The Angry White Boys
Bye bye Beanpot?
Josh Lerner and Chris Pasquale
Issue date: 2/14/06 Section: Sports
Fifty-four years ago, someone asked a question: Which college in Boston (or Newton, or Cambridge) has the best hockey team? And so the powers that be devised what is currently known as the BU Invitational (formerly known as the Beanpot Tournament). Half of a century later, that question has been emphatically answered: Boston University.
Fifty percent. Ten of the last 12. Do we need to check for bleeding? Haven't the other schools had enough of this already? The Boston College fans pulled out of the arena so quickly last night, we thought they went to UMass.
So with that being said, do we really need the Beanpot anymore, at least in its current form? Can't we drop the beans and just keep the 'pot? We know the idea may seem a little extreme to some of you out there, but hear us out.
As we already mentioned, the tournament was devised to determine who the best team in Boston was, but with BU's historical domination, we're more interested in having other questions answered, like what's that nasty smell coming from the other side of the arena?
This "winter carnival" brings tremendous levels of attention from local and national media and along with that comes a huge burden of pressure. Every player spends so much time mentally preparing for this series that they all must lose some, if not most, of their focus on classes.
Classes are missed, work is left incomplete and study time is limited. We know this would never be a problem for Northeastern University, but let's not forget that Harvard University is a part of these games, which come just after the end of its final exam period. These are student athletes who spend enough time during the week practicing and playing important games on the weekends - there is no need for them to be playing even more important games during the school week.
In fact, is it entirely out of the question for some of the national media to tone down the attention they cast on the students? Who really wants to read a column about the Beanpot anyway?
Fifty percent. Ten of the last 12. Do we need to check for bleeding? Haven't the other schools had enough of this already? The Boston College fans pulled out of the arena so quickly last night, we thought they went to UMass.
So with that being said, do we really need the Beanpot anymore, at least in its current form? Can't we drop the beans and just keep the 'pot? We know the idea may seem a little extreme to some of you out there, but hear us out.
As we already mentioned, the tournament was devised to determine who the best team in Boston was, but with BU's historical domination, we're more interested in having other questions answered, like what's that nasty smell coming from the other side of the arena?
This "winter carnival" brings tremendous levels of attention from local and national media and along with that comes a huge burden of pressure. Every player spends so much time mentally preparing for this series that they all must lose some, if not most, of their focus on classes.
Classes are missed, work is left incomplete and study time is limited. We know this would never be a problem for Northeastern University, but let's not forget that Harvard University is a part of these games, which come just after the end of its final exam period. These are student athletes who spend enough time during the week practicing and playing important games on the weekends - there is no need for them to be playing even more important games during the school week.
In fact, is it entirely out of the question for some of the national media to tone down the attention they cast on the students? Who really wants to read a column about the Beanpot anyway?
