Okay, I’ve been getting shit for not writing more, and between suddenly having more viewers (even if most of you are BU fans) and how jacked up I am about the Pats game, I feel like giving a quick post about tomorrow’s Yale game.
Unfortunately, due to training for my recent promotion, I won’t be able to attend, but Matt will apparently be making the trip down to the only hockey arena in the country that is literally shaped like a whale. There, he will watch UMass play the current #15 team in the country and #8 in the Pairwise, a game that will pretty much make or break their already-slim chances of playing their way back into the at-large picture. Getting swept by Colgate dropped them out of the Teams Under Consideration bubble, but remember, after Yale, they also have one against one of the two New Hampshire schools, who are currently 2nd and 3rd in the rankings. If UMass continues its up-and-down rollercoaster ride back in the right direction, a couple wins to close out 2012 would get them back into the mix at least; of course by that logic they’ll probably somehow lose to Bemidji State in between.
Mark will probably have a more hockey-intensive preview tomorrow, but the Bulldogs come off a winless home weekend of their own, getting smoked 6-1 by RPI and then tying Union 2-2. They’re led by senior Antoine Laganiere and junior Kenny Agostino, who have combined for 14 of their 33 goals on the season. Senior Jeff Malcolm has played a majority of the minutes in net, with a 2.45 GAA in 9 games (remember, the Ivy League teams start later in the season because they’re ever so much smarter than you or I.)
Honestly, we have next to no material for this game, because it’s fucking Yale and really, other than the aforementioned rink shaped like a Yale, we don’t know what we can do to make fun of them.
If only.
Really, there’s no good material to work with here. They’re in Connecticut, but it’s Yale, nobody thinks of Yale when they think about things they hate about Connecticut, not with that dump a little up the road in Storrs. Plus, New Haven’s not the worst place ever, despite the numerous warnings Matt is getting from those who know better than us. (He already lives in Springfield. Please.) I even tried Googling “Yale hockey sucks” to see what other ECAC schools’ fans were saying about Yale, but then I remembered Cornell is the only Ivy League hockey school with fans, and they apparently couldn’t care less. And how can you hate on Yale when you find out they were responsible for this?
This is seriously fucking awesome.
I even tried looking at their list of notable alumni (which, as you might have guessed, is rather lengthy). But for every George W. Bush who went there, there’s a Bill “Greatest Man of All Time, Non-Kublin Division” Clinton. Clarence Thomas went there, but so did Sonia Sotomayor. My high school sophomore English teacher who drew triangles under everything she wrote on the board to emphasize points and said “umm” and “like” every other sentence went there, but so did the eloquent Silver Fox himself, Anderson Cooper. It’s a wash.
This may be the best I can do. Thanks, Wikipedia (?)
Here’s hoping Matt finds some hilarity to tweet about during the game, because we may have to resort to making our own fun. And when we do that, this tends to happen.
pic unrelated (?)
Lol but seriously, a win would be swell. Not only can we not fall back on toothpaste jokes after another loss – we really got nothin’ at all to work with. Thanks, Yale. (Assholes.)
The Colgate Raiders made a house call this weekend, and man, it’s gonna take a while for us to chew on this sweep.
UMass certainly had a chance to take a bite out of the deficit between them and the top teams in the Pairwise. Instead, they find their chances at an at large bid rotting away. You’d think they would come out in their pearly home whites and hold court in their home office, but here they are, reeling after getting kicked in the jaw.
There were certainly bright spots here. The Minutemen brushed off a few early deficits and fought, tooth and nail, in Friday night’s game. UMass had the shots advantage, the power play clicked again, and Adam Phillips is looking as comfortable as ever as a forward. Unfortunately, where the team bit itself in the tongue was defensively. Kevin Boyle’s certainly not to blame, as the defense in front of him won’t be winning any plaques for their performance anytime soon. Seeing his shiny, clean GAA get so heavily tarnished definitely has to leave you with a bad taste in your mouth.
