Tag Archives: BC sucks

thisclose.

by bittym87

Last night’s Game 1 of the BC-UMass series has taken the crown of “best game I’ve seen in person with a heartbreaking ending.” The Minutemen clawed back from a number of deficits, including 6-3 to start the 3rd period, and thoroughly dominated the final frame, pulling within a goal with a ton of time left, but just couldn’t get over the hump to tie it despite numerous opportunities to do so.

And so it comes down to this: to keep playing Sunday, tonight is a must-win against a BC team that twice now has discovered it can coast through large portions of games at Conte and still eke out wins.

The offense was finally there, albeit thanks to a couple 5-on-3′s. The refs (who were brutal all night, by the way), after a whistle-fest through two periods, decided to let ‘em play in the 3rd. This, of course, came after the 6th (and deciding) BC goal on a power play in the 2nd, following a penalty to Nolet on a play where he literally did not make contact with the BC player. But whatever, the fact that I literally pointed to the BC player walking up to the net to stuff home goal #6 and said “goal” to Walsh right before it happened shows us that the Minutemen didn’t play well enough on the penalty kill to win. Dainton was up-and-down, his defense burned him a few times, but he was certainly not the guy who took the ice two weeks ago here. Same with Milner; he looked sharp early, but Jimmy’s goal to cut it to 6-5 was the kind of bad goal break that UMass hadn’t been getting all of February. The fact of the matter is, though, you can’t give up 6 goals and expect to win, no matter how close UMass came to tying it up.

So it boils down to tonight and, hopefully, tomorrow. UMass has all the momentum in the world after silencing BC’s smattering of fans for the duration of the 3rd period and putting BC back on their heels. I much prefer what happened last night to, say, tying it up and losing in overtime to give BC that emotional energy. It still feels like an opportunity lost, but this was BC’s series to lose all along. My gut instinct tells me this series goes 3. (Don’t ask my gut instinct about what happens in a game 3. We’ll cross that bridge if and when we get there.)

On a side note: I think last night ends any debate over the quality of their fan support. This is a playoff game and the building was even emptier than it was two weeks ago for a meaningless regular season game at the start of their spring break. The odd thing was, the students actually were there in greater numbers (again, without the spring break excuse), eventually sort-of filling those tiny two endzone sections. The side of the arena opposite us and opposite the media booths, however, was practically a dead zone. Is there any other team in Hockey East whose arena would be half-empty for a playoff game, against anyone? To borrow from a certain regional furniture store’s ads, I DOUBT IT.

Whatever. Whether there’s 6 people in the building or 6,000…do it tonight boys, and live to fight another day.

—

Meanwhile, I didn’t really hear much of the UMass-Richmond game on the radio afterward, but it seemed like the usual “fall behind big early, make a semi-decent run at the game in the 2nd half and fall short” effort we saw against the likes of Xavier, Charlotte (at home) and URI (on the road) this season. The curse of Atlantic City lives on, although for the second year in a row, they were just happy to be there. Unfortunately, it sounds like cold shooting did them in early on. Still, congrats to Derek Kellogg and his squad for a couple of nice wins at the end of the season. The end result on paper was a little underwhelming, but I think there’s a bright future yet for the Minutemen basketball team. Hopefully when I get back from Florida next January they’ll be in the thick of things in the A-10 race – and the fans are out to support them. If you win games, they will come.

-Max

Long-overdue revenge

by bittym87

Yes, Virginia, the UMass Minutemen basketball team just won a game in the Atlantic 10 tournament. I’m going to repeat that: the Minutemen won an A-10 tourney game. In what top scientists are describing as “by a wide margin the least likely thing that has ever happened,” UMass, which managed in consecutive years to suffer a shocking upset in the first round of said tournament that ultimate cost Travi$ Fraud’s teams a pair of NCAA Tournament bids, second-year (and, for some reason, already-embattled) head coach Derek Kellogg took a 10-19 team that very nearly 0-3 against the Atlantic 10′s two worst teams, snuck into the conference tournament on a last-day victory, and proceeded to do what Ford’s teams, featuring the likes of Forbes, Harris, Brower, Milligan, Lasme, and Freeman never did. The Derek Kellogg statue is to be placed in between the Mullins and the practice arena, and will feature lifelike hair to be re-jelled on a daily basis. Oh, and let’s name the Champions Center after him too.

Okay, so dramatic hyperbole aside, the Minutemen were playing a Charlotte team tail-diving in a way that makes the Cahoon Swoon look tame by comparison. They also didn’t have to play in UMass’s personal house of horrors, Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. (No, really, I was so excited when I realized this game would be on Charlotte’s home court. I hate Boardwalk Hall; it’s right there with Safeco Field and Lawler Arena in the “places my favorite team should win but never seems to” pantheon, and it’s not even anyone’s home arena.)

