Let’s hold off on talking about hockey for a while, shall we? You know how we probably feel about the BC series at this point…pissed at the refs, proud of how the team competed, excited about how well they played, sorry to see Syner go and for Hobbs to miss the final game of his career, torn about the future, something about Mike Marcou, etc. We’ll have a full season recap soon…personally there’ve been some goings-on in my life that, believe it or not, are actually more important than UMass. (Just kidding, if they ever cut the hockey program again I’d probably literally die on the spot.)

No, kids, we’re here today to talk about a more fun topic: the NIT, baby! In front of about 200 rednecks in the middle of positively nowhere, the Minutemen brought their high-tempo game against the Bulldogs of once-ranked Mississippi State, endured some lapses and hot MSU shooting (and MSU “deciding halfway through the game that they would actually try,” which is hilarious sore-loser speak at its finest), and ultimately outlasted their first-round foes 101-96 in a double-overtime classic. But, you know, let’s all marvel at two 16-seeds fighting for the chance to get blown out in the first HAHA JUST KIDDING SECOND, BECAUSE THAT MAKES SENSE round of the “real” tournament. Good call, ESPN. Glad you’re paying for the exclusive rights to the NIT but you don’t feel the need to mention it on your bottomline, or website, or your flagship highlights show save for a highlight or two. You know, most brackets don’t even let you pick the play-in games anymore? Such bullshit.

Whatever. I’ve decided this week that I secretly love the NIT, because it’s not rigged like today’s Syracuse-Asheville game was, because the games are played on campus sites and not in complete random-ass places, and because as much as I do (in spite of what I just said) adore the Big Dance, I think the NIT is a great showcase tool for teams that are on the rise and just missed the cut. Teams like the Minutemen for instance.

Now, there are things I don’t like about the NIT. For instance, the Minutemen are advancing to play Seton Hall…at 11 AM. In a high school gym (because the Prudential Center doesn’t feel like they can draw enough fans to warrant playing an NIT game there, even though Seton Hall could probably beat the New Jersey Nets at this point). In a game whose starting time we literally just found out about last night.

Any team, any time, any place. That’s the attitude this Minutemen team needs to have, and they showed it on Tuesday. Now they get a chance to avenge this year’s preseason scrimmage blowout (if only hockey could get another crack at New Brunswick!) and knock off a team with a Cosby on it. A win would put them one shy of a return to MSG, and the quarters would either be a duel of one-time UMass coaches (Kellogg vs. Bruiser) in Philly, or, in a far less likely but more favorable scenario, one last tip at the Bill against Northern Iowa. First things first. Seton Hall just edged its way past freaking Stony Brook of all schools. We owe them for the last couple years. Plus, they’re in fucking New Jersey, and they’re making the Minutemen wake up early on St. Paddy’s Day to play in an awful venue, not to mention severely limiting the availability to those of us who might have otherwise made the journey to…eww, wait, New Jersey? Pass.

Anyway, bring the Chazketball again and run them off that tiny floor. Let’s make ‘em wish they stayed in bed.

- Max

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Miscellaneous notes…first off, congrats to the Militia members who made the trek to Atlantic City on being called out by DK, who demands their presence in South Orange on Saturday. I’ve been saying for a while that this student section needs leadership, and we’ve, you know, graduated and such, plus we’re just sooo busy. But these guys have done so much this year to help get folks psyched up for basketball again (20 wins helps, too, but just the same), and so it’s good that the coach is acknowledging their efforts. Shit, all we ever got from Travis Ford was a hug in the Ryan Center parking lot.

Hey, lacrosse is playing Saturday, too, down at Penn State. Sandusky joke. There, I got that out of the way. If UMass can pull off this win and get to 7-0, they play their next FIVE games at home. This is the #4 team in the country (#3 in the coaches’ poll!). Regardless of this weekend’s outcome, but especially if they win, get your Southwest-living, North Face-wearing asses out of bed and walk the five feet to Garber to see these guys play a few times. Speaking of which, anyone else notice that Building C in the new ComCol dorms looks like it might actually have rooms with a view of the field? (Assuming it’s a dorm. Details are vague.) Talk about having no excuse not to watch the games…those might be the “Wrigley rooftop seats” of college lacrosse. Too bad Tobin’s such an eyesore, eh?

Lastly, some alumni news…Marcus Camby is going to Houston. That sucks, I was seriously considering trying to get a Camby “Rip City” jersey, even though the Blazers’ online store utterly sucks and offers no Camby jerseys of any sort. C’est la vie.

Oh, have I mentioned Maroon Musket yet? Well, Maroon Musket. It’s pretty awesome…98.5′s Marc Bertrand and a few of his buddies launched it a little while back to cover football recruiting. Looks like Molner and his gang are off to a fine start. I do plan to ramp up football coverage next season a little bit, and we’ll certainly be reading whatever they have to say.

Is this the changing of the guard? The weekend we officially see basketball retake hockey in campus supremacy for the first time in nearly a decade?

It certainly felt that way. This felt like a chance for UMass to rock the worlds of both Hockey East and the A10 with upsets over the #1 team in each conference tournament. On the hardwood, it happened. One the ice, well, not so much, despite easily the best game the Minutemen have played at Conte Forum in probably ever. We’ll get the bad out of the way first, since it’s fresh on our minds and Walsh and I were there: 30 seconds, two defensive breakdowns, Mullane scores on a deflection, Cross snipes the top corner, and that’s all the hockey BC had to play for a 2-1 win in Game 1. Shots were 27-17 to the visitors. Fans were, at best, split 50-50, although that comes as absolutely zero shock. (What does shock is the nerve of the Conte security, but I’ll cover that at greater length in my series wrap-up). Mike Marcou got the only UMass goal, but the Minutemen couldn’t get the equalizer despite owning the ice pretty much from the moment the power came back on (seriously…halfway through the first, the power went out and the lights took 15 minutes to come back on. In the home rink of a school that charges 50k a year). Tomorrow is another day I guess, but UMass is 2-2 this year against BC despite competing in all four of them. They’re gonna need to win the next two to keep the dream alive. Tomorrow is do-or-die, and I’m not giving up hope yet, but they blew a huge chance tonight, without question.

