Category: college hockey (Page 18 of 19)

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

26 September, 2008 / Kat

The air is crisp. I broke out my vast collection of lightweight coats. Everything is pumpkin or apple flavored or scented or both. A new TV season starts (although, truth being told, I only watch three shows that aren’t sports related.) Those things alone makes late September wonderful…but then, let’s add:

the start of football season
the pennant race
NHL and AHL training camps
and, most importantly, the countdown to college hockey season. (T minus 8 days, if you are a Boston University men’s hockey fan, and if you follow the women’s team, 2 days.)

Those aspects alone make this time of year one of my favorites. It’s all sports, all the time. I can’t complain.

In addition to these general reasons why late September is wonderful, here are four things making this week better than most:

I Drool Over the Olympics Like Homer Simpson Drools Over Donuts

18 August, 2008 / Kat

The Olympics are, hands down, my favorite sporting event. It started when I was two, and my mother, an Olympics junkie if you’ve ever seen one, pretty much forced me to watch the 1984 Summer and Winter Olympics instead of doing normal two-year-old things. This caused me to mimic Mary Lou Retton by diving head first off my couch when my parents weren’t looking, which then resulted in my first of two childhood concussions when I went flying into the window. (The other came while roller skating when I was four, back before helmets were all the rage.) Since then, I drool over the Olympics like Homer Simpson drools over donuts.

Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to follow the Bejing Games as much as I would like. I have been traveling for work, and haven’t been able to catch the games. I have been trying to stay up for the late night replays, but have been passing out whenever I see a bed. I have missed so much of the gymnastics, and I feel out of the loop. However, here are the observations regarding the little bit I have seen:

Dear Mr. Favre: We Also Like Cheese, Beer and Lots o’ Snow (with random thoughts at the end)

20 July, 2008 / Kat

Dear Mr. Favre:

I understand you currently have a tad bit of drama in your life. A few months back, you thought it best to retire from the sport you loved, because everyone was chomping at the bit for you to. All of us football fans had been anticipating your retirement for the last eight years, as all of your contemporaries hung up the cleats. But over those years, you still had the skills and desire to play, and fortunately, weren’t racked by debilitating concussions or other injuries that have forced some quarterbacks out too soon (gratuitous Steve Young reference of the post.) So you stayed in the NFL, losing some of your effectiveness as a quarterback and as a leader in the locker room (your teammates grew up watching you play – you’re from a completely different generation as yours) but still leading the Green Bay Packers to respectable seasons.

Better Know a Compliance Rule #2: Should I Stay or Should I Go?

6 July, 2008 / Kat

First, my disclaimer – I am not a compliance official of any sort. I have a weird fascination with NCAA compliance. The material below is just my interpretation of the rules in a easily digestible form for fans. It should not be used by student-athletes or athletics officials for any formal use.

All of Boston University is still abuzz with the future of rising sophomore Colin Wilson’s potential jump to the NHL after the Nashville Predators drafted him 7th in this year’s NHL Draft. Everyday, there seems to be a different opinion about what he will do – stay another year in college or make the jump to the pros. Yes, he was Hockey East Rookie of the Year last year, and that’s indicative of his immense potential, but his offensive production left a bit to be desired and he took a while to find his footing in the college game. Because of that, everyone’s opinion about what he’ll do seems valid – it’s totally up to him at this point. He’ll be a fun and powerful hockey player wherever he plays next season.

But how can Colin Wilson even entertain a professional hockey team holding his rights and attend Predators development camp while he is still deemed an eligible student-athlete by the NCAA? Because in certain sports, the NCAA makes provisions for professional teams to draft currently eligible players. However, there are quite a number of provisions placed on the drafting of student-athletes to maintain their amateur status. Continue reading

More Hockey Players Love Country Music (My Brief NHL Draft Thoughts)

25 June, 2008 / Kat

I had these grand plans to blog about the NHL Draft. Grand plans. Then I realized that I haven’t seen my boyfriend play softball in two years (yep, I’m a horrible girlfriend), and that he had a make-up game scheduled for the exact same time as the first round of the draft. I decided that it might be a good idea to attend the softball game, and get home in enough time to catch the last few picks of the night. Continue reading