Did UMass deserve to win this game? The defense in the first half and down the stretch was fantastic, though the lapse in the middle there nearly did them in. Derrio Green (and, really, the whole Charlotte offense) didn’t exactly set the world on fire from the field. And certainly, they got some help from the most hilarious thing I’ve ever seen, a too many men technical foul. I’ve never seen that in a basketball game (that’s roughly seven full seasons of Celtics, four full years of UMass and countless pro and college games on TV in between). and I can guarantee you the crazies calling for DK’s firing would be louder than ever if such a thing happened with his team.

On the other hand, UMass, as if to continue the A-10 First Game tradition, tried their darnedest to lose this game. The team continues to struggle to hit open shots, although at least they’re getting more of them. Anthony Gurley, as the UMassHoops chat room can attest, had one of those frustrating games that has really epitomized his time here in Amherst. Bailey got lots of minutes. And yet they still pulled it off, thanks to the continued stellar rebounding effort and Ricky continuing to go out with a bang here.

So what’s next? A Richmond squad that UMass took to overtime on its own court, and could have beaten if Ricky hadn’t dribbled down the clock to about 1 on the final possession before heaving a terrible shot. On one hand, UMass doesn’t have to play them in Richmond this time. On the other hand…right. Atlantic City. Fuck. Well, that was fun. No, but seriously, this is two great wins in a row for DK and for this team going forward, regardless of how central Ricky was to them. If the guys can’t pull the victory and bring a 19-loss team into the NCAA tournament this year (which is like saying “if I can’t go try out for the Red Sox and make the starting rotation”), at least it’s nice to have not just A-10 Tournament experience for the kids, but also Boardwalk Hall experience going forward.

But hey, anything is possibbblllleeeee! (Except, again, that Red Sox scenario.)

Oh, other things to note…I caught the first half of UMass-Albany today, my first-ever men’s lax game at Garber Field. (I know, I’m a slacker, though in my defense, the home games always seem to be either a) during class or b) too far away for my hungover ass to walk on a weekend.) UMass came back from down 4-1 to win 11-6. I’m not even going to pretend to be a lacrosse expert, but I’ll do my best to keep an eye on Cannella’s talented young squad.

Last but not least (but certainly most obvious): the new layout is finally here! After finally getting some free time to mess around with GIMPshop (my new laptop, unlike my old PC, does not have the real Photoshop, and I’m not made of money), I was able to put something together with a shot Walsh took a few weeks back before a game. Accordingly, I switched up the blog template, and I think this one looks better; plus, I enjoy having the tags and author stuff BEFORE the post, so you guys know whose work you’re reading right away. We’d love to hear any input you might have on the layout; notably, we’d love to change the color scheme but WordPress only gives you so many templates, so we’ll just deal with what we’re given. Enjoy!

One more thing…we will most definitely on hand for this weekend’s festivities at Chestnut Hill University. Is it Friday yet?

-Max

Pushing the button

by bittym87

Well, another weekend, another disappointment for UMass athletics. The 12th-ranked men’s lacrosse team managed to falter on the road to an inferior Yale team, killing any sort of mome…

Hold the phone.

What’s this you’re wharrgarbl-ing on about?

Hockey SWEPT Maine? Basketball BEAT Rhode Island?

….PLAYOFFS? You can talk to me about playoffs, because both teams won a game (and then, in hockey’s case, another game)?!

Okay, so we at Fight Mass will admit, we had higher hopes for both of these teams than “barely sneaking into their conference tourneys on the last day of the season.” Particularly after basketball beat Memphis and looked poised to at least improve on last year’s in-conference performance, and after hockey got up to #9 in the country with the harder half of their schedule seemingly in the rear-view mirror.

Regardless, the Mass Attack took advantage of Scott Darling’s mysterious suspension and roughed up Shawn “The New Wilson” Sirman two nights in a row, then had to withstand the storm of a furious comeback bid by the Black Bears last night, and nearly doubled their all-time Alfond win total in a 26-hour span. The offense woke up again by running through the points, with Justin Braun and Matt Irwin exploding onto the scene in a manner eerily similar to last year’s near-shocker at Matthews Arena. Paul Dainton was magnificent in holding Maine’s potent offense to 5 total goals in two nights. In what can only be described as “Derek being proven triumphantly right,” the defense gelled around the return of Doug Kublin from mono. And Brett Watson of all people provided two more goals.

