Just a quick note for those of you who were intrigued in my July interview with Rival Films’ Matt Fults on the Boston University-Boston College documentary, The Battle of Comm Ave. A pre-sale of the DVD begins today and ends on October 9. During this time, you can get the Director’s Cut DVD for half price, with free shipping. The DVD will ship November 1st.

The made-for-TV version – minus the Director’s Cut’s 32 minutes of extra footage – will air several times on NESN in November.

Even if you despise both BU and BC, you can never go wrong with supporting mainstream media coverage of college hockey, especially when the DVD is the price of one beer at an arena.

Given that both BC and BU have combined to win the last two NCAA Division I Championships, their tradition-laced rivalry has started to receive additional national attention. Sure to add to this national spotlight will be the November release of The Battle of Comm Ave, a documentary on the rivalry by Utah-based Rival Films. The film will premiere on NESN, with an DVD release following. Rival Films’ Matt Fults agreed to answer some questions about the film, the company’s use of social media, and about his own favorite sports documentaries.

Kat: You are a film studio based out of Utah – given your geography, what made your company want to produce a film about the Boston College – Boston University rivalry?
Matt: Utah is our base camp. A majority of our work is done elsewhere. We’ve filmed in Austria, Switzerland, Chile, Germany, Canada, Alaska, Hawaii, Michigan, California … the list goes on. So what we look for are compelling stories. I’m a big hockey fan, and while the BU-BC rivalry is well known in Massachusetts, it’s not as well known in the rest of the country. Plus my mom is from Reading, MA. That’s a plus.

Kat: I know you don’t want to give away a lot about the film yet, but is there any one part that you can mention that will excite fans of these teams (for example, any new information, a story no one has heard before, etc)?

Matt: I think there’s a couple of good stories that maybe haven’t been told. One involves former BU captain Jack O’Callahan, coach Parker and a coin. There aren’t a lot of secrets when it comes to these schools. What you’re going to see is the origins of the rivalry, how it became so intense, what drives it today, and finally just some terrific anecdotes and stories from players, coaches and others.

Kat: Do you see The Battle of Comm Ave spurring national interest in this storied rivalry, given that college hockey seems to be growing in popularity right now?

Matt: I hope so. One of the reasons we decided to do this was the belief that college hockey is undersold and undertold. It’s a great sport with strong traditions and true powerhouse programs.

Kat: Rival Films is quite active on Twitter and Facebook.  How are you using social media to promote this film and engage with the fanbases of the respective schools?

Matt: Being active doesn’t mean we’re successful. Our Twitter following isn’t impressive! Social media as a tool is new to us – literally within the last couple of weeks. Given the subject matter and the audience, it seems like a worthwhile endeavor. Our hope is to build an early buzz that will translate into greater interest when Fall rolls around, and ultimately the start of college hockey season. We are going to use Facebook and Twitter for contest giveaways and more importantly to announce a DVD presale. Sometime in October you’ll be able to find a link that will enable you to preorder the DVD at half price. So if you’re not following us on Twitter @RivalFilms or not a Fan on Facebook, that’s one less Christmas present for your brother.

Kat: Since you are in the business of creating sports films, what qualities do you think make a great sports documentary? What are some of your personal favorites?

Matt: You mean other than my own? Just kidding. To me, it’s all about storytelling. The quality of the story – and its storytellers – make or break any movie. In the end, the subjects of your film need to be the best storytellers. Narration is there to fill in the gaps. If your subjects aren’t compelling, you better hope the underlying story is or you’re done. One of my favorites is “Step into Liquid” by Dana Brown. On the surface, it’s a surfing movie. But it’s more than that. It examines a culture and a lifestyle. Visually, it’s gorgeous. I’m also a Bud Greenspan fan. He’s a master storyteller.

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Keep up-to-date with The Battle of Comm Ave by following the company on Twitter (@RivalFilms), becoming a fan of the film on Facebook, or checking the company’s website.

It's safe to say hockey fans are becoming obsessed with Fenway Park. (Photo by me.)

But although complete and official information about the 2010 Winter Classic and subsequent events will not be released until July 1st at the earliest, there is enough substantial information out there to piece together five nearly certain pieces of the  official announcement.

- The NHL game at Fenway Park will be the Boston Bruins versus the Philadelphia Flyers. After the owner of the Washington Capitals, the Bruins’ most rumored opponent, mentioned that the team had no plans to be part of a January 1, 2010 game last week, the Flyers have been the most reported and substantiated replacement.