Alright, that’s out of the way. Now let’s talk about what is easily the biggest win of the Derek Kellogg era, a 77-71 triumph over Temple. UMass advances to the semis along with Bonaventure, Saint Louis and Xavier – teams UMass is a combined 3-0 against this year. The impossible dream continues.

While Walsh and I made the trip to Conte, and Matt had work, Fight Mass is proud to say we apparently talked some kids into going down to Atlantic City, where they easily had the best time out of all of us. Cameron Legge, one of the student leaders of the Mullins Militia, got on the interwebs long enough to write up a recap, in our latest edition of contributors’ corner:

Contributor’s Corner: “A Favor House Atlantic”

by Cameron Legge

Well I was alerted that Fight Mass wanted me to write a little something of a recap of what exactly happened at Boardwalk Hall today in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Boy am I honored! As whoever really wrote the post from yesterday (as we all ask continuously when it comes to tweets, posts, and the like), UMass sports do not do this. UMass basketball does not do this, especially this year. Time after time we have paired a big win with a frustrating loss. Beating the Billikens (still wondering what that buddha thing is) then losing to URI, beating the Bonnies and then losing to St.Joe’s, and beating Xavier then getting crushed by Dayton. Would DK ever manage to get that elusive third straight conference win? Could the guys catch Temple off-guard again? Well it happened today in the Dirty Jerz.
As we approached Atlantic City there was a sense of hope in the air. By the way, what is supposed to be somewhat of a Vegas of the East really isn’t, but that is besides the point. Immediately waiting in line for tickets we see Temple fans going to and fro up the boardwalk. We were welcomed by a warm Temple fan behind us hoping we hadn’t made hotel reservations because we were going home tonight. Of course we went through how UMass got thoroughly screwed in the game at Cherry Hill nine days earlier in every which way. We then entered through a portal of sorts where UMass basketball would play another great installment of a rivalry suddenly revitalized this season. We grabbed our seats in the “student section” which included me, five other Militia members, the hoop band, and some high school kids on some sort of “fun trip”. What then ensued was a day that all UMass Hoops fans and especially diehards will remember for a long time.

Anyone that has watched UMass at least couple a couple times this year know that they are notorious for runs, in both directions. The Owls started out dictating tempo and controlling the paint, but UMass hung around with one of those patented Maxie halves like he had in the first half in Dayton. Chaz did his best near disappearing act in the first half, he just wasn’t the usual Chaz. Off the record, but really on it, Temple’s Khaliff Wyatt’s head is a rag doll and I seriously considered reigniting my basketball career because I could do an equally as good acting job. Somehow what felt like a 15-point Temple lead was just five as UMass headed into the locker room. 

Then wazahhh out came Chazkettaball! Chaz lead the troops to a 15-0 run to start the second half. Of course with help from backcourt mate Jesse Morgan and the bunch. All of a sudden the cherry and white fans were stunned, sitting there speechless as Sean Carter finished one of those patented lobs. Temple was about to get ran over by the MAROON and white. Just like any Top 25 team, Temple fought back. The Minutemen weathered the punches falling behind by four points, but I stood there and thought that the team’s tank was on E, coming back from five down late against the Dukes and having to overcome an early eleven point Temple lead today was just too much. Then they showed why this team is not like we have seen, they continued to go blow for blow with #21 Temple Owls. They did not fold, led all by the savior otherwise known as Chaz Williams. The thesauras should definitely add his name next to the synonyms gamer, warrior, and closer as he was all three of those today and usually is. As soon as we I knew it I was looking up at the clock like it was Al Michaels in Miracle. Praying it would run out and UMass would once again be making major strides up to the mountaintop that is dancing in March. And much to many’s surprise…..IT DID.

There was no sweeter feeling than looking around the arena where small patches of Minutemen fans roared. Temple fans came in Big East happy and left A-10 dissapointed. It was by far my best memory of UMass Basketball so far and I got a ways to go, but this was a damn good start to a weekend in AC. This could end up being the road trips of all road trips. 

Thanks again to Matt and Max for tweeting to my roommate Chris to sack up and drive us boys out here.

P.S. Get to Atlantic City ASAP! You don’t want to miss this…

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It’s tempting, isn’t it? Fight Mass salutes Cam, Chris, and the rest of the gang that made the trip to Jersey. Work obligations are gonna keep Walsh and Matt from going down there, but if the Minutemen knock out the Bonnies, and hockey’s season ends Saturday night, I may just have to make the trip. After all, this’ll be the last time the tourney is held at Boardwalk Hall before it moves to that beautiful new building in Brooklyn. That said, if you’re not heading down there, come out to Conte tomorrow and join in the already-loud ranks of the UMass fans. (And if you’re stuck on campus and can’t come to EITHER? The 5th-best lacrosse team in the country plays at Garber at 1. Hint, hint.) Really, we’re proud of both groups of fans. 

At the very least, we’ve bought ourselves one more home game (in the NIT) for the hoops team, and they’re two wins away from a miraculous tournament berth. The biggest weekend of the year moves on. Keep the faith, kids.

- Max

We are less than 2 hours from the beginning of one of the great days in UMass sports. Both Televised. Both with the potential to be great, not only in quality, but in outcome.

At noon, you have UMass playing Temple in Atlantic City. Temple is a good team, and any other year this would be an all but assured loss, but, this being the year of Chaz, a win is always in play. However, UMass is going to need to play a damn near perfect game to stay close today. However, this team has proven time and time again that it not only can stay in games, but they are able to finish them out as well (as someone who watched the previous Kellog era teams, this is inexplicable). I could absolutely see Chaz and “Handsome” Ralph Putney singlehandedly winning the game for UMass, as they are often the most dynamic players on the court at any given moment, combined with the fact that both have an undeniable swagger that makes me think that the big stage of Atlantic city coupled with the underdog angle (although lets be honest, a 1vs8 matchup is near meaningless in the clusterfuck that is the A10 thsi year).

Now lets be honest, you could be reading this when you get home from work tonight and say “lololol nice guess fag” after UMass is handily beaten. However, lets state unequivocally that, as of 10:15 AM, Matt “waka floka flume” Civello likes UMass’s chances for an upset special in Atlantic City. So, fuck it, take a few hours and pull a nooner. Craft beer tastes beter when you drink it before responsibilities.

