Tag: Boston (Page 1 of 5)

Pushing Through Till Summertime

21 January, 2011 / Kat

The reason the Canadian pop-rock-country band Barenaked Ladies always have appealed to me is because it is so obvious we all are originally from the same region of North America. When Ed (the remaining lead singer) crooned in 1998 about “the foam on the creek is like pop and ice cream/a field full of tires that is always on fire/to light my way home” on “Light Up My Room,” I could vividly remember taking the Greyhound with my Grandma on a late 1980s summer day trip to Buffalo, and seeing both out the bus window on the way home.

Last spring, the band released their first album without co-founder Steven Page. The second song on the album, “Summertime,” is an ode to Western New York-Southern Ontario weather; a response to those not from the area who ask, “How do you put up with all the lake effect snow, wind and cold?” The answer? “We’re all pushing through till summertime.”

I have been fielding many questions in the same vein lately now that Greater Boston has been hit with three snowstorms in a month’s time. “How did you put up with weather like this?! How does your family back there handle it?” So, Bostonians, my answer and advice to you in song form. “Keep on pushing through for summertime.” May it become your winter 2011 anthem.

Summertime – Barenaked Ladies (YouTube)

Find more artists like Barenaked Ladies at Myspace Music

WSJPD? (What Should Jack Parker Do?)

3 December, 2010 / Kat

Tonight was hands down the weirdest hockey game I have ever experienced in my 28 years. Yes, Boston College defeated Boston University handily 9-5. Yes, Boston University has been over-ranked in the USCHO and USA Hockey polls for a few weeks. Yes, Boston College finally performed up to their talent level after a few weeks of off-play.

We had penalty shots, penalties that made no sense, goals scored mere seconds apart from each other, a change in goaltender for BU, BU players diving, BC players elbowing, shorthanded goals, power play goals – at one point, my husband said, “I think CBS College Sports ordered a smorgasbord of hockey activity for tonight’s game.”

And yes, BC’s Patch Alber has an old-timey physician’s name, BU needs to shoot the puck and realize that goals aren’t scored unless the puck physically enters the net, and BC’s goalie John Muse resembles a penguin attempting to launch off the ground when he’s making a save or counting off the last seconds of a penalty.

So if you’re BU, what do you do for Saturday night’s game at BC? What do you do for next week’s games against Northeastern and RPI? Who do you start at goaltender? Who is your first line? There is bound to be shake ups – and if there were not, fans would have the right to be livid – but how exactly does one reassemble this Terrier team?

Since I don’t even know where to begin, I leave it to you – if you were Jack Parker and Mike Bavis, what would you do?

Sports in Unexpected Places: Celtics in Autumn

2 October, 2010 / Kat

On Friday night, I visited the Topsfield Fair, which is a giant agricultural fair that marks the end of the fair season in Massachusetts. (For my fellow New York natives, it’s like a less state-pridey version of the New York State Fair, without the dairy bar and the New York State Lottery booth. Which, I mean, are the only parts of the NY State Fair I remember.)

Dodging downpours while leaping from exhibit to exhibit, I came across a vegetable display that any Boston sports fan has to give major props to: The Boston Celtics in Gourd Form.

A diorama of the Boston Celtics done in gourds from the Topsfield Fair.

The Gourd Celtics (Photo by me)

A local Cub Scout troop submitted their autumn gourd Boston Celtics display to the vegetable diorama competition, and obviously won first prize. What better way to celebrate your defending Eastern Conference Champions than to make semblances of them in gourds?

Oh no! Kendrick Perkins is down. Out three weeks with a bruised pumpkin. (I don’t know how well you can see the writing on the “jersey,” but it did read Kendrick Perkins.)

Oops. Kendrick Perkins Gourd is down. (Photo by me)

Major kudos to this Cub Scout troop for giving us a great example of Sports in Unexplained Places. Congratulations on winning first place.

It’s Beanpot Monday!

1 February, 2010 / Kat

Ahhhh, Beanpot Monday. The most wonderful time of the year.

Per usual, I’m all over the Beanpot like wanna-be rock stars up on MySpace. Catch my extensive overview of Beanpot Players to Watch on Beantown Athletic Supporters. Tonight, I’ll be live tweeting for BU Today along with several of my co-workers and students, and you’ll also be able to catch my reports direct from Twitter.

Later this week, I’ll be profiling the Charity Beanpot Challenge, a game featuring Beanpot alumni and supporting the Travis Roy and Mark Bavis Foundations.

Happy Beanpot Monday!

Beanpot Oops!

31 January, 2010 / Kat

Late Sunday night, I was feverishly writing and researching my Beanpot preview for Beantown Athletic Supporters. I visited the official Beanpot tournament home page for a game summary from last year. Saturday night, when I looked at the site, they still had last year’s captains listed on the home page.

But tonight, they had finally changed them to this year’s captains. Or at least, who we had thought this year’s captains would be:

My screen capture of the official Beanpot website at 11:05pm, Sunday evening.

Did Brian Strait suddenly return from Wilkes-Barre Scranton to BU? Wow, he must have forgave all of those awful things Coach Parker said about him in that USCHO piece from the summer.