- The ice at Fenway Park will be down for several weeks. Having the Winter Classic at a ballpark as opposed to an NFL stadium affords the organizers much more time to bring in the rink system, as the latest baseball runs is the first week in November. When the Winter Classic was held at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Buf-town (which is what I’m allowed to call Buffalo because I’m a bitter Rochestarian), the major complaint is that event organizers did not have enough time to lay down the ice surface and troubleshoot any problems because of the NFL season ending only days before.  With Fenway Park the NHL’s to play with from mid-November on, not only can any system problems be fixed much before the main event, other events can use the ice surface.

- There will be a college game or two on the Fenway Park ice. You have ice down in “America’s Favorite Ballpark.” You have a city full of people who would pay $10 just to touch the building, so why not hold some more “once in a lifetime” events in there while you can? And with the growing popularity of the college game, especially with the media attention Boston University’s national championship has been given (which is what happens when a school’s alumni can be found in every facet of every major media organization in America), why not play a few college games on the available ice?

- Despite my previous concerns, Boston College will be included in any possible college game at Fenway. BC may be scheduled to participate in the Denver Cup January 1st and 2nd, but with the ice being down for a few weeks, this  supposed scheduling conflict is no longer an issue. The more I think about it, a college hockey game at Fenway could not take place without the Eagles, because Boston College has an existing relationship with Fenway Sports Group for the marketing and promotion of their Athletics program. BC was the cog in this whole college game machine – if BC wasn’t involved, college games would not be happening.

- Boston University will also be involved in any college game. It’s been evident for a while, as BU has not shown up in anyone’s holiday tournament schedule yet, and has seriously dragged its feet when it comes to releasing its own 2009-10 season schedule. Mind you, season ticket holders – moi included – have had to put down nice chunks of cash for next year’s tickets without a semblance of a schedule. This is unlike most programs, and unlike BU’s practice of the past three years.

The other two schools rumored to be participating are Providence and Vermont.

- Said college game will not take place immediately before or after the Bruins-Flyers tilt. See BC’s date in Denver, as well as NCAA precedent. You will not see a college hockey game share a bill with an NHL game. Logistically, Fenway Park’s small size, limited walkways, and reliance on public transportation make any type of doubleheader extremely difficult because of the challenge of vacating the park and surrounding neighborhood and cleaning the park quickly. Additionally, BC has already made a commitment to the Denver Cup, one of the most established college hockey tournaments in recent history. Lastly, there could be compliance issues raised with a combo ticket, doubleheader, or some other combined NHL-NCAA event. (And of course, do I have my rulebook with me as I write this? Of course not.) The Boston Globe reported a date of January 8th for any possible college game.

Will the NHL’s early July announcement definitely include these six aspects? I can’t say for sure, because I’m merely piecing together existing media reports. But if you look at the quality and reliability of the sources reporting these aspects and place all of the pieces together, I think you begin to have a clearer picture of what a Fenway Park Winter Classic program may look like.

With the release of Denver’s 09-10 schedule came the release of the 2010 Denver Cup participants: Denver, St. Lawrence, Nebraska-Omaha, and Boston College. BC will play St. Lawrence in the 4:35pm game on January 1st.

The Eagles inclusion on this release seemingly squashes all of the unsubstantiated buzz and rumour surrounding a possible Boston University-Boston College game being a part of an all-but-officially-confirmed Boston Bruins Winter Classic date at Fenway Park on January 1st. For a while, some speculated that the somewhat delayed release of both BU’s and BC’s 09-10 schedule was an indicator that possible participation in the Winter Classic setup at Fenway was being considered. Many Hockey East teams have already released their schedules for the upcoming year, but the two marquee teams had not, leading some to believe something was in the works.

Of course, BC could always pull out of the Denver Cup if a more alluring matchup came through, so I don’t think this DU release is the definitive answer on this story. But stay tuned…

"BC top seed in NCAA hockey tournament" Epic headline fail.

Yes, someone messed up or purposely changed the headline while taking a story off the wire for the Connecticut Post, and incorrectly stated that Boston College was the top seed for the NCAA Tournament. Really? Last I checked, BC didn’t even make it to the tournament this year because of their downfall in the second part of the season.

Is this a case of revenge by an Eagles fan, or honest mistake? My fellow Twitterer and BU fan, @brandoneps, claims that it may be revenge:

“Too funny, especially because it’s an AP article and someone ACTIVELY had to change the headline that came through the wire.”

I searched the web some more, and found the article correctly headlined on Google News and on the Associated Press website. Hmm….

To kick off our series, I am reposting an oldie-but-a-goodie I wrote about Senior Day for the Binghamton University men’s basketball team in 2004. I was a senior about to head off to Boston University for graduate work, and the Bearcats’ opponent that day was the Terriers.  The original post – edited to take out the non-basketball stuff that followed the original post – is after the jump.