The Minutemen, unfortunately, didn’t show much improvement the next night in their follow-up appointment. Again with a 10-shot advantage, the Minutemen nonetheless played another toothless performance and their 2-1 lead fell apart like a hammock made of dental floss. While it’s great to see him back on the ice, Darren Rowe looks like he’s still got lingering issues with his upper arm, and “Hammer” Hanley didn’t have his best weekend either.
We were hoping the Minutemen would crest into the break on a wave of positive momentum. Now they’ll need to brush off this disappointment and turn their (and our) frowns upside-down at Yale on Tuesday. Oh, and for all you Joe Sixpacks playing a drinking game at home…maverick.
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Meanwhile, in Fight Mass’s weekend, while celebrating my 25th birthday in Boston, Matt and I made an impromptu late night visit to our favorite non-UMass bloggers, Baystate Roadsports, in their ice palace on the BU campus. We’d like to thank them for their gracious hospitality and for not killing Matt for drinking so much whiskey. We plan to make that up to them with some more crossover events this season (stay tuned!) and Kublin help us all if these two teams end up playing in the first round (it would be the current 3-6 matchup, FYI). Oh, don’t worry, though, we’re still very much a UMass blog first and foremost. We’re not suddenly going to stop being masochists now…we’ve come too far for that. But I mean, come on, they gave us this:
Catching up on our intrepid heroes’ escapades over the past week or so…
Basketball:
Okay, seriously guys (0:09 mark):
Tonight’s 72-66 victory over Northeastern is somehow the most lopsided victory to date for the 4-3 Minutemen, who might well be off to the worst 4-3 start in the history of hyperbolic overreactions. You can really make a case that this team deserves to be 1-6 at this point, getting outplayed badly in their three actual losses and getting lucky against injured teams against Harvard and Providence. (The Siena game, ironically, UMass actually significantly outplayed their opponent and fell victim to awful luck on missing wide-open shots in the first half while the Saints banked in wild threes.) The Miami game was particularly disappointing, given the large (if late-arriving) crowd on hand and the RPI bump it could have provided. The Minutemen actually looked solid for the first 15 minutes or so in that one, but a series of missed opportunities and a few questionable calls pulled the wheels off quickly.
Now, the Minutemen also have the added burden of the Cady Lalanne situation. Not that Cady was looking 100% to begin with, but his absence (coupled with DK’s apparent lack of any sort of trust in Tyler Bergantino to do, err, anything yet) makes a thin lineup even thinner. I mean, for Chrissakes, Sampson Carter was our starting center tonight. The Minutemen gave up 15 offensive rebounds to the Huskies. Absolutely mind-boggling. Luckily, Jesse Morgan finally seemed to come to life with some huge corner threes to spur the latest last-minute rally. UMass ended up shooting just shy of 48% for the game. At this point, we’ll absolutely take it.
11 days off now. The Season of Great Expectations (TM) is hanging together by a thread. The Minutemen’s at-large hopes are already in grave danger, and as cupcake as the rest of the non-conference schedule looks, this team doesn’t seem to have any interest in easy wins. It sucks to be so down on these guys, but the fact of the matter is that the fun and joy of Chazketball has given way to an all-too-familiar system of passing the ball around the perimeter, watching Chaz try to make everything happen, and chucking wild threes all day long. It looks an awful lot like the “bazkettaball” we lamented during the first few years of the DK era. If this team is going to go anywhere and beat anyone of note, it’s going to need to somehow pull back together, and quick. Here’s hoping Kellogg uses this week-and-a-half to refocus his guys before they take on Elon in Springfield.
Hockey:
Since the 8-2 debacle against Lowell, which occurred on a Sunday and starred Jeff Teglia (who has since turned up on numerous milk cartons) and therefore cannot really even be considered part of the official UMass canon, the hockey team has stabilized somewhat. They were able to grind out a pre-Thanksgiving win against seasonal foe Vermont, pulled a tie against a feisty Quinnipiac team, and now come off a home-away split with the Northeastern Huskies. The most recent weekend does seem a little maddening at first, with UMass dominating both games from start to finish, yet with drastically different results: on Friday at the Bill, they couldn’t buy a goal against Chris Rawlings and lost 1-0 on a fluke breakaway goal. On Saturday, where we and dozens of other maroon-and-white faithful got the last laugh on Teddy Bear Toss night, UMass put 45+ shots on the net and six of them went in, including one for HEA Rookie of the Week KJ Tiefenwerth, his first (finally!).