So yeah, next weekend, UMass gets to return to the Conte Forum, where we’ll likely see the bizarre sight of a noticeable BC student section at home against the Minutemen. The Iggles haven’t played a truly meaningful game in a couple of weeks now and are, naturally, considered the runaway favorites in the series. However, if the Minutemen play as well as they did last weekend, and are able to catch a couple breaks and ride the momentum of this Maine sweep, and Dainton is on his game…okay, that’s a lot of if’s. But “if” is a fun word to toss around when, just a few days ago, things were as grim as they were. There’s hockey yet to be played, and that’s all we can ask for.

Meanwhile, the basketball team (unlike hockey, those bastards) send out the seniors in style, continuing the annual tradition of ruining Rhody’s season. This is the third year in a row; two years back, the Minutemen dragged URI kicking and screaming into the NIT (and then damn near won it). Last year, UMass marched into the Ryan Center and made little Jimmy “Date Rape Baby” Baron cry on his senior day, the game we will always know as the C-Lowe/Matty Glass Game (I could watch that Glass pick on Ulmer every single day until the end of time). And now, the year in which the gap between the teams is the greatest, where URI is a win away from the NCAA Tournament and UMass needs a win just to make the conference tourney in which only 2 of 14 teams miss it, and yet history just continues to repeat itself with these two. If the roles were reversed, I think we might hate URI even more than we hate BC here. And we hate BC a lot.

Honestly, it wasn’t a pretty game. At one point, when the teams were trading fast-break misses back and forth, someone near me likened it to a hockey game, with the near-misses coming fast and furious – only there’s no goalies in basketball, and the scores aren’t supposed to be that few and far between. The officiating — horrendous, but it was bad both ways, and we’re used to that by now. And the thing that struck me the most was that URI really does not have a go-to guy. They’ve got a lot of pretty good players, sure, but they had no answer for Ricky Harris, who woke up in a big way after a just-okay first half. It’s worrisome that the future of this team will bank on someone (Freddie? TV?) stepping up and becoming the new face of the team next year, and although I think that taking the Ricky crutch out of the equation will speed up the process, there’s no doubt that he will be missed. 3rd all time in school history in scoring, no matter how you look at it, is fantastic. Ricky’s the one guy who played for all four of my years at UMass, and for that, I’m certainly grateful.

The URI student section was impressive (although not unexpected given that this is pretty much the only sport they have), but I saw hope for us as well. Sure, a number of kids were coming over from the Rec Center to grab t-shirts and promptly leave, but for the most part, I felt like kids were into it. They should definitely try to schedule more Saturday afternoon games next year if that’s at all possible; this was definitely the best student section of the year even having to compete with the Blarney Blowout over in town, and the end of the game was as loud as I’ve seen the Mullins for basketball in quite some time. Hopefully the kids who came out for this one were sold on this team’s potential and will be more inclined to see more games next year as a result, but, of course, the guys need to win games to attract fans, simple as that.

And so now the Minutemen survive to play Tuesday at Charlotte, a team in freefall mode, and whom UMass owes some revenge from a few years back. At the very least, Ricky gets one more game, and the freshmen get their first taste of playoff basketball together. This can only be a good thing.

Unlike hockey, whose expectations were understandably a lot higher (both at the beginning of the year and, especially, after their stellar first half), basketball’s fate for much of year has been a first-round road game and likely exit from the A-10 Tournament. A strong showing against Charlotte, and especially a first-round shocker (and I can’t stress enough how due this team is to be on the other side of that equation), could do wonders for this team going forward.

And if they lose by 30 in Charlotte? We’ll always have that senior night. Sad to think I will never again set foot in the Mullins Center as a UMass student, but the memories from my tenure here will live forever, and my entry into the alumni club – my graduation to the other side of the arena (not that I won’t be general-admissioning it up and joining the student fray for a few more years, naturally) is an exciting prospect that is just beginning.

So, not to crib that whole “live together, die alone” theme that Rocks has been using lately, but the countdown to the weird red hieroglyphs and the accompanying disaster has been, for the moment, put on hold. UMass typed in the Numbers and hit execute. Now, the road ahead is wrought with challenges. But for at least one more week, there is a road ahead.

-Max

Don’t stop…believing…?

by bittym87

Well, that was interesting.

I’ll echo a lot of what Ben said about the game itself. The Minutemen finally showed up defensively, but for the second time this year, got stymied by Parker Milner of all people. The offense continues to scuffle, and as much as Toot is trying to shake things up (i.e. Lecomte on the top line, Czepiel centering for Jimmy and Casey, the TJ-Tiz-Rocco line, etc.), all UMass managed for their troubles was one lousy garbage goal by Brett Watson (finally). The chances were there, though, and in front of a BC crowd who — by the way, Ben — had a legitimate excuse to be a little on the older and quieter side (the students are out on spring break), the Minutemen were markedly better in all aspects of the game than they had been in the past several weeks, save for maybe the Merrimack game which could have easily been a blowout win.