If you are interested in contributing a piece to the series – be it about senior days for your team or about this year’s Terrier seniors, email me at sportsgirlkat@gmail.com.

The Battle of the BUs–A Senior Day In Every Sense

Today’s men’s basketball game at the Events Center was not only the last home game of the season for the men, but also senior day. And I found it fitting that the senior day game opponent was Boston University.

For those of you who haven’t been paying attention to my away messages, profiles or who haven’t spoken with me in the past…oh, year, I am currently in love with Boston University. Sure, I applied to five graduate schools, but since I decided I was going to go to grad school, Boston University has been one of my top choices. They were the first school to accept me (the letter was waiting for me two days after my birthday in my school mailbox). They might not have the best program in Higher Education, but they have tons of opportunities for internships and assistantships (especially in new facilities management–they‘re in the process of building the “Student Village,” a huge building project for athletics, residential life and student affairs, which working with would look soooo good on a resume), and they are just such a cool school in general. I walked around there in August and just couldn’t believe how much I liked it–I didn’t want to come back to Binghamton for another year. I was tempted to finish up my credits at Binghamton in the fall and start at Boston University in January, but I was talked out of it by a lot of people, seeing that I wanted to try for Harvard and Boston College as well. But the more I think about it, the more I want to go to Boston University. But I have to wait and see what happens.

So I attended today’s game and couldn’t decide who to cheer for–my current school, who I’m becoming increasingly disenchanted with knowing that there’s so much else beyond Binghamton, or what very well may be my new school. Well, seeing that I had student tickets and didn’t feel like being beat up (which could happen, as evidenced by what occurred at last week’s Nazareth/Fisher basketball game), I put my Boston University shirt away and wore the green Binghamton hoodie and went along with the “Let‘s Go Bearcats” chants.

The Terriers (Boston University) are currently #1 in the America East conference, and this game showed why. Marsha, Jamie and I were watching the warm-ups when Marsha remarked, “They just don’t miss,“ gesturing to the Terriers’ free throwing. They don’t–they only missed once that I recall during the game. While the first half was close, with Nick Billings being the whole Binghamton team as usual (it’s not that he can play, or that the others can’t, it’s just that he’s seven feet tall), the Terriers dominated in the second half, working with leads between 10-20 points most of the time. The final score was 69-53, but if our two seniors hadn’t been inspired to get in there and make the best of their last minutes on the Events Center floor, it probably would have been more like 75-50. The Bearcats turned over the ball constantly, and their shooting was way off most of the game. They couldn’t make a free throws at all in the second half, and easy points weren’t made because they were over-shooting the net. They announced that the official attendance at the game today was 4,823 at the end of the game. However, the end of the game lacked so much hope that people began to leave in droves after the 8 minute mark. I turned to Marsha. “Official attendance, 4,823. Official attendance after the 5 minute mark: 1,000.”

It had been noted all week that the Bearcat men had never defeated the Terriers since joining the America East three years ago, and I think the pressure of trying to overcome that in the new building on senior day was a bit too much for them. There are so many expectations for this team to do well so early on in their Division 1 career, seeing that we just built them this new venue, and we moved into a conference that caused us to eliminate one of our traditional sports (wrestling). They’re growing well, but to expect them to have beat the number one team in the conference right now wasn’t really feasible.

On another note, the Events Center is a bit…small? I was disappointed somewhat, and I don’t know why. I imagined an arena…which to me congers up mental images of the Blue Cross Arena up in Rochester. This was on a much smaller scale–the BCA holds 12,000 for concerts and the Events Center, when completed, will seat 8,000. Right now a sell out for basketball in the Events Center is 4,823. The Center is pretty sterile right now, more than likely due to the fact that they’re not really done with it. I fear that it’ll become out of date quickly, but I could also see how it could be easily renovated if that did happen. I don’t know. Did I expect more? Yes. Do we need more as a mid-major D1 school with more student apathy than the Yankees have money? No. On a semi-side note, one of my biggest fears as I leave Binghamton is that the backlash from students and faculty about the alleged “overspending on athletics” is going to deter any more growth in that area–we need more athletic opportunities because unlike what most Binghamton students think, athletes do possess brains. Also, with the local community being as stubborn as it is, I think athletics is going to be the school’s only way to make its point that we are now the economic center of the Broome County area, and therefore, should be accommodated as such.

As the crowds left the Events Center this afternoon, I felt like this was the beginning of the end. It was Senior Day for the two graduating players, but it was Senior Day for me as well–watching my last Binghamton basketball game, having what could be my new school defeat my current school. The next time I’ll be in the Events Center will more than likely be 77 days from now for Commencement. Binghamton may have been where I spent the last two years, but I’m ready to move on.