Looking at the standings, UMass is remarkably just one point out of a home ice slot. Are there legitimate concerns surrounding the Power/Rowe injury situation, the slow start of Mike Pereira, the dismal play of any goaltenders not named Boyle? Sure. But UMass still has one of the toughest strength-of-schedule rankings in the country, is still the only team in the nation to beat #1 UNH, and is in striking range in the Pairwise standings (currently 23rd). UMass closes the year with remaining non-conference games on the docket, and a strong showing could well propel this team into contention for an at-large bid. Colgate, the #24 team in the Pairwise, comes in for two this weekend (a chance to avenge last season’s first-round lacrosse disappointment!). UMass then heads to Yale next week, currently fourth in the Pairwise, and which is a team UMass has actually played well against in recent years. After a break, the Minutemen ring in the new year up in Hanover in the Dartmouth tourney, against dreadful Bemidji State and then a crack at either UNH (as a non-conference foe) or Dartmouth, who are 2 and 3 in the Pairwise respectively. If UMass can play well in this stretch – like 3-1-1 or 4-1-0 good – the second half schedule looks good for UMass. The two at UNH are daunting, and there’s still another trip to Chestnut Hill, but there’s only one more with BU (at Mullins), two cracks at Maine at home, a two-gamer up in Burlington, one more at Matthews, home-and-homes with Providence and Lowell, and of course all three games left with Merrimack. Again, while it’s more road-heavy than the first half, the fact that UMass has just one more each against BU and BC (and knows it’s capable of staying around with both teams) means that a vast majority of what’s left is against the rest of the “middle of the pack” teams that UMass is striving to differentiate itself from. I think now that Boyle’s the established starter, if he can continue to play at least as well as he did this weekend against NU, we could be in for a fun second half.
Remember: the two guys who carried this team last year, Sheary and Pereira, really haven’t even gotten going yet, nor has the expected biggest freshman contributor (Tiefenwerth). Did Saturday’s rout at Matthews mark a turning point? (Or was it when all of us passed through the inauspicious Stargate on the Northeastern campus?) Cautious optimism, people! CAUTIOUS OPTIMISM!
- Max
(P.S. Special thanks this weekend to: the Mullins Militia for accommodating me for the Miami game on my lonesome as Matt was working; Amy of the Bench Crew for hanging out with the gang and putting up with our shenanigans Saturday night, and also our good friend Roy for being the honorary Fourth Fight Mass Dude; and the Husky Hockey Blog fellows for crossing enemy lines to come meet us at the end of the game. And of course, congratulations to the Coogan family on their future addition! We suggest Douglas for the youngin if he’s a boy. Just sayin.)
No, but seriously. UMass [insert name of sport here], we are disappoint. (We’re looking at you, women’s basketball.) Who could have foreseen that the embarrassingly-narrow win against Providence for the hoops squad on Thursday would be the high point? This weekend came with such promise: a chance to finally show the world the basketball team was for real. A chance for football to notch its first home win at Gillette Stadium against a putrid Buffalo team. Two games against last-place foes for hockey, a chance to climb up the standings and establish themselves as legitimate home ice contenders.
I guess I wasn’t thinkin’.
Basketball (as we mentioned) needed another miracle comeback just to secure a win against a Providence team playing six healthy scholarship players and missing its star point guard. We then got to watch replays of last year’s Florida State and Miami games: respectively, a completely inept and humbling performance against a top-10 juggernaut, and a frustrating grindout against a mediocre big-conference team where we miss all kinds of chances to jump and take control of the game before fading late.