So, of course, it may be way too late in the season for a moral victory to mean anything, especially when every out-of-town result turned out to be a negative for the Minutemen. But the fact remains that the Minutemen virtually control their own destiny this final weekend at Orono, and UMass showed us something against BC, even if (as I suspect) the Eagles weren’t putting 100% effort into it. Regardless of what happens at Lawler tonight, the Black Bears will be reeling; if ‘Mack wins, UMass would have a shot at knocking Maine out of the playoffs (!) with a sweep next weekend, and with the teams so tightly bunched, a UMass sweep or even 2 or 3 points might be enough. It’s sad that it’s come to this, but the beauty of sport is that this really isn’t over yet, and, being the masochistic Boston sports fans we are, anything truly can happen.

If UMass had folded like everyone assumed they would last night, we’d be writing the eulogy right now. The end result was probably a little more heartbreaking, but at the same time, as long as there’s a hope that this team can put it together for three solid periods like last night, then they’ve still got time for their luck to turn.

Maybe.

-Max

The obligatory “ugh I hate UMass right now” post

by bittym87

Well, after a night of heavy drinking and a full day of recovery and putting my mind to other things, my thoughts, as always, have come back to the UMass hockey team, its once-promising season now left in shambles following its second consecutive weekend of getting swept by an inferior team in a home-and-home. Once again, the defense was atrocious in the road game, and once again, the Minutemen failed to score at home. Throw Joe Cannata up there with Rawlings and Madore in the “not-all-that-great goalies stepping their game up big-time against UMass” discussion; he was sensational.

Here’s the problem with this game though: you simply cannot turn games against inferior opponents into must-wins, and that’s what UMass did not once, but twice in this second half. The blowout losses to BU and UNH to start the second half forced them to need that win at Matthews, and for a while, the season appeared to stabilize, winning four straight. The ensuing shutout loss on that Sunday afternoon against Vermont and Madore didn’t seem so bad, since the defense played well enough to win, Madore stood on his head, etc. But the awful games that followed – at BU (again) and against BC at home – forced the Minutemen to go into these two series against hungry Northeastern and Merrimack teams desperately needing wins, and you can never count on winning a game by sheer talent disparity. These last two home shutouts prove that: UMass dominated play for the entire game, dictated the shots on goal, played solid defense for the most part, but too many mental mistakes and the collective snakebittenness of the entire fucking offense right now, combined with stellar goaltending efforts by guys whose teams desperately needed them, doomed UMass to their current fate.

Which, by the way, is somehow not as bad as it seems. With 3 games left, UMass still mathematically could finish as high as third. Seriously. And it is actually even in their own hands to a degree, since the team currently in third, Maine, is UMass’s opponent for the last two games. It would, of course, entail UMass playing with a lot more urgency than they have of late (even last night, the team visibly had given up by the midway point of the third, prompting a “please do something” chant). It would also, of course, involve a ridiculous turnaround in the luck department. And UMass would, in all likelihood, first have to win this Friday at BC, where they’ll have the misfortune of yours truly calling the game for WMUA (they’re 1-4 with me behind the mic; after the 3-2 win against BU, I’ve called the UNH home loss, the first Agganis trip and the Madore shutout) as well as playing a team which, in two games, has shown they can both grind out tough wins AND blow people the fuck out, both at the Bill.

Here’s the flipside: now that guys like Jimmy and Casey are probably tuning out the season and looking ahead at their NHL prospects (although I’m not exactly sure that “having a team on your shoulders and completely disappearing for eight games” is something NHL scouts are looking for), the Minutemen quite easily could lose these last three contests and fall out of the playoffs completely.

And if that doesn’t put Toot Cahoon on the hot seat for the duration of next season — the last year on his contract — I’m not sure what will.

-Max

Weekend wrap-up: I’m not even mad; in fact, that’s amazing

by bittym87

Well, to call this the worst sporting weekend in my nearly four years at UMass is probably an understatement. First, UMass hockey fell flat on its face in front of the entire New England area on NESN and 8,000+ at the Mullins Center, doing virtually nothing right in a 7-1 bloodbath at the hands of the team everyone loves to hate. Not really much to say about this one: UMass got outplayed in literally every aspect of the hockey game. Goaltending? Dainton didn’t have it, Meyers wasn’t much better, Muse was rarely tested. Offense? Eagles. Defense? Eagles, by a LOT. Special teams? UMass got all the first-period power play time, including over a minute of 5-on-3, and looked completely inept.