Meanwhile, in not nearly as optimistic, we have UMass v BC tonight on The NBC Sports Network aka VS aka the station that refuses to have a highlight show at night for no apparent reason. Now, one would think that having secured 2 wins in 3 games against the hated BC eagles, a UMass superfan/blogging expert like myself would like our chances to shock the world (again) and pull an upset at BC. Well, you would be wrong because I have about as much faith in this game as I do Parker Milner’s ability to not hit a green line train after macking on a bitty at an applebees or Stevie Moses’s ability to not be a massive protruding prick. First, unlike the 2 glorious wins against the hated eagles, this game happens solely at a place called Conte Forum (or Kelly rink, fuck if I know why there are multiple names), a place where exactly zero of the wins for UMass occurred this year. What did occur there, to which you should be a slightly bit concerned, is a 5-2 beatdown that should have been 13-1 if not for Teglia standing on his head (a Teg stand, you could say (#freeTegs(#unreal))) and a late goal by Marcou when the game was long decided. It was a rough game. It was a game that made me as pessimistic as could be about this year. Yeah, thats the place we are playing.

Not only that, but this is an Eagles team that is hot as fuck. The Eagles havent lost since January and havent lost at home sine DECEMBER 2ND. So yeah, thats what we’re playing.

Don’t get me wrong, UMass has a punchers chance, and if anything, UMass made the superfrauds sweat a little for a week, but frankly I’m sick of every year talking myself into UMass having a chance in the Hockey east semis. It just leads to me being disappointed and playing Melancholy Hill on the long drive back to wherever isn’t newton. Its like Prince playing Bonnaroo. It will happen when it happens, but  I’m not going to give myself a boner at the mere thought of it.

IMPORTANT FIGHT MASS ANNOUNCEMENT So, it seems like a bunch of you kids have taken my vaguely melancholy tweets about enjoying college while you’re there and going to an away game while still a student to heart. Well golly, thats swell. A toast to you Gentlemen (and ladies!). Now, the blogging brotherhood of fightmass has been to many a’roadgame and have learned through trial, error and thick, syrupy humiliation, the proper road etiquette for the still spry UMass student Fan. The cornerstone rules are as follows:

• Never, ever, swear

Might Seem obvious, but the fact of the matter is that loose lips that may be acceptile in the friendly confines of the Bill are not going to be acceptable on the road. Change “fuck em ups” to “sieve sieve sieve” and “see ya asshole” to “see ya [insert ironically tame phrase]” (FightMass recommends ”ya turkey”) People on the road are looking for reasons to dislike you and kick you out, so don’t give them ammo by being obscene. Be load, but keep it clean.

• Be respectful and courteous to opposing fans and arena staff at all times

First, their is no reason to be a dick to the staff. They are there to do thier job and frankly, they may be your only advocate in the arena if things get hectic. Plus, you should always be nice to people with shitty jobs. Just common courtesy.  As for opposing fans, there is no need to tone down your passion and cheers, but at the same time don’t go giving dirty looks to people rooting on their own team. Smile, nod your head, be personable and nice. While there isn’t a chance that everybody in the place will be nice to you, its important to build a light rapport with people around you.

• Don’t pick fights

May seem obvious, but don’t bring a fight to yourself. In general, avoid individual taunting and putting yourself in volatile physical situations, such as stepping up to somebody when engaged in a verbal altercation. Listen, you have the absolute right to defend yourself and be loud and proud, and if somebody wants to taunt you they have it coming right back at them. But being a fan in an opposing arena where emotions run high is alot like driving in Amherst on a saturday night: there is a good chance every other car is drunk, be a defensive driver.

Oh, and this is the weekend theme

We all know what’s going to happen tomorrow, don’t we? Hoops will hang around against Temple, run its high-powered offense, and make a game out of it for the second time in a week. Hell, they might even have a lead late in the game. We’ll start thinking “wait a second, if we win this, and all that’s left is the Bonnies and Xavier or Saint Louis…”

And then the carpet will be pulled out from under us, Sally will take away the football, the fucking writers of How I Met Your Mother will have yet another ridiculous twist that makes us wait yet another fucking season because we all know they’re not really gonna tell us who the fucking mother is and come on it HAS to actually still be Robin somehow right? and…ahem. And the Owls will pull away and that’ll be the end of that.

And then, later in the night, hockey will come out fired-up, ready to play against an Eagles team they’ve played well all year long, and they, too, will stick around in a neck-and-neck game. Hell, they might even be tied late and push it to overtime. And then the Eagles will assert their will, maybe get a lucky bounce or two or a bad defensive breakdown at the worst possible time on our blue line, and some asshole will get the game-winner and all 300 Superfrauds will jump for joy and sing For Boston over their copped Bruins goal horn and Boyyyyyle/Maaaastalerz! You suck! At life! And goaltending! It’s all your fault! It’s all your fault! It’s all your fault! It may or may not all be his fault. Either way, they’ll head home happy in their Mercedes Benzes to their parents’ mansions for some post-game caviar and maybe a kinky Eyes Wide Shut-style tryst. You know. Rich people shit.

And then we’ll come back Saturday and it’ll be the same old song and dance all over again, only BC will pull away a little earlier this time, and we’ll write about it, but you won’t read it, and frankly neither will we. At least it’ll be warm out and time for the Bruins and Celtics’ playoff runs and Spring Training and…errr, is it football yet?

Honestly, it’s like Groundhog Day, but without Bill Murray to save it. In fact, like that film, it’s even mildly funny. (Full disclosure: Okay, I’ve never seen it. But I get the premise and so does everyone. Shut up and let me finish.) We’re locked right now in some kind of awful continuum where we get our hopes up for this weekend every single year and every single year we’re happy that St. Patrick’s Day weekend and March Madness (sans UMass, of course, but at least sans BC as well) is there to ease the sting. It’s like striking out at the same bar week after week with the same target, not that I would know what that’s like obviously. I’m just trying to level with you. Loser.

Well, all that pessimism is no fun, so here comes my annual attempt to talk us both into it. Ready? Here goes nothing.

Eventually, the blind nut catches the squirrel. They play the games, and we watch the games, because anything can happen on any given night. Unbreakable records get broken. Unthinkable feats become reality. And by golly, teams that have no business winning series win series.