Sure, nobody really expected us to beat NC State, but I think a 2-1 record for the weekend wasa pretty reasonable expectation, and today’s “rubber match” was bereft of many positives. Trey Davis looked alright off the bench, but these guys still make way too many stupid mistakes, and opponents are so much better prepared to gameplan for Chaz that you wonder how they’re gonna counter the adjustments, if at all. Freddie Riley remains a ghost. Cady, Maxie, and Samp all seem out of sync and out of sorts. Terrell Vinson, as always, remains a mystery. Putney can’t seem to knock down that high arching 3, like, ever. Jesse Morgan has been playing out of his mind, but that’s been about it. The good news is that the competition gets significantly easier, but today’s game against the Vols looks like a huge missed opportunity right now. Of course, the only thing that could have made this weekend worse was if we had gotten blown out by He Who Shall Not Be Named instead, so, yeah, catastrophe averted. (I would have literally cried. Maybe.)
I don’t even want to talk about football, so let’s move on to the hockey team, which as I write this is just getting finished getting pasted by Lowell on the Mullins Center ice. Last year I lamented quite often that the Minutemen seemed to struggle at times with the uncertainty of lacking an ace goaltender. Tonight, after failing to get more than one point against a dreadful Maine team (and even that took a bail-out goal by Allen in the final minutes), Coach Mick inexplicably started Jeff “Tegstand” Teglia for the first time this year, in a seemingly crucial game against one of the teams that was chasing UMass in the standings. To the surprise of absolutely nobody in the history of ever, Tegs got rocked early, the Hawks started riding the momentum to goal after goal, and by the time Mastalerz had checked in, this game was already over.
Look, I know you can’t start Boyle every single night (although, Paul Dainton respectfully disagrees with that statement). But why not start Mastalerz tonight, who’s been alright this year at least, and let Teglia get the rust out in the Quinnipiac or Colgate games that are upcoming? Or start Boyle tonight and Mastalerz against UVM? Lowell’s offense was dreadful coming in to the game, but if anything, I’d take that as a sign that they’re due. They’re playing below their potential primarily because their opposition has been solid. That doesn’t mean they’re bad. And even if they were, conference points are conference points. Of course, you can also blame the skaters for their seeming disinterest in wanting to do anything of a hockey variety tonight from the opening minutes, but it’s hard not to get demoralized when you’re down 3-0 after a matter of minutes to a last-place team.
So, yeah, forgive the negative tone here, but honestly – in a season where the bar has been raised for this entire program, a weekend like this hurts that much more. Hoops has a long time to stew. Hockey is right back out there on Tuesday. Guys, the Celtics are about to lose at Detroit and Gronk has a broken forearm – gimme SOMETHING to be happy about. (Besides Notre Dame football. That’s pretty swell. Definitely a mortal lock to lose to USC now. I hate you all.)
For the second straight game of a young, infinitely promising, season, our boys in Maroon came out looking like the clearly better team, let the other team back in the game durring the middle 20 minutes, and then closed the game out in a fashion that reminded everybody why we were so hopeful in the first place.
Say what you will about the team playing down to to its opponents There are certainly a wealth of things to improve with this team. However, it sure as hell feels good to root for a team that can close a game out. Yes, there are large stretches of the last 2 games where, if they were playing an elite team, would likely bury the minutemen, but what the last 2 ugly games prove is that these guys have heart. Its good to know, after only 2 games, that this team can and will close out games. They have that 5th gear that every shitty sportswriter has talked about for the last 40 years. Clusterfucks, like the URI road loss, herein referred as the ‘taco travesty, that prompted me to yell into a voice memo and call it a fight cast slash maybebreakaseastattheryancenter doesn’t look like it will happen with this team. They can close out games against worse teams.
Yes, the 2 wins we have in hand aren’t the dominating efforts that alot of UMass nation was looking for, but at the end of the day, a wins a win. I’m 90% confident that most of the glaring issues the minutemen have displayed will we fixed by the time we hit the conference slate. Chaz has showed flashes, and if the trend continues into game 3, he will be back at full effect by the time he steps on continental US soil. Theres a 10 day break between Sunday’s game and they next game, a should-win against Siena on the road. As for the next two games, you have to dance with who you came to the dance with. UMass has proved it will keep the game closer than it should be against weaker opponents, lets hope the same is true for the inverse. I never thought I would say this, but lets hope this team can summon the Toot notebook and play up to a better opponent, and lets just see what happens.