Honestly, there were no silver linings other than the fact that it only counts as one game, and that aggregate goals are meaningless in the NCAA. The troubling thing is that, after going through the entire first half without getting blown out – staying close in literally every game – the Minutemen have now suffered losses of 7-3 (BU), 7-2 (UNH), 6-2 (BU…again) and now this mess. They’re a mind-numbing six goals under .500 in Hockey East and down to even overall. What does it mean? Well, this percentage of the way through an NHL season, you’d have to start worrying; in a 27-game season, it just means UMass has gotten thrashed, absolutely thrashed, four times (this the first one at home). Their overall record, which is still solid in spite of everything, tells you that when things are bad for this team, they’re REALLY bad. For some reason, games spiral out of hand for these guys, which tells me there’s a tendency to give up (whether it’s late in the game, as it was in the two BU debacles, or early in the game, like up at Lake Whitt and now this shitshow).

So that means there’s good news and bad news. The good news is that this team, I still believe, has the talent to make a run in Hockey East. The bad news is that there are still effort and character issues. You simply cannot give up early in a sport; anything can happen in a game that’s 2-0 in the first (which is the point where it felt like the wheels really came off), hell, a comeback is still possible even after it’s 4-0 after one period, but a 7-0 deficit is insurmountable. (By the way, this applies to the fans, too, but Ben covered that already in his post.)

I will say this: BC, as Derek pointed out in his preview, is a damn good hockey team, and you must give coach York and crew credit for making them into serious contenders earlier than anyone outside Chestnut Hill could have predicted. They’re scary-deep, they don’t make stupid mistakes, and yeah, it’s safe to say that their January slump is behind them. Meanwhile, I have to take back anything I said before the game about BC’s fanbase being apathetic; their little cheering section was easily the most impressive of its kind in the Mullins Center all year, and they were certainly rewarded for their efforts and creativity. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I hate most people from BC with a fiery passion, but you can’t say they don’t care when they send over 100 kids to a place they supposedly wouldn’t touch with a 50-foot pole. (Then again, we’ll see how many of them come out in their own arena in a couple weeks.)

Coupled with tonight’s results, I think you have to look at Hockey East like this: three home-ice locks (UNH, Maine, and BC), and one spot open for the taking, with UMass, BU, and Vermont as the front-runners in a jumble, along with Lowell, although they’re on their way out as their offensive struggles (and now the loss of Dehner) have them on a rather Cahoon Swoon-esque slide. Northeastern, meanwhile, could jump into the conversation, but it would require a sweep of next weekend’s home-and-home with the Minutemen. Once again, we have to hope that playing the Huskies gives UMass a spark, and that this time, they sustain it. More on that later in the week.

Meanwhile, Matt and I made the annual (third time for me, first for him) bus trip down to URI to watch our men’s basketball team against our favorite A-10 rival. We’ll point out that we were among maybe five or six students on our bus and the group was heavily alumni-centric, so it wasn’t quite as fun as the last two trips. The outcome was also pretty depressing: once again, UMass started alright, then the wheel came off and before you knew it they were down 17 at half. I don’t even feel like talking about Big Shitty anymore, because honestly, there was nothing nice to say; I cringed every moment he stepped out on the floor, and this time he never managed to prove me wrong. The Gurley Show was also teetering on the brink of cancellation for me; his inconsistency is simply maddening at times.

Now, you have to give URI credit; they couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn to start the game (0 for their first 8 or 9 threes I think), and yet they were able to keep UMass from getting any sort of sustained run thanks to a devastatingly effective press that forced UMass turnovers seemingly at will. You gotta love their fan base, too — granted, there’s really nothing else to root for in Kingston, but just the same, they’ve packed that place all three times I’ve been there, their student section(s) put(s) ours to shame, and it’s freaking LOUD in there (not to mention a fantastic place to watch a game, even from the balcony corner that they always stick us in). I honestly love the Ryan Center, although I must admit that I’d love it a lot less if it weren’t for the last two trips. This one…eh.

UMass did put something together to start the second half again, and we had visions of another 17-point rally followed by actually holding the narrow lead, but then the Rams and their fans woke up again and put a quick stop to it with a bevy of dunks, not to mention their shooters finally heated up. Our guys made it respectable in the closing minutes, as Gurley suddenly realize there was a basketball game going on and started knocking down shot after shot, but it was in vain. This was a superior team with a lot more experience, especially in the coaching department, and it showed. Still, I liked what I saw out of the freshmen, and Sean Carter continues to be solid if not spectacular. And hey, at least they didn’t embarrass themselves on NESN. *sigh*

-Max

Break In Case Of Optimism

by blindspots88

Well here we are folks, after a long week of fat joke fueled anticipation, we are less than 9 hours from BC v Umass (no moniker needed) two point zero. Last game, the atmosphere was far beyond the play on the ice, but hopefully the break has given time to catch up.