We’ve seen plenty of firsts this year. UMass shutting out BC – that’s a first ever. And we here at the blog saw UMass hat tricks in person for the first time, wins over BC and Xavier on the hardwood for the first time. Hell, we even saw a court-storming, albeit for the wrong team, but still. Isn’t it about time something wild happens in our favor?

Maybe not. Maybe the record will skip yet again. Shit, maybe UMass will lose in the first round at Conte Forum every year from now until eternity. And maybe the A10 Tourney will remain hexed for UMass, even as it moves closer to home (and further from Philly) in Brooklyn next year. But eventually, the carpet doesn’t budge, Charlie Brown gets to the ball, they finally admit Robin is the mother and they adopt the kids or whatever bullshit I’m fine with as long as she doesn’t end up with Kal Penn, and so on. I keep telling myself this because honestly I’ll go insane otherwise. But I’m guessing that if you’re here, you’re in the same boat.

I’m officially convinced. This weekend really does have the potential to be legendary. If history’s not on our side, maybe the law of averages is. I mean, hey, anything is possible.

And if we lose? At least we’ve got lacrosse season.

- Max

While our hockey team plays the deja vu game with its third straight first-round trip to Conte Forum, here’s another familiar sight: UMass the 8 seed hosting a first-round playoff game against the 9 seed.

Here’s where things are different: the Minutemen backed into the 8 seed last year, with a 2-7 stretch to finish at 7-9 in the conference jumping out of the gates 5-2. That includes a humiliating wire-to-wire loss at Fordham that snapped a stunning run of ineptitude in conference play for the Rams and pushed the anti-Kellogg hordes to the brink. This was followed by a crushing, but predictable, rout at the Bill at the hands of Dayton. Let’s stop talking about this before I break something.

A casual glance at the Minutemen (say, the same casual glance of the no-nothings who thought “hmm, team with mediocre record losing an overrated me-first scorer, let’s rank them 12th in the conference!!!1) would suggest parallels with last year’s finish. Yes, the Minutemen stumbled a bit after a hot start, closing conference play with a disappointing 2-4 run, but apart from this year’s Dayton debacle, UMass’s finish wasn’t nearly as crushing. The competition was certainly much stronger; they lost a heartbreaker at Temple instead of last year’s home game against the Owls which wasn’t as close as the final score would indicated. And this year’s finale against a horrible Rams team wasn’t pretty, but the result earned DK and the gang a 20-win season for the first time since Ford’s departure. No, UMass definitely didn’t back into the 8-seed this year – they tied for 5th and drew the shortest straw in an unfortunate tiebreaker situation. Long story short: we’ll take it.

This year’s 8-9 duel brings the Duquesne Dukes into town, a team that took advantage of horrendous officiating and cold UMass shooting on its home floor to take care of the Minutemen a few months ago, and which has done very little since. They did pull off a win at Dayton, but so did Rhody this year. They also got blown out at Saints Bonaventure and Louis, and got handled on their Senior Day by the Billikens. They also lost at GW along the way. Are they pushovers? Of course not. But this is the caliber of opponent UMass has handled at home all year long, en route to a 14-1 home record tarnished only by a one-point loss to La Salle fueled by one player catching absolute fire.

Work is going to make a Tuesday night trip to the Bill a no-go for the Fight Mass crew. But if you’re on campus, or anywhere close, or, eh, unemployed…you should be there. The fan support down the stretch this season has been spectacular, and gives me a lot of hope for next year (which should be helped by home games against BC, Miami, Dayton and Temple, and hopefully a couple more big names if DK can pull off quality scheduling). But we all know how fickle these fans are about hoops. It’ll take some sustained success to keep these crowds coming, just as hockey has continued to ride the ’04 and ’06 runs despite their Garden-trip drought.

I honestly, truly believe that any of the top 8 teams in the A-10 tourney have a chance of winning it all this year, UMass included. Barring that, if UMass can at least make a nice run and earn itself a top-4 NIT seed (they’re currently a 6), we’re talking more home games, and maybe another run to Madison Square. This team will be a big-dance contender next year, and we have to be patient and understand that. Anything they get this year is a bonus. But it’s a bigger bonus if there are extra home games involved. All of that starts tomorrow night. Go out, fill the Bill again, and let’s send the boys off to Atlantic City.

If nothing else, let’s shut those awful Duquesne radio guys up. Seriously, they’re the worst.

- Max

——

Oh by the way, look who’s ranked in the top 5 this week. Lax plays Albany at Garber tomorrow at 3. If you’re out of class early and/or in the area, go check out what is arguably this school’s most successful sports program of the past half-decade.

Hey everybody! It’s Matt with a bi-yearly article about UMass sports, reporting live from a Spanish household in Springfield!
Well, I might as well start this off by commenting on the improbable 3-2 victory over the number one Boston University Terriers IN BOSTON! Wut? Really UMass, really, your first road win is going to come in February and ITS GOING TO BE AGAINST THE NUMBER ONE TEAM IN THE NATION! Lol, you guys crack me up. But seriously folks, I’m still not 100% back on the UMass hockey train, but I will say this: The playoffs are starting to become intriguing again. With the glorious flagship wallowing in the twilight of the Toot Cahoon era, and UMass-LOL with an improbable breakout season, the idea of a UMass showdown in the Hockey East playoffs is in play. And while that is in no way an easy matchup, let alone a favorable one, its a sweet tossup from the perpetual 2-7 matchup at BC where we lose (seemingly) EVERY FUCKING YEAR.
I still have minimal faith in this team, having paid attention to the lows of the season in addition to the highs, something I suggest FTT commenters do (sample post: This team beat BC WHY WOULD THEY NOT BEAT LOWELL????). However, there is a chance, albeit slim, that having gotten over the hump of the first road win, an anecdote unable to ignore, its possible this team will start playing with more confidence on the road. There is absolutely no reason why this team should be dropping games to Northeastern and Vermont at ANY venue, yet this team was 0-2-1 against the cellar dwellers in Hockey east this year. Yet, with a road win behind them (and sadly, not longer from the 6-0 Fight Mass Vermont exodus last January) I hold out hope that UMass can be the gritty team they are in the Bill at Orono and the University of Sears. Unlikely, yes, but at this point can you really be certain with this team?

