From the PC Sucks board
From the I Hate Tim Welsh Society
Fortunately, two groups of fans griping about one thing or another is the worst thing that happened this year. In past we had the Rhody mascot beaten up in a bathroom, the PC mascot attempting to distract URI's cheerleaders and various atrocities - most of them blown far out of proportion by the incredibly whiny president at Rhody. As nasty as it does seem, this is a fairly mellow conversation compared to year's past.
There are two points that get brought up again and again in these arguments. The first is the renovation of the Dunkin Donuts Center. URI fans are enraged that state funds went to "fix" this facility. The problem with their argument is that unless they really hate the Providence Bruins - the main tenant of the Dunk - they really don't have much to complain about. Since the Baby B's are the going to be the prime benefactors of any improvement done to the Dunk, they should be the ones criticized. The tax money in Rhode Island is probably going to to things about 9,000 times stupider. Why then the four year crying jag about this?
Because PC would benefit from the renovations, and God forbid that ever happen. They want to punish PC because they hate them. That's pretty much the end of the argument. For a PC fan, reading any thread on the Projo board is the equivalent of banging your head against a desk over and over again. Banging your head is probably more productive as well. I see that 4 years of complaining about the Dunk renovations on a message board didn't work. Funny that. All the moronic "Pee Cee" comments in the world didn't suddenly lead to PC's summary eviction from the Dunk. (I don't know, maybe if it wasn't the same 10-12 mouth breathing cretins complaining about the Friars non stop, someone would take them seriously. I don't know...)
Now for the twits in my own fan base: the Friars are not in the position to be ending this rivalry or telling Rhody that PC will now be hosting all future match ups. I don't care if URI is a "crappy A-10 team". PC is a crappy Big East team. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the Friars didn't suddenly turn into UCLA. Blame Tim Welsh all you want, but the the team hasn't done anything in the post season since 1997. Each and every year, the team completely lost the plot once March rolled around. If PC was Duke, it would be easy to tell URI to pound sand. But it isn't like PC is a far better program that URI. In fact, they're probably about equal, save that PC is in a better conference. How the hell do you look down on Rhody after the past 10 years?
Besides which, should PC be able to win at the Ryan Center before they even think of dismissing the home and home aspect of this rivalry? My suggestion for PC fans who hate having their team's RPI dragged down by Rhody is this: Beat them. Then the other solutions will present themselves. There's no reason to suspend this match up or move it exclusively to the Dunk. I also think two PC/URI games every year is silly.
As far as the PC AD bending over backwards to make URI welcome and not getting a reciprocal deal at the Ryan Center, this is the same crew that schedules home basketball games at the same times as home hockey games.
One last thing, I will never understand Rhody fans who refuse to go to Providence and PC fans who refuse to go to North Kingston. It's a 40 minute drive. I drive longer than that to go to work every morning.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Monday, December 8, 2008
Two rivals: Out you two pixies go through the door or through the window!
Apparently, it is rivalry week in Friar Country, an event so momentous that it nearly escaped by attention. As I intimated about a month ago, PC really lacks a truly consistent rival in ice hockey. The same is not true in basketball. The Dribbling Friars (which just sounds wrong, doesn't it?) have the University of Rhode Island Rams, a team that not only plays the Friars even, but who has a fan base that intensely dislikes PC and everything about it! Awesome! It also helps that - unlike with BC, BU, Brown, and UNH in ice hockey, PC has a winning record against Rhody and thus is the obstacle - a nice change from the hockey team.
It helps that PC fans actually acknowledge Rhody as a rival. This comment might be disputed by some Rams fans, I do get the impression that PC fans legitimately care about winning this game. While some arrogantly assume that PC should "always" win this contest, in reality I think most of us realize that this is going to be a tough contest (especially at the Ryan Center where URI never misses a 3 point shot). I don't think anyone really looks down on the Atlantic Ten to the extent where they think URI is a "gimme" - there are too many upsets in this series. Still no one at PC "hates" Rhody the same way they dislike UCONN, Georgetown, BC or Syracuse. And a quick trip to the Providence Journal message board (I wouldn't recommend it) will convince you that a sizable subset of Rhody fans are obsessed with PC and the renovation of the Dunkin Donuts Center to a level that makes the "Yankees Suck" phenomenon look entirely rational.