But I digress. What is more important is that according to this NHL.com article, Northeastern University and Boston University are separated by the Charles River. Really? Let’s take a look.

View Larger Map

That’s an oops for them. Oh well. They tried.

I have two blog entries upcoming – one on jerseys (no, I’m not turning into UniWatch), and the other on biking. Both should be finished shortly.  But here are a few short notes to tide you over.

The Arizona Cardinals hate me - In late September of 1999, Arizona Aeneas Williams slipped by San Francisco 49er center Jeremy Newberry to level a devastating hit to an already concussed Steve Young to knock him unconscious (although Young would never admit to that, the tape proves otherwise) and end Young’s career.  I watched it live on Monday Night Football, and I doubt I’ll ever forget that hit.

Fast forward to October 5, 2008.  Arizona Cardinal Adrian Wilson slips by a distracted Buffalo Bills offensive line to level a late hit on Bills quarterback Trent Edwards, by some reports knocking him briefly unconscious and taking him out of the game with a concussion.  Thank goodness Edwards is young and the Bills have a bye this Sunday.

Dear Arizona Cardinals: What have I ever done to you?

Unfortunately, the Bills lost their first game to the Cardinals after JP Loser-man had to come in and depress the entire Bills team.  The Bills don’t want to hustle for him.  Heck, Dick Jaron should have put in third stringer Gibran Hamdan instead – I think the team would have played better for him than they did for Losman, and he probably would have played better.  (Although Losman’s 87 yard pass to Lee Evans was great, but you could have seen that coming, given that Evans is Losman’s only buddy on the team.)

North Dakota Has Blood - As in, Ben Blood, a freshman defensemen for the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux.  What a fitting name for a hockey player, and a defensemen no less!  If a kid was ever born to be a hockey player, that kid was.  Blood, along with the rest of the UND team, joined Michigan State, UMass Amherst and host Boston University at the Icebreaker tournament this weekend at Agganis Arena.  And like the college hockey junkie I am, I was there.

UND and Boston University played Friday evening in the first round, second game of the Icebreaker.  Boston University played like I had not seen in two years and beat UND 5-1.  This was my second time ever watching UND play (the first was at the first NCAA Regional I ever went to in 2005 – I don’t remember that much, as I was on my first date with my now-fiance) and I am impressed at their speed – they do not seem like a college team on the ice at all, and could hold their own in an NHL game.  I know why despite graduations, the Sioux visit the Frozen Four every year.  Holy heck, someone get head coach Dave Hakstol an NHL job stat. (Really, Tampa Bay, a college coach like Hakstol is out there and you go get Barry Melrose to replace my beloved Tortorella? Insane.)

But what was most telling about Friday evening’s UND-BU game was that BU was able to match UND’s speed throughout three periods.  The past two seasons, it has been evident that BU was too slow, and got sluggish easily, which when combined with awful goaltending and lack of leadership like last year, is a disaster.  BU changed their training regimen this off-season (On campus at 6am? You might see players running down Comm Ave) and it seems to have paid off.  It also doesn’t hurt that the team finally has two legitimate goaltenders in freshmen Kirian Milian and Grant Rollheiser (can we call him Rollie yet?) It was easily the best played BU men’s hockey game in years.  The arena was buzzing with excitement.  Let’s see if they can keep it up tonight against Michigan State.

Michigan State played UMass in the first game of Day 1 of the Icebreaker, and my UMass predictions (that they might be a force to be reckoned with in Hockey East this season) quickly were proved incorrect.  Wow, was UMass bad.  As a UMass fan who was sitting behind me during the UND-BU game said, “It’s going to be a long season.  It’s not that they’re bad.  It’s that they obviously don’t care.”  I don’t know if I entirely agree – the team showed effort in the third and played most of that period at Michigan State goalie Jeff Lerg’s feet – but they weren’t as snappy and scrappy as they were last spring.  They may just be a second half of the season team, but they were missing passes and making silly wide shots on goal, and it was just embarrassing for them.  Let’s hope they can get it together before conference play begins.  However, as Chris, my partner in crime (aka fiance) said, expect UND to wipe the floor with them this afternoon in revenge.

I also have learned to love Lerg.  Lerg reminds me of Everyone’s Favorite Goalie (aka John Curry) and is as good as advertised.  This was my first time seeing him, and he was awesome.  He’s short, but he has a quick response time, a good pivot, and a good eye.

I’ll try to be back Saturday night or Sunday with updates from my day o’sports – Battle of the BU’s soccer and Day 2 of the Icebreaker.