Ignoring very recent acts of glory, lets not forget the crushing mediocrity that UMass hockey fan experienced in the recent past. In an era of UMass athletics where there are so many high profile steps forward for high visibility sports, our beloved UMass Hockey program seems to be at a plateau. The apex of the Cahoon era came over half a decade ago, and the program has stayed consistently below average ever since. As other sports start showing potential (Basketball) or have new, exciting faces (Fooooootbaaaaaaaaallllllllll!) Hockey sits and waits for Toot to move on before its safe to be excited again.
Lets make something perfectly clear, I have a massive amount of respect for Toot. He took a program that had no identity or culture and built it to the point where the fan base earnestly feels they can make the jump to home ice contention. Toot has graduated players, limited distractions and built a fan base that did not exist before his tenure. However, the last few years has proven that UMass hockey is stuck in neutral, and frankly, there is a definable ceiling to what Toot can do. Toot is not on the level of Parker or York, and doesn’t have the youthful vision of a Dennehy or Tabbed. Toot is an old school coach who is what he is, and he is never going to be the next step that the fans of this program crave. So, like Penn State before all the kid sex, fan wait impatiently for the figurehead to step down before fresh blood comes in and reinvigorates the fan base (Yes, UMass, I said FRESH blood so no Blaise plz).
So yeah, I fully expect this team to make the playoffs barely, then get swept and I expect the same thing next year if Toot decides to ride out his contract, which according to Triangle seems to be the most likely outcome. So, in an era of great excitement for athletics at UMass, the hockey fan has years of the same outcome they have come to know and loathe. Ug.

Meanwhile, in exciting things, The UMass basketball team is also playing tonight. As a blog, we have been extremely cynical about the baskettaball team. Walsh was out at the start of the DK era, Max has been supportive yet skeptical and I nearly resigned from the blog and ruined my friendship with Max over smart ass tweets during a game the UMassHoops.com lost their shit over (please cue the Bob Dylan eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh). But this year has been transcendent for a kinda-sorta-fan like myself. This team is legit, and likable at the same time. Gone are the lifeless, lazy one man teams we have witnessed for the last few years. This team fucking MOVES. Plus, they hustle like a team that wants to win. Not only is it about running and creating fast breaks, but its the little things like diving for loose balls. This year the team does it, while I never saw it in years past. Its hard to point out a single reason for this. Yes, Chaz has been transcendent in his role as Point Guard/Scorer/Heart-and-soul/Good guy tweeter, but its not solely Chaz. It seems that the step away from a SG/SF dominated team to an interchangeable run and gun team has been the biggest change in culture. Yes, mistakes are made, but no longer is there a sense of laziness or an unlikeable player. I LOVE EVERY PLAYER ON THIS TEAM. I love this team, I do. And this is coming from someone who’s first major taste of the new look team in person was the train wreck at URI. Still love them, still love the effort. The entire culture of my UMass fandom has changed. Where I would previously be obsessing over hockey dates and giving slight glances towards the basketball schedule, I now find myself dreading Hockey games for their seemingly inevitable disappointment and feeling strong optimism towards the Basketball team. Yes, they may not be good enough to make the tournament, but at the very least I feel like theres a chance they will win any night, and at the very least they will play hard, fast and entertaining. The team that took a shit on the Mullins court against Dayton last year no longer exists, and damn, it feels good man.

Oh, and Football is going to be amazing. Molnar is the fucking boss. What a charismatic , likable dude. Now THATS something to riot over.

(But seriously folks, don’t riot and make us all look bad you fucking waste of space I hope you and your zoomass culture is systematically destroyed and your highschool quarterback mentality of cool is exposed for the immature garbage that it is. I hope you and your barstool culture is no longer viewed as ok in the lager culture and you become the social pariahs that you deserve to be you fucking scum.)

Here’s to hoping for positive peaceful gatherings for a successful Saturday,

-Matt

I almost forgot an important note: Hey kids, it’s time to break out the “High on Crack Street” chant for this weekend’s Lowell series. Here, go educate yourselves if you don’t get it. Dumb kids.

–

And now, contributor Jarod Hendrickson compares the teams of Hockey East to alcoholic beverages, because it’d be unconstitutional for me to hog all the tenuous metaphors for myself. By the way, now that Derek is basically a figurehead and Matt’s job has absorbed all of his free time, I’m more than happy to accept other contributions…if you wanna write something, message me or our page on Facebook and let me know.

-Max

Contributor’s Corner: The alcoholic’s guide to Hockey East

by Jarod Hendrickson

As students return to campus and mini fridges are being plugged back in, let’s put on
our fun hats and break down what each Hockey East school would look like if they
were a beer. [Editor's note: The captions are courtesy of yours truly. -Max]

Boston University

Sam Adams. Classy, full bodied, and a staple of Boston. A rich history and a national recognition. Not as arrogant as other beers, and is something you respect, even if it isn’t your pint of beer. [And probably the only one I'd admit to drinking on this list. -Max]

don't be silly, BU kids only drink the finest champagne out of escargo-rimmed crystal glasses

Merrimack

Four Loko. What exactly is it? I mean it will get the job done but something just isn’t right, just like Merrimack itself. They’ve only been around since 1947, and the campus
resembles a strip mall. Basically non existent it’s entire history, Merrimack has burst
onto the college hockey scene in recent years, but like Four Loko, all good things will
come to an end. Their “arena”, and we’ll use that term loosely, is a dump, if it were
an animal it would have been shot a long time ago. Overall Merrimack just a fad, and
people will look back thinking, “why did we even bother?”

this guy certainly went to Merrimack. Haha just kidding, nobody goes to Merrimack.

Boston College

Guinness. It’s good, arrogant, and something that must be dealt with a few times a year.
Comparing it against lesser beers really never works out, but on occasion that shitty
light beer tastes better (hey that’s us!). Always leaves you full after going toe to toe for a few rounds.

I'll take the classy high road and not mention blood stained beer cans on the Green Line here.