And on the opposite side of the coin, we have Brown hockey. Not only does no one at Brown seem to seriously hate PC hockey (which these days is like having a personal grudge against the Clippers), they don't seem to care about hockey, period. It's easy to see why. Brown has had precious little success since going to the Frozen Four in 1976. PC fans really don't hate Brown. In fact, I root for Brown when they aren't playing PC. So much for hate.
So we go from the irrational feelings on both sides of the PC/URI rivalry to the feeling of "meh" in ice hockey. So far, irrational wins over meh with PC taking out URI by one free throw on Saturday and the worst season in PC ice hockey continuing on Tuesday.
It helps that PC fans actually acknowledge Rhody as a rival. This comment might be disputed by some Rams fans, I do get the impression that PC fans legitimately care about winning this game. While some arrogantly assume that PC should "always" win this contest, in reality I think most of us realize that this is going to be a tough contest (especially at the Ryan Center where URI never misses a 3 point shot). I don't think anyone really looks down on the Atlantic Ten to the extent where they think URI is a "gimme" - there are too many upsets in this series. Still no one at PC "hates" Rhody the same way they dislike UCONN, Georgetown, BC or Syracuse. And a quick trip to the Providence Journal message board (I wouldn't recommend it) will convince you that a sizable subset of Rhody fans are obsessed with PC and the renovation of the Dunkin Donuts Center to a level that makes the "Yankees Suck" phenomenon look entirely rational.
And on the opposite side of the coin, we have Brown hockey. Not only does no one at Brown seem to seriously hate PC hockey (which these days is like having a personal grudge against the Clippers), they don't seem to care about hockey, period. It's easy to see why. Brown has had precious little success since going to the Frozen Four in 1976. PC fans really don't hate Brown. In fact, I root for Brown when they aren't playing PC. So much for hate.
So we go from the irrational feelings on both sides of the PC/URI rivalry to the feeling of "meh" in ice hockey. So far, irrational wins over meh with PC taking out URI by one free throw on Saturday and the worst season in PC ice hockey continuing on Tuesday.
Friday, December 5, 2008
Rant of the Week: Not a creature was stirring... except for Mr. Hanky!
As far as updates on my beloved Skating Friars, there aren't any. Literally nothing has changed in the past month. It's nice that the team put forth solid efforts in both third periods last weekend, but the result was still two 4-2 losses. One of these days, the team will put together these third periods into a 60 minute game and come up with their third win of the year.
What better time to get this win against winless Brown? The Bears have two less wins than PC, proving that the Friars might not be the most pathetic team in college hockey. Of course, the game is at Meehan Auditorium and will feature ECAC officials, making this an uphill climb. I've never seen a greater variety of insane, imaginary calls than the ones called against PC in ECAC rinks. It looks highly likely that the Mayor's Cup will be going back to Bruno in a game that no one - except a handful of people on both sides - really cares about any more.
The good news is that the Friday night game at Quinnipiac will be on NESN. All of New England will be able to see if PC can FINALLY get off the mat against the Skating Deer Ticks.
Random rants:
-Two things that cracked me up this week: Dave Hendrickson's annual Christmas column where Tim Army refers to Santa Claus as a "pantload" and MeanEgirl's entry on the MTU Blog that is basically Mr. Hanky's cousin. Misery can actually be really funny.
-Also, in the amusing category, yet another Dan Shaugnessy column where he not only jumps the gun, he launches himself into orbit. I'm very close to sending Charlie Chaplin to torch Mr. Shaugnessy's keyboard for this outstanding display of hubris. The Celtics are many things, but "invincible" is not one of them.