I don’t think its likely UMass will beat NC State, after these first 2 games. Then-again, If UMass squeaks a win out, I wouldn’t bat an eye. Alot of UMass fans are putting more eggs in the ‘beat NC state’ basket than I think is reasonable. Its still a young season. Yes, it would be fucking ballin’ to make a national splash and beat NC state, but I’m not entirely sure a loss will tell us very much.
Here’s to it being close, because lord knows we are kinda good at that so far.
The ‘Prop Joe coaches Providence’ memorial bullet points
Good to see Tyler Bergantino get into the game, but golly did he look lost. If you go back and iso watch his, he was just kind of wandering and not playing a confident game. Totally reactionary on the floor, with makes him a liability on both ends. There was one break where Chaz threw the lob, and had it been Putney or pretty much any forward it would have been an easy alley opp. Bergantino takes it as a pass and is immediately swarmed. I want him to get minutes, but to be frank I’d rather not see him again until Siena. That being said, having Tyler be in the flow of the offense by the end of the year needs to be a priority.
Pretty much the last sentence, but applied to Trey Davis and multiplied by infinity. Chaz only played 32 last night, and having Trey be able to come in for those 8 and keep momentum is going to be the key for the team. Trey looked good, but experience will be key. I’d love to see him come in for more stretches in the 1st half, rather than just have Chaz play until he gets tired.
Jesse has taken the greatest step of anyone I’ve seen so far, bar none. Jesse is fearless, and as far as I’m concerned is the number one reason UMass is 2-0 and not 0-2. Jesse’s nickname needs to be one of those old school ones you can choose in create a player, like The iceman or something. Dude’s a dagger, y’all
First Sampson, then Terrell. The game winner tonight is going to by Putney or Freddie. Its pretty much guaranteed at this point.
Oh yeah and UMass hockey needs to beat Maine show us you have a pulse guys, its important.
I’ll admit, I turned to Matt when Chambers’s free-throws with 1:21 to go had Harvard up by five and offered some serious hyperbolic, Boston-sports-fan-WEEI-caller-level analysis: “The season’s over before it even started.” But then again, there was nothing in the previous 38+ minutes to suggest that the final 80 seconds would be any different. UMass found early penetration, but couldn’t finish; their outside shooting had completely vanished; the defense seemed incapable of getting a stop without committing a foul. Tommy Amaker, with a depleted roster, had engineered the perfect gameplan to shut down Chaz Williams. The Season of Great Expectations (TM) would immediately begin in an 0-1 hole. Is it hockey again yet?
Ah, but ye of little faith, this is Chazketball we speak of! If you blinked, you missed it: Jesse Morgan (coming off the bench after Freddie Riley whiffed on his opening-day start opportunity) put a tough little push shot through to cut the lead to 3. Then his stiff defense forced a 5-second violation which seemed like a lucky break in person, yet which was actually three seconds overdue after seeing the replay. Moments later, his three-pointer FINALLY re-connected and just like that, we had the Crimson tied. And then it was Chaz himself forcing another brilliant turnover on the sideline, and just like that, UMass had a tie game and the shot clock off. You know the rest.
Honestly, it’s really hard to know what to take out of this game. Clearly we all estimated Harvard, which still has a world-class coach and some talent on the roster, despite the losses. Hopefully, we also didn’t overestimate our own team, although it’s abundantly clear that a few of the key cogs are still a little creaky. Sampson, seemingly everyone’s sleeper pick to be a difference-maker this year coming off injury, was largely invisible until the end. Cady Lalanne was spectacular at times, with four blocked shots in a performance that had Matt comparing him to “old guy Shaq” (let’s hope the comparison stops before the injury history), yet he also seemed a step behind at times. He and Esho had difficulty finishing down low, which is such a crucial component to this squad when the outside shots just refuse to go down as they did for the middle portion of this game.