University of Maine

Bud Heavy…rugged, in the cup holder of diesel trucks, and a staple of an entire state.
Aside from pro Boston teams and a couple minor league teams in Portland..Maine
hockey is all the rage (the “maine” event, if you will) [I will not. - Max] . There might be better, flashier beers out there, but it’s hard to top Maine hockey.

lol "weiser" like "wiser" only less wise because it's Maine

UMass Eastern Massachusetts State College at Lowell

Colt 45. Poor Lowell, literally. The fat, ugly stepsister of UMass is located in the armpit of Mass. Every season of Cops should have been filmed here, they’d have plenty of material. [Again, I think "High on Crack Street" trumps this. A lot. - Max] Lowell hockey may look promising at times, like that occasion where you’re considering partying in poverty with Colt 45, but just avoid it and you’ll be happy you did.

I would have gone with Poland Spring vodka, personally. Or cocaine. Either is accurate.

Providence College

Odoul’s. Providence doesn’t bring much excitement to the table, just like Odoul’s. From the dry campus to the well patrolled parking lot, making tailgating impossible, PC is PG-
13. Although they’ve climbed out of the Hockey East cellar this year, we may have to
bump them up to Mike’s Hard next year.

reminds me of that first scene in 30 Minutes or Less that's almost kinda funny before Swardson and McBride showed up and ruined the rest of the movie

The University of Massachusetts

[redacted] [Jarod wrote something here comparing our fine university to Busch Light. Surely he was drunk or someone hacked his Twitter or the Patriots were showing him the wrong down on the scoreboard or something. UMass is hereby represented by Snake Juice. High-end, VIP, exclusive. An ounce of this will *lit'rally* kill you. Now shut up, I'm tired and I'm drunk and I need more Snork Juice. Yes, I realize it's not beer SHUT UP THAT'S HOW AWESOME IT IS - Max]

it's about to get ca-razz-ey.

University of New Hampshire

Keystone. Oh New Hampshire..where to begin. The nicknames are endless, the south of the north, Alabama with snow, and so on. If New Hampshire was relocated to the
south, no one would notice. [Hey, I resemble that remark! - Max] UNH has won a total of 0 national titles, despite high expectations most years, shitting the bed year after year. Until they break through, and even after, New Hampshire will always be the trailer trash of Hockey East.

look at that horrible road. fitting.

Northeastern University

Northeastern hockey just screams, “Hey, we’re here to party, but don’t bother taking us seriously.” It doesn’t help having to share the city with two perennial Hockey East frontrunners. Northeastern is the first friend you have that reaches blackout status, he’ll be fun at times and entertaining, but in the end no one really cares because his tolerance sucks and he’ll just end up throwing up in your bathroom.

LOL BETTER STICK TO LITE SO YOU CAN IMPRESS THE LADIES DURING NO-TEE OT!!!!1

University of Vermont

Vermont is..different. They’re not on the way to anything, except skiing and endless
bottles of maple syrup I guess if you’re into that kind of thing. [And Canada! - Max] It’s no mystery that UVM’s campus is filled with hipsters, and what better beer to represent them good ole PBR.

or moonshine, if you're Tim Thomas

So there you have it. Enjoy the great sports weekend at UMass, and as always, drink
up.

- Jarod

Hey y’all, your (ahem, our) UMass minutemen hockey club is less than 2 hours away from the first game of the rest of their lives in Not really close to the cool parts for 20-year-olds, Florida. Tonight, UMass will be taking on James Lizardo’s own Cornell Big Red, by far the best Academic institution ever named after a gum. Cornell is currently ranked #13 in the nation and has a defense that can, and will goddamnit, be referred to as “the balls”. They are letting in less than 2 goals per game and have let in 6 goals in the last 8 games with FIVE shutouts.

Fact is, this could get ugly. UMass has had the tendency of going down early and if this is the case tonight the likelyhood of coming back is slim to none. Hopefully Boyle (I’m just assuming he will be starting) is a bit better at taking shots from academics than he was against Harvard (cue Bob dylan eeeeeeeeeeeeh) and to a lesser extent, Yale. Personally, I am always dubious of the high rankings given to these Ivy schools verses the entirety of Hockey East, but Defense is something that usually transcends hype but when its against teams that may not be as good as advertised, who knows.

UMass is not a favorite in this game by a long shot, and all likelihood is that we will all be chilling in Clarksonville tomorrow but this team has good against bigger name teams and the first game after winter break is usually a wildcard (who knows, maybe all the Ivy kids got fat off the hopes and dreams of the middle class durring the holidays). Plus, while UMass is great at home its entirely posible they are just shit durring away games (Fact: goaltending has been a problem durring such games). While this is in no way home, its not technically an away game. So theres that.

On the actual “game consumption” front, the crack Fight Mass research team is actively looking for a video stream, but in the meantime John and Brock will do just fine.Any updates/links to video will be posted to the twitter account so get on that.

Also, be sure to go to Fear the Triangle’s live chat which starts at 7:30. I think he’ll post a coveritlive link on the site but honestly I have no fucking idea. There is at least a 67% chance I’m kicked out of this thing. Should be a cool night. Geometry jokes all around.

Here’s to the second half of the year not sucking (cut to me chanting “pleases don’t suck at calendar).

-Matt

Hey guys, hey. It’s Matt again live from state employment wishing you a happy Thanksg….wait, whats that you say? Its past Christmas already? Holy christ, I have been bad in updating this blog. Sorry about that guys. We had such good intentions.

But yes, what a season we have endured so far. The highest of highs, the ineptest of ineptitude, golly gee this season has had it all. And, because I’m Matt and I’m the lazy one, we are going straight towards bullet points for this rip-roaring recap.

