What's all the hype?

So Mrs. Pike was saying that she was looking forward to some hype for this weekend's slate of sports which includes the Chargers-Pats and BC-BU hockey. Now for those who don't know, few things get me more excited than a BC-BU hockey tilt. But it seems to me that no hype is necessary. I'm not one to hype...I prefer to think of my discussions of a contest before they occur as informed observations. I'm not going to tell someone to watch a game because it will be the most important game in the century but rather I would say that something was important because a team needs to stop a losing streak, or to just watch a couple of heavy hitters take their best shots.

I find the hype gets in the way of the actual game. I'm one of those people who think that the two weeks between the AFC & NFC title games and the Super Bowl is insane. There are only two teams playing and no one needs to know how their new Nike shoes will impact the contest (because let's face it, by Tuesday of the second week this is the only angle left to talk about). I don't watch pre-game shows (except for College GameDay because Lee & Kirk are informative & hilarious), or post-game shows, and I only read things that seem like they might tell me something qualitative about a certain game or event. I prefer to just watch the game and let the events unfold.

Which brings me back to this weekend. Does BC-BU really need hype? Everyone who cares has been looking forward to this weekend (and every other BC-BU game for that matter) since the schedule came out. Those that don't care are not going to be swayed to pay attention if they aren't already. Let's face it, this hatred runs deep and is on par with Michigan-Ohio State football and just below Red Sox-Yankees. If you haven't gotten into it before now, this weekend certainly isn't going to bring it out. It's not for a championship (that's not for another two weeks from Monday), it's not even between two top teams as BC is only 11th in the nation & BU is struggling to say the least. It's just another game in a long rivalry that will be hard fought as always. You don't need to hype that.