Notice the comments section - always a display of idiocy whenever it appears - is full of Portland Trailblazer fans talking smack about their "new" dynasty. Apparently, standards of dynasties have dropped precipitously when 14 wins in December constitutes a "dynasty". And this after people tried to deny the Pats had a dynasty after 3 Super Bowl wins in four years - mostly with logic that would have you laughed out of Socrates' classroom in Athens. If PC wins either the Brown or QU games, I'm declaring the Friars a legitimate dynasty! Go us!
-Hi Mark! and... best of luck!
What better time to get this win against winless Brown? The Bears have two less wins than PC, proving that the Friars might not be the most pathetic team in college hockey. Of course, the game is at Meehan Auditorium and will feature ECAC officials, making this an uphill climb. I've never seen a greater variety of insane, imaginary calls than the ones called against PC in ECAC rinks. It looks highly likely that the Mayor's Cup will be going back to Bruno in a game that no one - except a handful of people on both sides - really cares about any more.
The good news is that the Friday night game at Quinnipiac will be on NESN. All of New England will be able to see if PC can FINALLY get off the mat against the Skating Deer Ticks.
Random rants:
-Two things that cracked me up this week: Dave Hendrickson's annual Christmas column where Tim Army refers to Santa Claus as a "pantload" and MeanEgirl's entry on the MTU Blog that is basically Mr. Hanky's cousin. Misery can actually be really funny.
-Also, in the amusing category, yet another Dan Shaugnessy column where he not only jumps the gun, he launches himself into orbit. I'm very close to sending Charlie Chaplin to torch Mr. Shaugnessy's keyboard for this outstanding display of hubris. The Celtics are many things, but "invincible" is not one of them.
Notice the comments section - always a display of idiocy whenever it appears - is full of Portland Trailblazer fans talking smack about their "new" dynasty. Apparently, standards of dynasties have dropped precipitously when 14 wins in December constitutes a "dynasty". And this after people tried to deny the Pats had a dynasty after 3 Super Bowl wins in four years - mostly with logic that would have you laughed out of Socrates' classroom in Athens. If PC wins either the Brown or QU games, I'm declaring the Friars a legitimate dynasty! Go us!
-Hi Mark! and... best of luck!
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Randomizer: Bing Crosby tap dances with Danny ****ing Kaye!
Just some random comments while I sit here waiting to get a call from Bill Bellichick to play cornerback this Sunday.
-If you remember back to October, I was beyond frustrated with the tenor of the columns coming from our local sports media about how the Red Sox were going to be eating Tampa Bay's dust for the next decade - it not millennium. Well, that was merely a sideshow for all the "Patriots are finished!!!1!!11!" drivel we've been subjected to the past week. The focus on the Patriots should be on the shoddy secondary, the dropped passes and the special teams choking at inopportune times. Or, you could be completely lazy, say that the Pats are "over" as a relevant team in the NFL and commence the teeth gnashing and garment rending (as you secretly rejoice that you can now focus on Red Sox 24/7 and pray that a bus runs into KG and Tim Thomas so you can go back to exclusively covering the Red Sox again).
The sky is falling! The sky is falling!
-The NHL really has some explaining to do: schedule wise, the Bruins are in the midst of a five game "vacation". While I'm sure the B's are happy for the impromptu holiday, it would have been nice to see them sooner after the win over the Red Wings on Saturday. Then we have Sean Avery suspended for referring to his ex-girlfriend as "sloppy seconds". Really. The NHL has long had this issue in dealing with goonery and cheap shots (why else wasn't Ulf Sammuelson not given a lifetime ban?) and now you're penalizing the most hated player in hockey for making a goofy and mildly inappropriate comment? Does that make an ounce of sense?
-The NBA also needs to figure something out: the Celtics have somehow committed an incredible 39 technical fouls in 19 games. That's 14 as many as the next team in the list. I've watched the C's play frequently this year and they don't strike me as a chippy team. In fact a recent article went into the nature of the technicals, and most of them are because the Celtics are (I can not believe this) overly exuberant. Isn't one of the positive attributes in sports displays of emotion? The NBA needs to stop following the lead of the No Fun League and back off on displaying emotion.