But the most important thing to take away from this game is this: it’s a 10 am game. It seems like a convenient excuse, but it’s hard to argue that these teams didn’t have moments of just complete disorientation. Athletes are fickle beings, their bodies not accustomed to changing their internal clocks to play at their prime potential after years and years of later start times. Sloppy play was expected, and both teams had that in spades.
Put simply: we’re not worried yet. The crowd was electric (given the circumstances at least), the team showed signs that they still have that switch they can turn on when they need to, and the result was a 1-0 record. There’s little rest for the weary – Providence awaits them in just two days down in Puerto Rico, albeit at a much more manageable 7:30 start time, and with a severely depleted roster. As you probably know, the prospects of playing #6 NC State rest on whether or not the Minutemen can get past the Friars (provided Penn State doesn’t pull off a massive upset), and the Sunday finale is also much more likely to be a quality foe like Tennessee with an opening-day win. (Plus, I totally want to see them take on He Who Shall Not Be Named on Sunday. It could legitimately happen.)
So why focus on the negatives? The boys got a wake-up call, and thankfully, they woke up just in time. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to sleep – wake me up Thursday night at 7.
It’s almost here, boys and girls. The most anticipated season of UMass men’s basketball most of us can ever remember, the Season of Great Expectations (TM), will tip off bright and early Tuesday morning against some wicked smahhhht kehhds. We love hockey, we live on hockey, and the upgrade of football to the big show is exciting and all, but this is the school’s flagship program, and the banners hanging in the Mullins rafters bear that out. And while we feel strongly that hockey looks poised for its best season since Jon Quick was between the pipes, this was one offseason where the question of “is it October yet?” was bested by only one other question: “is it November yet?”
Let’s set the stage. Last year, the expectations for this program were subdued at best. We, ever the optimists, saw it possible that the maturing upperclassmen would meld with the intriguing diminutive transfer, some kid named Chaz Williams from Hofstra, and make the most of a cupcake schedule to turn things around. Mind you, we were about a half-year removed from getting trounced at home in the A-10 tourney against Dayton in a loss so humiliating that the team declined invites to lower-tier postseason tourneys, so I took the ribbing from the skeptical hockey fans at the Bill and online, who saw no reason to believe things would be any better for Coach Kellogg than in his first few seasons.
And oh, how satisfying it is to finally be right about something! (It’s surprisingly rare for me.) UMass breezed, for the most part, through the aforementioned cupcakes, as Chaz outperformed our wildest expectations, the upperclassmen matured into their roles (hell, even far-too-common scapegoat and noted internet crazy person Freddie Riley evolved into a more-than-adequate perimeter defender and occasional hot shooting hand off the bench!), and the Minutemen basketball team, once greeted by only a smattering of applause in their own home arena, were the hottest ticket in town. That beautiful afternoon against Saint Louis, a spirited victory over a great team in front of a raucous crowd, was unthinkable just for months earlier. This team had arrived. And while they didn’t quite sneak into the big dance in the end, an entertaining run to the NIT semis in New York served as the ultimate tease.
Last time we went through this, you’ll recall, He Who Shall Not Be Named jumped ship for the greener pastures (as in, literally a whole state consisting of grass and little else), and the excitement of the NIT run was drained out faster than a Lowell junkie coming off a crack high. We looked around and realized we had Gaffney, Harris, and a disheartened Chris Lowe who could no longer run the system that made him so successful as a junior. The rest of the cupboard was pretty damn dry, and the rough patch that followed was unsurprising.
This is nothing like that time. UMass is bringing just about everyone back from that bunch. The only losses in the offseason are Sean Carter (who was great, but whose successor looks absolutely ready to go in Lalanne) and possibly spark plug Javorn Farrell, whose season is still up in the air depending on how quickly his injury heals and whether or not he decides to take a redshirt. Everyone else is a year younger and wiser, Lalanne and Sampson Carter are back from injuries, and the freshman class of Davis, Bergantino and Freeman, while green, will not be counted on for anything just yet.