Our elusive blogging friend over at the tri-corner blog reported yesterday that there were less than 300 tickets left, and that was yesterday. Needless to say the Bill will be packed and any students reading this, I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt that you are smart enough to know you best show early for BC/Umass hockey. Puck drops at 7:30, but doors are at 6, and you better show up around the latter to get in.

Hockey wise, I don’t have an special insight regarding tonight’s game. I will let Derek’s preview stand, but with that being said, the context for this game is equally important as the (assholes) we will be facing on the ice.

The last time we played BC, the excitement was immense. Cooling down after our especially hot start, Umass played a sloppy game that was hard to be proud of. However the 3-1 score lied. It was a sloppy game all around, and I never felt like we were out of it (until, of course, the 3rd goal, which happened late).  If Umass can come out tonight and get something that resembles offensive rhythm, we have the advantage.

That being said, we need this game. The first was an embarrassment, no doubt, but its one thing to have a loss in early December to a big rival, but doing it in February, during the stretch run, would be deadly. Now I don’t want to be hysterical, because this game by no means will be a cake walk, and there is a definite possibility that we will not win tonight. I can see us making the NCAA’s after losing tonight, but it will be alot harder. We are too far in this season to give up hope yet, and we shouldn’t, this team has something. Only now that something needs to come out.

—-

Basketball’s Wednesday night loss to Xavier hurt, but it was worth it, it was good to feel again. Since the Davidson loss, I went into every game (sans Fordham) fulling expecting us to be beaten in an embarrassing way. This isn’t me being 99% of the student body and not caring about the team, it was realism. I came to the school a basketball fan, and while hockey has been my new obsession, I still love basketball and this team with all my heart. Its just them have shown very little up till Wednesday.

Then the Xavier game happened. Yes, we lost, but that team showed that something that is important in sports. But beyond the bullshit vague hyperbole this post has consisted of, I noticed a few things.

  • Rickey Harris has the pit bull fire. After getting cleanly blocked on a breakaway layup, Rickey proceeded to take initiative and both score when they gave him the chance (no bad 3′s!!!!) as well as run the offense.
  • Speaking of the offense, when we were trading buckets we were doing it on the inside! No more bullshit Riley  3′s (well almost) it was an actual dribble drive with this team finally making use of their length and getting easy layups and hooks. Speaking of the hook shot, if I ever see Terrell Vinson hanging out on the perimeter, I’m going to shoot at his feet. This kid needs to be inside at all times. His hook shot is deadly and he has legitimate post moves. The knock on him out of hight school was he fell in love with 3′s. DK, don’t let that happen, TV is amazing.
  • Every review I’ve seen has been praising Big City, and this still angers me. Guys, he had six fucking points, all of them rebounds that dropped in his lap. Ok, maybe I should change my prior “no skills” statement. His skills are “I’m Fat” and “If a ball drops in my hand under the basket I can go up with power and draw the foul and make the shot”. Sorry Big City, too limited. I can see you, you are not invisible. You botch easy rebounds (then fall down so idiots can call it a hustle play), you are 4 steps slower than every Big in College sports, you are passive on both sides of the ball and you, in summary, are still Big Shitty. People who egg you on annoy me.
  • This team makes the best “that was a terrible call” faces of any team I’ve ever seen. TV’s and Ricky’s are so distinctive and great that they overshadow Sean Carter’s, which in itself is amazing.

Lets hope that Saturday they can play up to another A10 power. I just want to see something, otherwise it would be a long ride home

Go UMass

-Matt

The game we’ve all (shitty part-time fans included) been waiting for

by heavydrexler

No. 14 Boston College Eagles (14-8-2 (10-6-2 HEA)) vs. No. 15 UMass Minutemen (16-10-0 (11-8-0 HEA))

Well it is upon us again. Everyone’s favorite game of the year. I just love having to get to The Bill an hour earlier than the early time I already get there just to get the same seats I usually do. Okay bandwagon fans, I suppose I’ll grudginly allow you to come to this game (only because I can’t stop you) ability to see this game, but please don’t embarrass the rest of us who are there screaming just as loud when this team plays Merrimack and Niagara. That means you don’t chant “Fuck BC” every ten seconds (Yes, we know it’s fun, but after a while you sound retarded). That means you stay in sync during the chants and follow the clever ones that the regulars know and love (HINT: pay attention to that kid with the goggles). That means please, for the love of that crazy guy up in the sky with the beard that people who go to BC believe in, no swesties painting “zoomass” across their stomachs. Painting the name of our college is fantastic, painting a term that makes all other New England colleges look down on us is not. Thank you.