Massive Highs

• Ah, where to start but beating BC. If there was ever going to be a signature win for this program, that would be it. Up to that point, I had never seen UMass beat BC. Like, ever. I came in to UMass and became a fan of the program during 2009, the Jimmy/Casey year. My first taste of BC/UMass hockey was December of 2009 where BC beat UMass 3-1 at the Bill in a relatively close but sluggish game. I was one of the few fans left in the student section after the 7-1 abortion of a game that was the official beginning of the Cahoon swoon/understanding what it means to be a UMass fun. I was there in the Conte (Cunte, lol) on the glass watching the Minutemen let it go in OT. I was there for both losses in the HE Quarterfinals watching any remaining potential for the Wellman/Marcou era drip away. I )was (not, thankfully) there for a 5-0 thrashing early into last year’s often painful campaign. I was there late February where a UMass team hitting its sweet spot (NOTE: sweet for that team was not losing by 4 and allowing 68 shots on Paul Dainton) lose by 1 two nights in a row of a home-and-home. I watched that same team lose 2 more spirited yet fruitless games against BC in the HE finals where we bid goodbye to the team as they boarded the bus back to Amherst (and inversely found out that Doug Kublin was aware of the Kubby Kounter). Just a few months ago I saw UMass get beaten completely and comprehensively by BC at Conte, where we bore witness to the first Teg-Stand game of the year (Seriously, Teglia was the only reason that game wasn’t 11-2 and it continues to be the reason I prefer Teglia over Boyle, but more on that later). So, to review, thats 11 games, 10 in person, with the exact same outcome: an overwhelming desire to punch somebody in the face. So, going into the game there wasn’t much hope. Hell, I’ll admit I seriously questioned going to the game as I assumed it was a guaranteed loss. A number one team versus a team that got beat by Providence with a goalie that got pulled the night before? Not a great precursor. But this team made it happen, literally every piece of the team came to win and they did it in fairly convincing fashion. It was a highlight in a year that, even by the most liberal predictions, was going to be up and down. The words “holy fucking shit we actually beat BC” were uttered by both friends and strangers as UMass fans went home deliriously happy for the first time in a long time. When I went back to the Boston area for thanksgiving, random members of my girlfriend’s family (who are from Hingham, a BC stronghold if there ever was one) as well as one awesome gas station attendant were talking about UMass beating BC. And then I realized, oh yeah, this is what happens when we win. Its a good feeling.

• Speaking of what happens when we win big, I would like to officially welcome Charley “The Maven from Lock Haven” Molnar to the UMass family.(Some fun facts about Lock Haven University: The Bald Eagles play Field Hockey at a D1 level in the A10 and  their football team holds the longest losing streak in all of NCAA Football with 43 straight losses) You may know Charlie from being the offensive coordinator for the most insufferable college in the world, having the almost comically impossible accomplishment of holding a coaching position at every directional Michigan university and having THE BEST INTRODUCTORY PRESS CONFERENCE IN UMASS HISTORY. Holy shit this guy has balls. Listen, I was the one with a big ole’ man-crush on Mike Leach (most likely for his overwhelming weirdness and FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHT CAMEO) but Molnar is exactly the type of coach UMass needs to build the program: vocal, charismatic and with experience in the midwest. All signs point towards him being able to recruit the rust belt states that require a long suicide inducing drive through Western Pennsylvania to get to and thats whats going to be needed to field a competitive team. Texas and California recruits are not happening in big numbers right now. What the recruiting plan for UMass should be is “live in big University setting with lots of (southwest, Camby aproved) pussy and have your family and friends see you play 4 times and year. Come on fellas, get on the UMass train!” and at least we know Molnar knows how to pitch that.

• While I was on board with Derek in saying Connor Sheary was going to be the best non HoPS player on the team this year, I gotta say, Guzzo is giving him a run for his money and absolutely locked down “bestest surprise breakout gumbo!” player of the year. Guzzo’s passes have been spectacular, his defense gritty and he’s shown a bit of a scoring touch as well. He has the uncanny ability to be in the right place at the right time and for a team that has a long illustrious history of having players in the wrong position at all times, its a welcome change. Plus, kids got a perfect sports name. So many U’s. Gotta love yelling GUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUZZZEE.

• Chaz. Need I say more? Chaz is the biggest game changer in the DK era and is proof that a point guard is key in the college game. Yes, the team has struggled at times this year, but never have I had the optimism that the team could win on any given night than I do this year. Even with Ricky, the team was consistently below par. But with Chaz I see players that would otherwise be fighting to have the ball passed to the so they can put up a bad shot settle back and trust that the point guard will find them in their spots. Not only that, but Chaz can create his own buckets in traffic with ease. Its great to see this team run after years of it being the obvious thing we never do.This team may not be tops of the A10 but they won’t be at the bottom either and for the first time in the DK era the team is overachieving (albeit from fairly low expectations. Its finally (kinda) fun to watch this team and thats more than enough for me.

Fight Meh:

Hey we have 3 goaltenders that don’t suck. Hell, we have 2 goaltenders that are above average. But golly, I still don’t think we have the shut down goalie that UMass needs to be a top 4 team in Hockey East. Let this run on paragraph be my official entry into the 2011-2012 Goaltending debate. Ok, well lets start with the obvious. Kevin Moore, keep on bloging baby, you are not going to tend net for the Minutemen this year. Stephen Masterlerz of puppets? Yeah, you are not our goalie either. We were assured by the Father of Connor Sheary that Masterlerz is the best of our goalie bunch from seeing him play in prep school, but that supposed superiority has not shown through. In fact, Masterlerz has not proven himself to be an equal of his fellow goalies. So we must say goodbye to Masterlerz in the Fight Mass goaltender search. Now ,judging from the media and fan alike, the consensus UMass goalie of the season/future is Kevin Boyle. However, I would disagree and say, as of right now, Teglia is the better goalie. There is no doubt that Boyle has gotten much better as the season has progressed, but Boyle still gets me nervous as fuck when I watch him play. His positioning is good but hes a bit slow to cover and he’s never seen a shot he didn’t want to turn into a rebound. Don’t get me wrong, I like Boyle and think he’s a viable long term option, however I truly believe that one of the largest attributes of Boyle’s success has been luck. Teglia, on the other hand has suffered from terrible luck this season. He’s been hurt, and when he has been healthy enough to start the team has played like absolute crap in front of him. As previously mentioned, Teglia was the lone shinning star for UMass when they played at BC early in the season, and when playing at BU, Teglia was the reason the game even made it to OT after horrendous play in the 2nd and 3rd. Boyle is a great technical goalie, but Teggs (yeah, we’re switching to that) has that uncanny ability to make the holyfuckingshit save, an attribute I will refer to as standonhisheadability. Lest the term be broken down to its literal meaning, Teggs can stand on his fucking head. Its Daintonian in a way. Teggs suffers from the same “WHY ARE YOU PLAYING THAT PUCK IDIOT” moments as Saint Paul did, but at the same time he makes the same amazing saves that keep you in any game. There was always an unshakeable feeling during the Dainton era that made you feel some glimmer of hope going into any game. “Yeah, we probably won’t win but if Pauly has a good night we have a punchers chance”. Teggs evokes that same feeling in me, and golly, The “Tegg Stand” is too good a term to be wasted. Thats why I think Teglia should be G1 of the Dillon Panth….I mean UMass Minutemen.