I know, it’s hard not to keep harping on it and/or jinxing the hell out of it, but how can this team not be better this year? Chaz Williams now has a full season of experience under his belt. Terrell Vinson’s NIT run was his best basketball since his freshman year, and he and Freddie Riley will have added motivation of this being their last hurrahs. Sampson Carter has built himself up like a beast, and he and Cady Lalanne both seem refreshed and ready to go based on everything we’ve heard. They give this team offense inside that – no disrespect to Sean, of course – this team lacked at times last year. Raphiael Putney is a unique guy who fits so well into this system it’s scary. Jesse Morgan now has experience under his belt and is a known quantity. Maxie Esho showed flashes of brilliance all year long and I think he’s ready to step into a bigger role. Honestly, it does kinda suck losing Farrell, who struggled through much of the regular season but came alive in the conference tourney and NIT, and is a vocal leader as well, but he may be back in time for help this team tackle the best Atlantic 10 field in conference history.
Here’s our preseason picks:
Team MVP: Chaz Williams
He’s the most important thing to happen to this program since Camby. There, I said it. There is absolutely nothing about this kid that would suggest anything less than what he brought to the table last year. If anything, with his drive and motivation and the weapons around him, he just might be even better, if that’s possible. If that’s the case, look out.
Most Improved Player: Sampson Carter
It’s a trendy pick, sure, but honestly, before he went down last year, I was calling this a few games in. He bring a dimension to this team that could make them truly dangerous. He can shoot, he can bang, he can run, he can defend…and now he’s healthy. And jacked like a motherfucker. Don’t say we didn’t tell you so.
Biggest Win You Don’t See Coming: Vs. NC State
Okay, pre-emptive since they have to beat Providence (and the Wolfpack have to…ahem…beat Penn State) for this to even happen. But you heard it here first. UMass is going to knock off the Wolfpack in a tight matchup and come screaming onto the national scene. I told you I’m an optimist.
Game that Scares the Shit out of Me: at Rhode Island
Because if you’ll recall, Matt and I were there last year, and they fucking stormed the court. Not to mention URI figures to be even worse this year, but of course playing UMass is absolutely their Super Bowl, and our guys will have their thoughts ahead to the conference tourney by then. If UMass is watching the bubble late in the year, they cannot afford another loss to a 300+ RPI team, as the Rams will certainly be again (they lost by double-digits in their home opener to Norfolk State. That’s apparently a school now. Nuff said). Who knows what happens if the Minutemen hadn’t lost that awful, awful game at the Ryan Center last year? Don’t fucking do it again, or I will spend ALL of Matt’s money at Mohegan Sun this time.
Enough talk. I present to you two videos to watch as the Minutemen get set to take on Harvard. The first is a trip down memory lane to relive the best moments of last year. The second, and you’re off your rocker if you haven’t managed to see this video yet, is the best commercial this school’s marketing group has ever put out.
Kids, enjoy your campout. (We may make a cameo appearance. Autographs are $5 per item, three for $12.) Either way, we’ll see you in the Bill. Let’s make this season something to remember. After all, the Brotherhood isn’t just the guys on the court. It’s all of us.
...a UMass sports (primarily hockey) blog created by, and written for, UMass students, alumni, and fans.
About the Author
Max Bitter (Communication/Journalism '10) created Fight Mass during his junior year. Born in Concord and raised in Leominster, he currently works and resides in Merrimack, NH. He is an avid Boston sports fan, plays guitar in his spare time, and is a fitness and nutrition enthusiast. Never try to tell him Shipyard Pumpkinhead is quality beer.
The views and opinions of Fight Mass, while right, are not affiliated with anyone but ourselves. This includes the University of Massachusetts, the hockey team or anyone directly associated with it, any of UMass's media outlets, or your mother.
If you're easily offended by cussing (read: uptight), we're all adults here, so consider yourself warned, and don't bring little Timmy or Grandma to the party. Unless she's THAT kind of Grandma after a couple gin and tonics. Eh, even still.