It has been said by many that only two types of people go to Boston College, rich Catholic snobs and great hockey players. This year’s edition of the BC Eagles once again proves the latter true. The Minutemen will face tonight the most statistically dominating team in Hockey East. The Eagles are the top-scoring team in Hockey East (3.67 GPG), have allowed the second fewest goals per game (2.62), and have the second best special teams scoring differential (+13). UMass ranks fifth (3.19), fifth (2.96), and fourth (+7) in these categories, respectively.

The Eagles have spread the scoring around this year, and they have eight double-digit point scorers in Hockey East games (Brian Gibbons (6-17-23), Cam Atkinson (13-8-21), Joe Whitney (6-10-16), Ben Smith (9-5-14), Carl Sneep {Sneep’s a pussy… you know the rest} (5-9-14), Jimmy Hayes (4-10-14), Pat Mullane (4-7-11), and Paul Carey (3-7-10)). UMass can counter such prolific double-digit Hockey East scorers as James Marcou (6-20-26), Casey Wellman (12-10-22), Will Ortiz (9-8-17), Justin Braun (2-15-17), Matt Irwin (4-9-13), and T.J. Syner (4-6-10). I might add that this is the first time since writing this blog that the Minutemen have actually had less double-digit scorers than their opponent. The Boston College offense averages over 32 shots on goal per game in conference and features a solid power play that scores on 20.4% of its Hockey East opportunities.

Boston College does a good job denying the opposition opportunities to score, as well. With shutdown defensemen like Brian Dumoulin, who has a +14 plus/minus (really, fucking +14! He’s +13 in conference too; what the fuck?) and good all around team defense (their top two scorers are both +8 in Hockey East play), it’s easy to see why BC has only been letting up goals at a rate of just over two and a half a game. What’s more, the Eagles have made their goalies face fewer than 26 shots a game in conference. With these numbers, its easy to see why the less than outstanding John Muse (.911 save % in conference) and that scrub Parker Milner (.887) are only allowing 2.37 and 2.60 goals a game, respectively.

Numbers, however, can be deceiving. BC has had a veritable cakewalk of a schedule so far this year. The Eagles have only had to play the other four teams in the top five of Hockey East (UNH, UMass, Maine, UML) in six of its eighteen Hockey East tilts this season. Since the start of the new year, BC has struggled. They are 4-5-0 in games played in 2010, although they are 4-2-0 in their last five. The key variable during this stretch has been shots on goal. In the four wins since the Jan 1, BC has put up 45, 39, 36, and 43 shots on goal. In the five losses, they have only topped 31 shots on goal once, and that was in an overtime game. So the key to this game would seem to be to limit BC’s shots on goal…

…Which brings us to the part of the Minutemen that makes me shudder, the defense. Our beloved team’s defense is, eh, not great. Giving up an average of 30.4 shots against in conference play not great. Having only five players on the team with positive plus/minus ratings not great. Having a plus/minus leader (Brett Watson) whose rating is only +4 not great. And missing an oft-overlooked but key defenseman in Doug Kublin for the last four games not great. (I’m holding out hope that Kubbie will play tonight, he has endeared himself to me BY KNOWING HOW TO FOLLOW HIS MAN TO THE GODDAMN POST ON A 2-ON-2 , knowledge that seems to elude our other defensemen.)

Still, I hold out hope. Paul Dainton will obviously be back in net tonight (Defense: Please, please, please give him a chance to win, just 31 shots or less, I’m begging.), and hopefully the breather given him by Dan Meyers (who performed very well in the 4-1 victory over Providence) will mean the end to the troubles he had in the two previous losses. The Minutemen are 3-2-0 in their last five and both Jimmy and Casey are due. Neither have scored a goal and they have only combined for three points in the last three games. SIDE NOTE: James Marcou has 32 assists on the year, one more will break the UMass record he set last year. I’m sure he would love to get that in a big way against a big rival.

This game is also on NESN, by the way. (They advertise it as Boston College versus UMass Amherst. Amherst, what the fuck man? This is UMass, that other college is UMass Lowell, get your shit straight NESN.) Usually a televised game would be enough to get me nervous, but there’s something else this year. There hasn’t been that January slide I’ve suffered through every year I’ve been here (please don’t come in February. Or March. Or Ever.), we don’t play down to our opposition, and I find myself really believing in this team.