-Sadly, nothing has changed with the Skating Friars. Nothing. Meanwhile, PC basketball is disappointing everyone except those of us too jaded by the end of the Welsh era to muster any surprise at anything. The black cloud above the PC athletic department hasn't moved since Corey Wright missed a chance to send the 97' Friars to the Final Four.
-Hi Mark!
-If you remember back to October, I was beyond frustrated with the tenor of the columns coming from our local sports media about how the Red Sox were going to be eating Tampa Bay's dust for the next decade - it not millennium. Well, that was merely a sideshow for all the "Patriots are finished!!!1!!11!" drivel we've been subjected to the past week. The focus on the Patriots should be on the shoddy secondary, the dropped passes and the special teams choking at inopportune times. Or, you could be completely lazy, say that the Pats are "over" as a relevant team in the NFL and commence the teeth gnashing and garment rending (as you secretly rejoice that you can now focus on Red Sox 24/7 and pray that a bus runs into KG and Tim Thomas so you can go back to exclusively covering the Red Sox again).
The sky is falling! The sky is falling!
-The NHL really has some explaining to do: schedule wise, the Bruins are in the midst of a five game "vacation". While I'm sure the B's are happy for the impromptu holiday, it would have been nice to see them sooner after the win over the Red Wings on Saturday. Then we have Sean Avery suspended for referring to his ex-girlfriend as "sloppy seconds". Really. The NHL has long had this issue in dealing with goonery and cheap shots (why else wasn't Ulf Sammuelson not given a lifetime ban?) and now you're penalizing the most hated player in hockey for making a goofy and mildly inappropriate comment? Does that make an ounce of sense?
-The NBA also needs to figure something out: the Celtics have somehow committed an incredible 39 technical fouls in 19 games. That's 14 as many as the next team in the list. I've watched the C's play frequently this year and they don't strike me as a chippy team. In fact a recent article went into the nature of the technicals, and most of them are because the Celtics are (I can not believe this) overly exuberant. Isn't one of the positive attributes in sports displays of emotion? The NBA needs to stop following the lead of the No Fun League and back off on displaying emotion.
-Sadly, nothing has changed with the Skating Friars. Nothing. Meanwhile, PC basketball is disappointing everyone except those of us too jaded by the end of the Welsh era to muster any surprise at anything. The black cloud above the PC athletic department hasn't moved since Corey Wright missed a chance to send the 97' Friars to the Final Four.
-Hi Mark!
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Things to be thankful for....
Here are the things I'm thankful for:
Jenny
Family
Friends
A warm apartment
The mellowing of Charlie "the computer destroying cat" Chaplin
The fact that my car works (for the most part)
Having a job
Following successful sports teams (the current abhorrent state of PC hockey and Celtic's abysmal road form in Europe notwithstanding)
Early Christmas shopping
... and finally the three or four people who actually read this blog! Thanks, and keep up the comments!
Flotsam and jetsam:
- Um, Herald? “We’re the No. 1 defense. If we play like we’ve been playing, and our offense comes around and has a good game, and we’re clicking on all cylinders, we’re going to win the game.” How does this comment by Anthony Smith of the Steelers constitute "trash talk"? If the Steelers do indeed play up to their capabilities, they will win the game. That's not a trash talk. That's just patently obvious. I understand that Mr. Smith made an ass of himself last year, but this isn't even close to trash talk.
Shouldn't the Pats be desensitized to this silliness by now, especially after Joey "the Prince of the Land of Make Believe" Porter last week?
-There's radio, bad radio and the continued devolution of the Big Show. Last week, all of the Whiner Line (and really, shame of me for listening to the Whiner Line) was dedicated to one of the producers saying that he thought Nancy Pelosi was attractive. While the comment was certainly... insane, I can't help but note that in a sports climate where the Pats, Bruins and Celtics are all competitive - if not dominant - the Big Show is wallowing in politics. Again.
