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?
Another problem with the current setup is that the Beanpot games are considered non-conference games, even though two out of the three possible opponents are in Hockey East. And we play a game against Harvard every year just before Thanksgiving -- there's no reason to play Harvard twice. BU only has five "real" non-conference games; it's no wonder we've failed to impress against teams like the University of North Dakota.
With the addition of the University of Vermont to Hockey East this season, our number of out-of-conference games has been severely restricted, so why waste games against teams we already play when we could play teams like Michigan or Cornell? Playing squads from another part of the country would not only be more interesting, it would also help the team prepare for the national tournament. It isn't that we don't enjoy watching MacArthur make BC look silly, we're just saying we'd also like to see him do the same to Wisconsin.
Along with the Beanpot comes the weighty tradition of the event. Some of the country's greatest players have participated (Chris Drury, Rick DiPietro, Keith Tkachuk, Tony Amonte), as well as some of the country's most mediocre players (Brian Gionta, Joe Mullen, Brian Leetch). There have also been amazing and memorable performances, both from the players and the fans. The Beanpot has lent special meaning to the first two Mondays in February. We don't want to want get rid of this, just modify it in some ways.
Why not take the third games the Hockey East teams already play against each other and move them to the TD Banknorth Garden? One home, one road and one neutral; it would be a nice way to settle the rivalries each season. Harvard's annual games against the Terriers and Eagles would also be contested at the Garden. We're thinking a doubleheader format over two weekends, which would eliminate any distracting weekday games and give BU two extra non-conference games to test themselves against more worthy opponents.
Our new style of Beanpot, let's call it the AngryWhiteBoysPot, would still allow Sullivan to absolutely annihilate BC players and give Rhett a chance to do what could be considered one of the greatest mascot performances of all time. His Baldwin imitation was spot on, he bounced in a goal off the sidewall and he dominated the beruit competition.
There was one absolutely disgraceful moment last night amongst all the excitement. One man claiming to be a Terrier fan ran onto the ice during the second intermission and tackled the Eagles' mascot. The idiot was immediately subdued by authorities and escorted out of the arena. This kind of behavior is not representative of Terrier Nation.
If the perpetrator was a BU student, we expect the BU administration to deliver a swift, decisive punishment, preferably resulting in suspension or expulsion from the university. We need to make it clear that this fool's actions were in no way an example of Terrier fans or the BU community.
Baldwin, if you are reading this, we're glad you are still alive. Bald eagles are a national symbol and an endangered species - they should be treated with respect (even if they do suck).
Josh Lerner, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences, is a weekly columnist for The Daily Free Press. He can be reached at jlerner@bu.edu.
Chris Pasquale, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences, is a weekly columnist for The Daily Free Press. He can be reached at pasquale@bu.edu.
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