely what “The Saugus” did today with his Bruins ATO.

A big blow to Boston University and University of Vermont hockey fans – according to David Scott, of Scott’s Shots (one of my favorite sports blogs, by the way – when he speaks, I listen),
CN8 will be shuttering it’s New England operations. This includes closing the studios right across from the College of Fine Arts building on the BU campus.

Both BU and UVM had contracts with CN8 for broadcast rights to several men’s hockey games. CN8 was to televise six remaining men’s hockey games -

Dec. 5 vs. Boston College (CN8)
Jan. 3 at Denver Cup (CN8)
Jan. 17 vs. Boston College (CN8)
Jan. 24 at New Hampshire (CN8)
Feb. 21 at Northeastern (CN8)
Feb. 28 vs. Massachusetts (CN8)

According to Scott, CN8′s operations will cease in “early Janaury 2009,” leaving five of those six games without a TV home. Scott does say, however, that Comcast Sports Net may pick up the sports programming. However, their primary responsibility is to the Celtics, so I worry that college hockey might get lost in the shuffle.

If CSN decided to pick and choose what games they select, an educated guess would be that January 17 game against BC will be of most interest, if the early part of the season is any indication. One would also hope that CSN would pick up the Denver Cup game on January 3rd, since many of us Terrier fans can’t afford the $400 plane fare right after the holiday season (but trust you me, I tried!)

It remains to be seen what BU or UVM will do in the wake of this announcement. Big kudos to Scott for getting this news.

UPDATE: According to the comment below, Comcast Sports Net will pick up several games on CN8′s college hockey schedule.  Thanks to Tim from Comcast Sports Net for responding right away, and for Comcast for taking care of us college hockey fans.

Last night, however, I became the most despised of all sports fans – the bandwagon jumper – and went to a local bar to watch Game 6 of the NBA Finals. Since I moved here, I’ve spent every potential championship game for a Boston sports team working an event on campus designed to keep the students from rioting. For the first time, a Boston team could win a championship and there were only a handful of students around, and thus no need to throw an arena-sized viewing party.

I invited a bunch of co-workers out to join me, and we gathered in the packed bar a few minutes before tip-off. Championship games make even the most college kid dependent of bars packed like the first weekend of classes, and I was lucky to score one bar stool, which we kept rotating throughout the evening. We made quick friends with those around us, one of whom was a devout Celtics fan – a single mom who had raised her teenage daughter to be a Celtics fan, and only a Celtics fan, since she was a toddler. Even through the rough times, the mother said, they attended a dozen or so games a year because the team used to be great, and they would eventually be good again. The exact opposite of a bandwagon jumper, if you will.

The first quarter was touch and go – the sloppiness of the play on both sides was nauseating, and I anticipated being in for a long evening. But just like that, it became a blow out. It was fun to watch the one sidedness of it, because unlike a ton of important games, by the end of the 3rd it was a given that the Celtics would win. With layup after three pointer, the score grew, the Lakers looked more disheartened, and the bar cheered louder and louder. It entered a constant state of cheer and applause with 2 minutes left in the fourth that did not end until David Stern was shown handing over the trophy.

The single mom next to me cried. The foursome next to me clinked their beer mugs. The last of my colleagues left at that point started hugging everyone behind us. People held up their cameras high above their heads and took random shots of the bar – whether they actually got any semblance of a good picture, who knows.

I never felt badly for the fans in LA – hey, it’s LA, they seem devoid of emotion and use sports fandom as a means to see and be seen – but I did flash back to my friend Elissa’s house back in January of 1994, when I was on the other side of a blow-out, and had nothing to celebrate for. All dressed up in our Bills gear and nowhere to go. What 11 year old me would have given for the cheering, hollering and debauchery that I was taking part of as a 26 year old.

So I drank it all in, and realized that there is absolutely nothing better than watching your city’s team onto victory. For one night, everyone knew everyone else, everyone was having a great time, and everyone was happy. There were cars beeping down the street, and pedestrians cheering and waving their Celtics shirts. The T was crowded – masses of green shirted people on the Green Line – but no one cared. It was one of the coolest experiences one could ever have as a sports fan.

And now, I’ve gone through this elation four times. Since moving here in May of 2004, I have watched Boston win four professional sports championships. It’s fun every time – although the first time was absolutely amazing, as I wrote about in one of my most favorite posts ever in 2004 – and I hope it never ends (although I expect differently – it’s the sports pessimist in me.) I am ready to pronounce myself the best luck charm that ever was – when the Sports Girl who never knew winning growing up and the city that values its sports before everything else in life got together, we clicked and our respective luck changed for the better. And I couldn’t be happier.