-The "Dead Zone" in the sports calender is usually the days before and after the MLB All Star Game. Well, New England went through it's own Dead Zone the past two days. While I appreciate that the Celtics and Bruins do need days off, the past two sports free days have been a bit odd. Especially since the Celtics play about a fifth of their schedule in November!
-Speaking of Celtic's baffling incompetence in the Champions League, while I'm unhappy with the 17th consecutive road game without a victory, I can't help but take solace in the phrases that get used in international football (soccer to the rest of you). Celtic didn't just lose out, they "Crashed out of Europe". I might have to use that from now on. For instance, PC is in the midst of crashing out of Hockey East.
It's probably a good thing there's no relegation in college hockey, or PC would be playing UMASS Boston and Middlebury next year.
Jenny
Family
Friends
A warm apartment
The mellowing of Charlie "the computer destroying cat" Chaplin
The fact that my car works (for the most part)
Having a job
Following successful sports teams (the current abhorrent state of PC hockey and Celtic's abysmal road form in Europe notwithstanding)
Early Christmas shopping
... and finally the three or four people who actually read this blog! Thanks, and keep up the comments!
Flotsam and jetsam:
- Um, Herald? “We’re the No. 1 defense. If we play like we’ve been playing, and our offense comes around and has a good game, and we’re clicking on all cylinders, we’re going to win the game.” How does this comment by Anthony Smith of the Steelers constitute "trash talk"? If the Steelers do indeed play up to their capabilities, they will win the game. That's not a trash talk. That's just patently obvious. I understand that Mr. Smith made an ass of himself last year, but this isn't even close to trash talk.
Shouldn't the Pats be desensitized to this silliness by now, especially after Joey "the Prince of the Land of Make Believe" Porter last week?
-There's radio, bad radio and the continued devolution of the Big Show. Last week, all of the Whiner Line (and really, shame of me for listening to the Whiner Line) was dedicated to one of the producers saying that he thought Nancy Pelosi was attractive. While the comment was certainly... insane, I can't help but note that in a sports climate where the Pats, Bruins and Celtics are all competitive - if not dominant - the Big Show is wallowing in politics. Again.
-The "Dead Zone" in the sports calender is usually the days before and after the MLB All Star Game. Well, New England went through it's own Dead Zone the past two days. While I appreciate that the Celtics and Bruins do need days off, the past two sports free days have been a bit odd. Especially since the Celtics play about a fifth of their schedule in November!
-Speaking of Celtic's baffling incompetence in the Champions League, while I'm unhappy with the 17th consecutive road game without a victory, I can't help but take solace in the phrases that get used in international football (soccer to the rest of you). Celtic didn't just lose out, they "Crashed out of Europe". I might have to use that from now on. For instance, PC is in the midst of crashing out of Hockey East.
It's probably a good thing there's no relegation in college hockey, or PC would be playing UMASS Boston and Middlebury next year.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Imagination and broohahas!
"You've heard of the French nation? Well, this is the Imagi-nation!"
-Kris Kringle, A Miracle on 34th Street
Say this about Joey Porter, he has a healthy imagination. In his mind, he's already won 2 extra Super Bowl titles. I'm jealous: when I was a kid, they best I could imagine was owning a time machine! I'm just curious, in his fantasy kingdom, does he own a pony?
I know the Spygate flap generated a lot of goofiness, but is this true of other NFL players? Are there 300 people floating around the NFL all imagining they would have won multiple Super Bowl titles if only the Pat's hadn't used videotape? (because it's perfectly legal to use other methods of spying for some reason that will never - EVER - be explained to the general public. Yeah.)