Other things that are happening

Well gang, that was a fun little “unreadable block of text-athon”. Lets do some quick thoughts then go the fuck to sleep

• Seriously UMass, where the fuck are my Frozen Fenway jerseys DO NOT FUCK THIS UP UVM HAS ONE AND SO DO I. I swear to god I will make this a reason I’m not giving to UMass when the annual fund calls before I stop and go to the confused freshman “lol no but seriously here’s $100 go away I’m poor”.

• Oleg has become, so predictably, a fan favorite. But the student section doesn’t understand the smashing Oleg produced in the first few games was bad and he’s been  exponentially better lately. “Oleg , smash, ugg why didn’t he hit that guy” “BECAUSE THAT WOULD BE A PENALTY YOU STUDENT SECTION IDIOT WHY DO YOU LIKE SEEING OUR PK EDDIE OLCZYK IS NOT THAT FUCKING EXCITING”

• But seriously folks, hats off to the PK and standout Eddie Olczyk. Good job buddy.

• The banner is a 6 at best, but it blows away the UFO Mullins center theme Max made last year that we trashed so thoroughly he made the poorly made Kubby banner which I still hold as my favorite. It was like the potato chip. Badger Max and good things will happen out of pure spite.

• HAHAHAHAHAHA MAX ADDED A SNOW THEME THIS IS THE WORST BLOG EVER I WOULD COMPLAIN BUT I HAVEN’T WRITTEN ANYTHING IN MONTHS AND DON’T EVEN COUNT AS A WRITER ANYMORE.

• Also, I tap my proverbial stick to Max who manned the twitter account a few times recently. Every time he has run the twitter account it has been funnier, more insightful and, in general, more better. I would let him have it because of the better quality but fuck that the twitter is mine and you will have to rip it from my cold dead hands before I give up the one thing I do competently.

• Mike Marcou hasn’t been terrible this year, but it still makes me nervous to watch him play. I assume this is what its like for a parent to watch their kid drive. “Him? Driving? The same one that drove the tricycle off the porch and broke his leg?”

• I know the out of touch white folks on UMassHoops disapprove, but I’m kind of obsessed with the Shakespearian nature of the Freddie Riley twitter feed. First, it used to be abovetherim1 or some close variant but now its @youngFLYandAshy which makes me laugh for reasons I’ve yet to understand. But Freddie has the most perfectly absurd twitter ever. He hates UMass some times (don’t we all sometimes), openly has an air of annoyance when he has a bad game or doesn’t play and retweets some of the best tweets ever (example, from yesterday: “the people that be in the video game stores be looking weird as shit”). Not only that, but Freddie himself has some classics. One time he tweeted simply “taking a shit”. But the cool thing about Freddie is that him twitter feed makes him come across as a tortured genius/curmudgeon. He’s oddly political, calling out blacks for buying too many Jordans and pondering to himself whether he should become the voice for black people. He went apeshit on the Steve Jobs love (rightly) calling him an unredeemable capitalist that never gave back. And while other players hide their feelings from the message board trolls Freddie lets it all out. He misses High School, is confused what he will do after UMass, and seems generally uncomfortable with his status as a Basketball player within the UMass culture. In other words, he’s a fucking human. Yes, me and Freddie got into some twitter beef last year where he called me out for being over critical in my tweets during a game and I called him out for being an offensive liability. However the thing that I have come to appreciate is that his response to the blog is such a uniquely Freddie Riley thing to do. He wears his heart out on his sleeve and doesn’t think twice about telling a blog to fuck off after it comes and makes 10 Big Shitty jokes in 2 hours. Freddie doesn’t write for you, Freddie writes for himself and if you want to come along for the ride so be it. My obsession with the Freddie Riley twitter has made me appreciate Freddie as a person. Yeah, he’s a frustrating player to watch, but the talent is there and watching such an emotionally complex human struggle through life is an amazing character study. I root for Freddie, and I can honestly say, beyond the obvious choice of Chaz, Freddie is my favorite player. I root for him so fucking hard. I really want to see him succeed, After 2+ years of watching him bear his soul online, good and bad, I see him as the scrappy underdog. This run on paragraph is entitled: How I learned to stop worrying and Love the Freddie Riley.

• I’m in love with the Fight Mass spam queue. The spammers are getting fucking crafty. Example 1, on a random contributors corner post: “And to think I was going to talk to someone in person about this”. Other one’s are equally vague and out of place but intentionally misspelled. On the same post: “I’m impressed! You’ve managed the almost ipmsosible” and, my personal favorite, on a random Max essay: “If infomration were soccer, this would be a gooooooooal!”. Haha, I love you spam queue.

• Fuck you autoplay on UMassathletics.com. That shit is annoying.

• Charley Molnar has 8 kids. That guy either loves to fuck or hates birth control. Don’t let him near Matt Hill.

• Oh cool, we got the local kid to come to UMass. As a QB. When he was being scouted as an LB. By other shitty teams. Well, Ladies and Gentlemen, the Kellen Pagel era continues!

• Less than 2 weeks to Frozen Fenway. Fuck Yes. More posts when that happens (hopefully).

Feel free to complain about how terrible this post is,

-Matt

So, game is in 90 minutes, lets make this quick

• Sorry for the lack of posts this week. I was lazy, Max is moving in to a new place and Walsh writes a preview and postgame analysis and how dare you expect more
• Teglia please. If I walk in to Conte and see anyone but Tegs I’m going to immediately walk out and demand a refund.
• This BC team is good, but why am I more optimistic tonight than I have for any other game I’ve seen vs BC? UMass should lose tonight, and probably will, but I absolutely think this team could shock BC, something I didn’t think last year /cut to UMass losing 23-1
• Kind of a sleepy week for UMass. All eyes on football (for good reason, tomorrow will be fun) and with Hockey playing a team that is clearly better, everyone has eyes on next week against BU. Hopefully BC will be overlooking us as well.
• RIP Eddie Olczyk =(
• Olczyk isn’t a valid words with friends word. Make note.
• Here’s to Oleg making him way into the crowd