A Frozen Final and a Reason to Party

I have to admit that I'm excited about this. BC clobbered Miami University tonight to advance to the NCAA hockey tournament final. The Eagles, as they have quite often recently, actually got better as the game went on, racking up four third-period goals in a 7-1 win over a team that was ranked No. 1 in the nation for much of the season.

And now BC moves on to play Wisconsin, a team with which I am not at all familiar. I do know, though, that Wisconsin beat BC to win the national championship back in 2006. That won't matter much to this season's players on either team, though. I also know that Wisconsin was a No. 1 seed in this year's tournament, as was BC, and that Wisconsin is a traditional college-hockey power. So, there won't be any Cinderella story here. It'll be powerhouse vs. powerhouse, with six-time national champion Wisconsin taking on a BC program that has won three national championships and participated in 22 Frozen Fours, and will be playing in its 10th title game.

I'll be at a friend's 40th birthday party on Saturday night, and I'll be very glad to be there. I'm really looking forward to it, actually. I probably wouldn't miss, say, a TCU BCS bowl for a party (in fact, I'd be at the game), but I'll happily skip the hockey title game to celebrate with friends. Still, I'll probably DVR the BC game, and I'll probably sneak a peak or two at the score on my phone during the party--with appropriate subtlety, of course. This team could be the first championship team I've ever really been able to follow. There's a lot to that for me. Plus, I'm a genuine BC hockey fan now, and the husband of an alumna. I've got some emotional investment here. Let's hope it pays off. Go Eagles!

Oh, by the way, my friend who is celebrating his 40th birthday is a Michigan native and a big fan of Detroit sports. The NCAA final this year is taking place in...Detroit. My friend also has a law degree from BC (although he's not a BC fan at all). Good luck? We'll see...