Speaking of delusions, the Montreal Canadiens have somehow reached the rather bizarre conclusion that the team's some times somnambulant performances this year can be boiled down to one thing: Milan Lucic's refusal to fight Georges Laraque. Huh? Let's face facts - Lucic is a fun player. He can score goals, he can hit people and get under the skin of teams and he can certainly handle himself in a fight. But Laraque would kill him and apparently, the Bruins are aware of this and told Lucic not to fight Laraque on Saturday night. This is an amusing subplot. Unfortunately, it came back to bite Montreal in the rear as Lucic scored one of the goals that allowed the B's to earn an overtime shoot out "win" (I'm sorry, even when the Bruins "win" the shootout still sucks). So, not only are the Bruins 2-0-1 against a team they couldn't beat at all last year, but they now they're winning mind games against les Blue, Rouge et Blanc too.
I might be wrong about this - I haven't been alive for most of this one-sided rivalry - but isn't it usually the Bruins who are obsessed with "making points" and "dropping the gloves" and the Habs who go about actually winning the games? I know the Bruins were obsessed with winning fights against Montreal last year and their inability to get one win against les Habs last year proves this to be a poor strategy. So why is an intelligent franchise like the Canadiens buying into this circus sideshow? Am I missing something? Did the Canadiens establish their dynasty by scoring, defense, and goaltending, or were Rocket Richard, Jean Belliveau, and Guy LaFleur actually giant Hansenesque cementheads who pummeled everyone into submission? One of the criticisms against Laraque is that he doesn't do the requisite illegal hitting to initiate fights. Fancy that, he acts like a human being instead of a giant goon!
I'm not one of these people who wants to ban fighting from hockey, but the obsession with fisticuffmanship that the Habs are indulging in is at least as funny as Joey Porter and the Super Bowl rings he likes to look at while he rides his Pegasus over to Gum Drop Mountain.
-Kris Kringle, A Miracle on 34th Street
Say this about Joey Porter, he has a healthy imagination. In his mind, he's already won 2 extra Super Bowl titles. I'm jealous: when I was a kid, they best I could imagine was owning a time machine! I'm just curious, in his fantasy kingdom, does he own a pony?
I know the Spygate flap generated a lot of goofiness, but is this true of other NFL players? Are there 300 people floating around the NFL all imagining they would have won multiple Super Bowl titles if only the Pat's hadn't used videotape? (because it's perfectly legal to use other methods of spying for some reason that will never - EVER - be explained to the general public. Yeah.)
Speaking of delusions, the Montreal Canadiens have somehow reached the rather bizarre conclusion that the team's some times somnambulant performances this year can be boiled down to one thing: Milan Lucic's refusal to fight Georges Laraque. Huh? Let's face facts - Lucic is a fun player. He can score goals, he can hit people and get under the skin of teams and he can certainly handle himself in a fight. But Laraque would kill him and apparently, the Bruins are aware of this and told Lucic not to fight Laraque on Saturday night. This is an amusing subplot. Unfortunately, it came back to bite Montreal in the rear as Lucic scored one of the goals that allowed the B's to earn an overtime shoot out "win" (I'm sorry, even when the Bruins "win" the shootout still sucks). So, not only are the Bruins 2-0-1 against a team they couldn't beat at all last year, but they now they're winning mind games against les Blue, Rouge et Blanc too.
I might be wrong about this - I haven't been alive for most of this one-sided rivalry - but isn't it usually the Bruins who are obsessed with "making points" and "dropping the gloves" and the Habs who go about actually winning the games? I know the Bruins were obsessed with winning fights against Montreal last year and their inability to get one win against les Habs last year proves this to be a poor strategy. So why is an intelligent franchise like the Canadiens buying into this circus sideshow? Am I missing something? Did the Canadiens establish their dynasty by scoring, defense, and goaltending, or were Rocket Richard, Jean Belliveau, and Guy LaFleur actually giant Hansenesque cementheads who pummeled everyone into submission? One of the criticisms against Laraque is that he doesn't do the requisite illegal hitting to initiate fights. Fancy that, he acts like a human being instead of a giant goon!
I'm not one of these people who wants to ban fighting from hockey, but the obsession with fisticuffmanship that the Habs are indulging in is at least as funny as Joey Porter and the Super Bowl rings he likes to look at while he rides his Pegasus over to Gum Drop Mountain.
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