Hulu: An Evil Plot to Destroy Any Memory of Eagle Victories Over the Irish?

Brian: The latest in conspiracy theories? Why is Hulu / NBC Universal not adding more Boston College vs. Notre Dame football games? Eagle in Atlanta is the straw that stirs the drink.


ESPN's HD tells us a lot of stuff we already knew.


Chris Crane is the new Brian St. Pierre, Super Bowl clipboard holder? Crane signed as an unrestricted free agent with the Indianapolis Colts. The Colts have Peyton Manning, Curtis Painter (Purdue) and Jim Sorgi (Wisconsin) at the QB position. Odds Crane makes the 53 man roster?


Despite being the ninth overall pick in the draft, BJ Raji is not guaranteed a starting position at nose tackle.


In light of this past Saturday's Dallas Cowboys practice bubble collapse, Scott Bordow asks are practice bubbles safe? Certainly, Alumni Stadium's bubble is much more sheltered and less prone to this, but including the Arizona State practice facility collapse last August, this makes two practice facility collapses in less than a year.


And finally, following up on last week's discussion about recruiting, err, vehicles, blog favorite BCMike gives us this artist's rendition of Spaz's new wheels. Your move, Penn State.

Tuesday Roundup: Championship Links

Word on campus is that the mods and the rest of campus were fairly quiet Saturday night. No mod fence down, no flashings, no fires. No one lost in Newton, like in 2001. But why? Growing student body civility, or growing fan apathy?

The BC hockey team was honored at Fenway Park Sunday night during the Yankees Red Sox rubber match. Also, during the rain delay during Saturday afternoon's Sox game, the championship game was shown on the Fenway screens.

The Bruins will also honor the hockey team at tonight's home playoff game vs. Montreal. I guess the Boston pro sports community does embrace Boston College ...

Having been subjected to poor WCHA officiating all season, the crew at the North Dakota hockey blog Goon's world think the Kyle Lawson redirection off his skate should have been allowed. You be the judge.

Ex-Eagles were in pursuit of a championship this weekend as well ... BC alum Ben Eaves helped carry the Espoo Blues of the SM-liiga to the title round. The Blues lost the SM-liiga final to Kärpät, who won the series 4-1. The Espoo Blues had never won a medal in Finland's top professional hockey league.

Special BC Interruption shout out to Coach Jerry York, who is nothing but a class act. His comments, particularly at the championship celebration at Conte last night, spoke about how it wasn't only important to bring home the trophy, but for the players to represent BC every day with class and dignity. Thank you!

Title Game Preview

Last week, we previewed the Fighting Irish hockey team. At the time, we really didn't think much of the Irish's chances to get past Michigan, but here they are.

Here is a coach's preview of the game from Inside College Hockey.

We all know Jerry York is coaching royalty, however, Notre Dame's coach Jeff Jackson also has two titles with his time at Lake Superior State, and has gotten the Irish to the title game in only his 3rd season in South Bend.

BC Interruption poll results - Toughest Frozen Four Opponent (don't sleep on Notre Dame!)

• North Dakota - 43 votes (55%)
• Michigan - 33 votes (42%)
• Notre Dame - 2 votes (2%)
  

I think his math was a little off, but John Whelan of College Hockey News had BC with a 2.3% chance to take home the title at the beginning of the tournament. Notre Dame? 0.77%.

My heart may very well explode if ... there is overtime. Notre Dame's record in OT this year - 2-1-4. BC's record is 4-3-7 in a gaudy 14 appearances. BC comes in winners of 7 straight, while ND has rattled off 3 straight wins in the NCAAs.

In other hockey news, I attended game 2 of the Rangers-Devils series in Newark, a game my Blueshirts won 2-1 to take a 2-0 series lead. Got to see BC alum Brian Gionta and Mike Mottau in action. Even though on the whole I can't stand Devils fans, as a BC fan it's awesome to see so many Devils fans rocking Gionta #14 jerseys and t-shirts.

The NYC game watch is at Thunder Jackson's on Bleecker St. I am slowly getting over my hangover from Thursday night ... I'll be a gametime decision.

We leave you with a little inspiration. Get pumped about this game, and enjoy! Bring it home Eagles!

Hockey Hardware Update

Michigan's Kevin Porter, not BC's Nate Gerbe, won the 2008 Hobey Baker Memorial Award. Gerbe had some nice things to say about Porter, having played with him growing up with the US National Development Program. In the ESPN article, Gerbe has stayed focus on winning the national title and not the Hobey. Congratulations Kevin, and best of luck to Nate on winning the award in your senior season. We think he'll be the early favorite next year.

Gerbe was selected as one of 12 players in the nation as a First Team All American by the American Hockey Coaches Association, and Inside College Hockey.

Frozen Four Links

North Dakota had a similar road to the Frozen Four, erasing a two goal deficit and tallying a game winner in OT vs. Wisconsin.

According to this Michigan blog, the Wolverines would rather see the Eagles than the Sioux in the final. Be careful what you wish for.

The guys at the Notre Dame blog Blue-Gray Sky are pumped to be in the Frozen Four for the first time.

BC Spins Way Into The Semis

Don't forget that amid all the March Madness, there is playoff hockey to watch this weekend ...

The Hockey East semifinal matchup between #4 Boston College (19-11-8) and the #1 seeded UNH Wildcats (25-8-3) is set for this Friday, 5pm at the Garden. The game will be televised on NESN, but will not be offered on ACC Select. The second game features #2 Boston University v. #3 Vermont at 8pm.

BC lost all 3 games to UNH in the regular season (0-3-0), however they also failed to beat Providence in the regular season (0-2-1) before taking care of business in the Hockey East quarterfinals. Look for it to be a hard-fought, competitive game, especially with the game in the Garden.

BC holds a 5-3 advantage over New Hampshire in the Hockey East tournament, with the last meeting coming in last year's Hockey East championship, a game the Eagles won 5-2. This year, the Eagles will be without the services of last year's MVP, (then) sophomore Brock Bradford.

This blog caught the attention of a fellow blogger that follows the UNH hockey team. I think our comments were taken a bit out of context, but its all in good, clean blogger fun. The UNH Hockey Blog is a great resource to get to know our opponent for Friday night.

A great pic of the penalty shot goal from Hobey hopeful Nathan Gerbe was featured on USCHO.com (article - Staying Alive). Gerbe is also featured on USCHO this week in an article entitled Under the Microscope, and his stock is still high on their Hobey Watch. Luckily for the Eagles, Gerbe is again heating up at the perfect time of year.

Eagles in Blacksburg Tonight

Tonight the Eagles (13-12, 4-8) travel to Blacksburg, VA to take on the Hokies of Virginia Tech (16-11, 7-6 ACC) in men's hoops. Here is a preview of the game from the Virginia Tech Collegiate Times. SBR Forum thinks we are a good pick at + 5 1/2. We expect a close game with the Eagles looking to avenge their 81-73 OT loss to Tech at the Heights on January 26.

Neither team is tournament bound, so Skinner's squad is playing to string together a couple of solid wins to end the regular season on a positive note heading into the ACC Tournament.

The game will be televised on ESPNU starting at 7pm in what ESPN is laughably publicizing as "Judgement Week." Go Eagles!