Agony of Defeat to Thrill of Victory (and vice versa)

For those of you who remember these two phrases the images of that skier nearly killing himself on the slopes at the beginning of Wide World of Sports broadcasts come to mind (that still sends shivers). But I am referring to last evenings NCAA hockey regional final between Boston College and Miami OH.

Due to the tyranny that is ESPN, I was unable to actually watch the contest since it was only on ESPNU and my cable provider does not carry that station. Despite my multiple requests and inquiries into the status of that upgrade, to this point Big Cable (specifically the members of RCN) has kept me in the dark. Because of this, I kept track of the game via CSTV...um, I mean CBS College Sports (thankfully there are no fines like the Tampa Bay D.... Rays)....Gametracker system. Happily, Gametracker was working and only about 1 or 2 minutes behind the real action. Old Man Pike was watching the game live which necessitated leaving the cell phone in the other room to prevent premature celebrations or disappointments.

As previously chronicled, Mrs. Pike went to Miami OH and is a supporter of their hockey team. She went to the local watering hole to watch the contest on their Direct TV (and cheer for her team without repercussion from me) but I was too nervous to be in public for this one. She returned as the 3-3 game went into overtime. As I sat there in my living room keeping track, at 12:12 of overtime, Gametracker told me what I had been dreading since the game went 3-3, Miami had scored and won the game 4-3. It showed #15 Brian Kaufman had scored assisted by #22 Nino Musitelli. Mrs. Pike was happy and to her credit did not rub it in or anything. She texted her brother (a fellow Miami alum) to celebrate as he was in a location unable to watch the game. I was down but not destroyed as I had figured Miami was going to win as soon as they beat Air Force the day before. I was ready for it. Then the call came.

Old Man Pike (thinking I was way behind on Gametracker) called and said, "Boy, Miami is really carrying the play in overtime" as he knew the true outcome of the game. I was obviously upset about what I thought was a BC loss. We go on for a little and he says, "You don't sound very excited?" At which I replied rather annoyed, "Why should I be excited? Miami won!". His response, "No they didn't, BC won! Whitney just put it in to win!" I was floored. I didn't believe him. I thought he was pulling a trick (not the first time and I have done similar things to him so it wouldn't be without precedent). Then the truth set in as my thoughts jumped. Whitney scored??? He's number 15. Brian Kaufman was #15. I quickly asked, "Did Bertram (#22) assist?" Upon confirmation I realized what had happened. Gametraker had gotten the numbers right but whoever was working the system had put in the wrong team.

Uh oh. Mrs. Pike was staring at me. She could hear my side of the conversation and was looking in disbelief. I told her the news. Gametracker was wrong. BC had pulled it off. All her joy at Miami making their first Frozen Four disappeared in a second and was replaced by anguish. In the blink of an eye our roles had been reversed. By the mistake from Gametracker we had both experienced crushing loss and unbridled exuberance in the span of about 5 minutes. Her grief set in quickly and understandably.

It was an amazing few moments. Neither good nor bad but amazing in the respect that we could both feel these intense extremes of emotion so quickly and so deeply from a mistake. I will never forget it. And now its on to another Frozen Four where once again North Dakota awaits.