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.)

In a post-season which is sure to future a coaching carousel, what makes the firing of Chow significant? Well, because the Bills are looking for an offensive coordinator, of course. The Bills message boards are all abuzz with the possible matchup already, with a fair amount of people pooh-poohing the possibility already, using the reasoning that if Chow couldn’t cut it in Tennessee, than he’ll never cut it as an NFL offensive coordinator. This is a rather flimsy argument – what if pro football had said the same after Bill Belichick underperformed in Cleveland? We wouldn’t have the evil genius to make fun of today. Another poster used Chow’s age as a deterrent for hiring Chow. Well, that person obviously doesn’t follow Ralph Wilson’s line of decision making much – he’s of “the older, the better!” school of thought. I think it’s most likely because everyone seems like a spring chicken at his advanced age.

To further support Chow’s candidacy, consider that Chow was in the running for Stanford’s head coaching job in 2005 – a chance he had to coach Trent Edwards, until he wasn’t chosen for the job. From the interview process, he must have a little insight into the system Edwards was coached under. He also developed many young quarterbacks – namely, Steve Young (oh, and Carson Palmer…but he’s not as hot.) Edwards is a young quarterback that needs mentoring. We saw how well JP Losman was mentored under ex-Bills offensive coordinator Steve Fairchild and the rest of the coaching staff – why not bring in someone who understands young quarterbacks trained in West Coast offenses, like Chow? Detractors may point to Chow’s inability to make Vince Young into the phenom expected of him – but who is to say V. Young would be any better off this point in his career with any other coordinator? It’s not like he’s another Ryan Leaf – he did make it to the playoffs this year, after all.

Considering the other choices out there for offensive coordinators – Cam Cameron, among others – I think Chow may be the least risky, and almost most experienced, choice. The Titans were Chow’s first NFL job – if the Redskins and others can seriously consider Gregg Williams for a head coach job after he demonstrated to all of the NFL in the early part of this decade that he really is better left as a defensive coordinator, the Bills should be allowed to seriously consider Chow for offensive coordinator.

But then again – these are the Bills we are talking about, and the hiring of Chow would make too much sense for them. I wish someday, the Bills would make personnel moves that I wouldn’t get teased about by my students.

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3 Things I Think I Think (copyright whenever by Peter King)

1) Musically-challenged me would give anything to be able to sit down at the piano and play Ben Folds’ You to Thank. I do play piano, but I can only sight read and can’t memorize music. It was a good thing my piano teacher was nice enough to weigh effort rather heavily in our grades for eighth grade piano at SOTA.

2) On the I-swear-I-am-not-a-figure-skating-fan-but-indulge-me-for-a-minute front, Emily Hughes withdrew today from the US National Championships due to a hip injury, making the race for the ladies championship even more crazed and unpredictable. Despite the fact that you have a reigning US champion and former World champion in the mix (Kimmie Meissner,) the scene is ripe for a take-over. And as a national federation, wouldn’t this be almost what you want? Meissner is still considered obscure, and for some reason, has not appealed to the masses like skaters from the last decade. Do you want to spotlight the Michelle Kwan skate-a-likes you have festering (Caroline Zhang and Mirai Nagasu) who could possibly bring the masses back to the sport, even though these two skaters are age-ineligible to compete in the Senior World Championships? Or do you just let the competition figure itself out, and aim to recapture public attention closer to the 2010 Winter Olympics? Would figure skating have any chance to thrive this year anyway, seeing that the sport draws fans from the same population as gymnastics, a sport that is in its Olympic year? But in this day in age, can a marginal sport afford to take a year off from full-out marketing to find itself in new faces?

3) Another January, another year Steve Tasker (honorary member of my father’s Steve Quarterbacks, honorary because he’s not a quarterback) does not make the finalist group for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Shame, shame, shame, Hall voters. The media is so entranced with the Patriots’ Wes Welker and the Bears’ Devin Hester as of late, and they’re forgetting one of the original WR-KR combos in their Hall balloting. And now Tasker is making quite a name for himself on the broadcasting side of things, taking over for Boomer Esiason the Westwood One NFL Matchup Radio Show and holding his own on mid-level game commentating crews for CBS, and still, he is unloved. But then again, if Tasker ever does make it into the Hall of Fame, what will my father and I have to complain about every January?

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Note on this entry from Wednesday evening – yep, as predicted, the Bills did not hire Norm Chow. They just decided to promote from within. Because they’ve been sooooo good the past few years. Whatever. I’m just bitter now because I reside in Patriot Land. I’ll get over it.