The Rundown:

Offense: BC (sucks.)
Defense: BC (sucks.)
Goaltending: UMass
Special Teams: BC (sucks.)
Other Factors: UMass

Prediction:

Boston College 2 – 4 Massachusetts
(Against everything my brain tells me, my heart says we can and will win this.)

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Baby steps.

by bittym87

Before this post, some business: First off, we’ve had an absolute explosion of new visitors in the last few days, undoubtedly thanks to our self-pimping on Goggles’s/Hamel’s/my event page for the UMass-BC game on Facebook. I just want to thank you all for checking us out and we hope you keep following the blog for the rest of the season and beyond, and again, contributors are always welcome so if you want to write for us in any capacity, big or small, contact one of us through here or Facebook or wherever. And please spread the word. We’re trying to make this about the student body here, something I think gives us a unique perspective as opposed to the other college hockey blogs out there (not that we don’t like their angles – we’re just filling an empty niche). As soon as our lazy asses get around to it we’ll be pimping the blog out on bulletin boards around campus, but word-of-mouth is always nice too. We’re not doing this for money or for our own careers – we just want our work to get read, and to open discussions.

And one more thing: Welcome aboard Ben, a.k.a. “Flag Guy!” We’re lovin’ your contributions so far.

Ahem…business.

So halfway through tonight’s Xavier-UMass basketball game, with X up 50-33 and with all the momentum in the world, I said to nobody in particular, “Let’s just make it respectable. That’s all I ask. Get it to single digits, make a run, show us something.”

It started reasonably enough, with Vinson and Riley knocking down a few shots and UMass up 13-10. And then Big City checked into the game and proceeded to play zero defense, Xavier got away with a vicious trip on someone (Gurley, IIRC) and everyone fell apart as the Musketeers went on a monster run to seemingly put the game out of reach before the 10 minute mark of the first half. The Gurley Show looked like it needed to be cancelled. Ricky Harris looked…old. Vinson disappeared. “Here we go again,” we groaned. “Is it Friday yet?” we groaned. It was so bad that the biggest applause came when the Hoop Band decided to reveal that they have, in fact, learned how to play not one but THREE Lady Gaga songs (Bad Romance, Paparazzi and Poker Face). Sidenote: This is the greatest moment for the Hoop Band since they started playing “Army” by Ben Folds last year.

Then, lo and behold, UMass came out of the halftime locker room possessed. Gurley and Riley stopped taking stupid 3′s. Ricky started to actually knock down shots. Javorn Farrell became a beast on both ends of the floor, as did TV. UMass was hustling defensively. Even City looked more like the guy we saw in the Memphis game, shedding the “Big Shitty” label if only fleetingly. People like Sean “Hov” Carter and Big City were – gasp – actually hitting free-throws.

This is the UMass team we want to see from here on out. This is the up-tempo, aggressive, drive-and-dish offense Kellogg wants to run. This is the energetic defense these guys need to start using. This is what DK and Walberg are building here in Amherst, a team that could develop into a serious A-10 title contender and bring basketball glory back to the Pioneer Valley. UMass erased that 17-point deficit, and even held a lead in the later stages of the game! Hell, that’s better than T-Fraud’s teams did last time Xavier was in town a couple years ago, and we were good back then!

Ultimately, and somewhat predictably, the machine ran out of gas – Xavier showed their combination of experience and young talent, pulling away with a big run as the defense came together to shut down Ricky, Gurley, et al. There were still some rough edges, sure, and Xavier shot itself in the foot with careless turnovers to help fuel the run. But for once, the Mullins faithful finally saw first-hand for the first time (unless they were in Boston for the Memphis game) flashes of the potential this team has. Remember, Farrell’s a freshman. Riley’s a freshman. Vinson’s a freshman. These guys are only going to get smarter, stronger, more efficient, more adjusted to the offense they’re trying to run.

Until tonight, and even through the first half, I was concerned about the progress this team was making. I’ve conceded that the gelling of this team probably won’t end up happening quickly enough to rescue their A-10 tournament hopes, but I was getting to the point where I actually felt this team was regressing. But they heeded my call. They showed me something. And that’s all you can ask for in a rebuilding year.

Baby steps. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that the team keeps taking them, in a forward direction, from here on out.

–

So yeah, Friday. BC. About that…I’ll be hitting up the Motion City Soundtrack concert tonight (Thursday) in Hartford, and between that and classes I prooobably won’t have time to write anything before the BC game, or, for that matter, Saturday’s annual URI road-trip. Maybe the other guys will having something to say, but otherwise, fear not, there’ll be plenty to say after the games, good or bad. Until then, all I have to say is…Friday, PACK THE DAMN MULLINS CENTER! (as if it even needs to be said!) And as for Saturday: this.

It will never, ever, ever get old.

-Max