The Pain Runs Deep

This weekend was one of the most maddening and painful weekends in quite a while. As a BC, Bruins, and Pats fan, this one hurt.

Friday night, the Eagles have a shot at getting a key win and solidifying their hold on a NCAA spot in hockey. Despite a closely played first period, they found themselves down 2-0 as bounces were not going their way. Then, after outplaying Providence for the next two periods (including a 15-4 shot advantage in the third), they found themselves on the losing end of the game 3-2. Of their 35+ shots many of them were quality opportunities. Matt Price had a golden one late to tie the game but the Providence goalie somehow did the worm (somebody alert Scotty 2 Hotty that his move has been stolen from WWE) and the shot deflected off his leg. The number of juicy rebounds that found BC sticks and somehow ended wide or blocked or deflected was maddening. Over all three periods. But there is still a lot left on the season. The loss ended up not hurting us too bad as Clarkson, Denver, and others had rough weekends, and BC actually moved up from a #10 tie to a solid #9 in the PWR. Not a disaster but painful to watch as a fan. Little did I know this was but the tip of the iceberg for my weekend.

Saturday night, the Bruins had the opportunity to follow-up their impressive showing against Ottawa with a chance to beat the NHL leading Detroit Red Wings. I'm not going to lie to you, I told Pike Sr. the day of the game that I would have been happy with just getting one point out of it because Detriot is that much better and points are important. The B's came out hot and Chuckie (yes, I get to call Kobasew that because I watched him as a super-frosh at BC, and I was at Albany when he made the assist to Kolanos that won the national title in 2001) made a beautiful give-and-go to put them up 1-0 in the first. The Bruins played great tight defensive hockey through two periods and were tied 1-1. But I saw another aggravating sight. It was like a replay of the BC game, juicy rebounds just not finding their way into the net. One of the worst was in the third with the game 2-1, Chuckie gathers behind the net and feeds to Metropolit in front and he's just moving too fast across the crease and gets nothing on it and pops it in the air instead of into a wide open goal. Shortly thereafter, Detriot put it away for a 3-1 win. Again victory was there for the taking and the bounces weren't there. Oh, but the pain was not over.

Last night, the impossible happened. The perfect season was derailed and by a Manning no less. I would have felt better if they were trailing all night. I would have felt better if the Giants outscored them in a shoot-out. I would have felt better if had been Favre & the Packers who beat us. But to lose, to the Giants, in that manner...I felt like the poor guy in Indiana Jones after Mola Ram ripped his heart out and showed it to him, still beating, and lighting on fire. Funny thing, I imagine Rams fans felt much the same back in 2001. There is a dullness to my day that I imagine will not go anywhere for a little while. As one of my co-workers just said, "I woke up this morning and said to myself, 'Did that just happen?'"

Tonight there is an opportunity for redemption. Insidecollegehockey.com ran their power rankings today and next to Northeastern it said, "The benefit of the Beanpot is that hockey success on Monday can erase football disappointment from Sunday." This is what I am hoping for. A win tonight and it will be better. The Bruins have many more games to play, BC is still, at this point, in the NCAA tourney. A win over BU is just what I need to make me human again.

Tomorrow I go to the Big Apple on my first business trip for the new company. Not looking forward to it, not a big fan of the solo travel (boring and when something gets messed up as it always does, there is no one to lament with). Also, they are calling for wintery mix and rain for the next two days in Boston & NY. Should be lovely! But should BC lose tonight and continue the heartache of the last four days (did I mention the men's basketball team got smoked twice since Thursday?) the trip will be decidedly more melancholy. If I had a dog, I would be waiting for someone to kick it. Have a lovely Monday. Go Eagles!!