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I've spend much of the last month listening to my colleauges around the office discussing the NCAA Basketball tournaments (mostly the men's, but there has been some talk about the women's tourney as well). The problem for me is that I'm not really a big fan of basketball. What I do enjoy is ice hockey, both professional and colligiate. It has been a pretty dismal year for me on the colligiate level, though. My alma mater was in the basement of their conference standings through much of the season, and were eliminated from their conference tournament in the first round. Needless to say, they did not get a bid for the 16 team NCAA tournament.
Interestingly, the final rounds of the NCAA Men's Ice Hockey tournament (i.e., the Frozen Four) are being held here in DC this weekend. I checked a few weeks ago, and found that the games were officially sold out. Not a bit deal, since my school wasn't going to be there and the games are available on the ESPN family of cable channels.
Then a co-worker told me that he had a friend that was looking to unload a couple of tickets and that he didn't have anyone to use the second set. So yesterday afternoon, I caught the Metro downtown and watched the two semi-final games. The first game, between Miami University (Ohio) and Bemidji State University (Minnesota), wasn't the most exciting hockey game I've ever attended. Both teams had been number four seeds in their respective regions for the tournament and had managed back-to-back upsets to reach this stage. However, the first and third periods were pretty flat, with all the scoring (except Miami's empty netter at the end) occuring in the second period. Miami eliminated Bemidji State (final score 4-1).
The second semi-final was MUCH more exciting. Number 1 ranked Boston University is looking for its fifth National title, while the University of Vermont (a number 3 seed in its region for the tournament) that had a winning record against BU this season. BU took an early lead, 2-0 after the first period, but Vermont controlled much of the second period with three unanswered goals. But Boston University didn't give up, tying the game at 3 by the end of the second period. While Vermont briefly regained their lead in the third period, it was pretty clear by the middle of the period that Vermont was simply running out of energy. BU regained the lead and were able to control the puck until time expired.
Saturday evening, I'll be back downtown to watch the championship game between BU and Miami. I'm not confident that Miami can manage another upset, but if they play as well as they did when they eliminated Denver (the number one seed in their region) in the first round they might just have a chance. We'll see...
Interestingly, the final rounds of the NCAA Men's Ice Hockey tournament (i.e., the Frozen Four) are being held here in DC this weekend. I checked a few weeks ago, and found that the games were officially sold out. Not a bit deal, since my school wasn't going to be there and the games are available on the ESPN family of cable channels.
Then a co-worker told me that he had a friend that was looking to unload a couple of tickets and that he didn't have anyone to use the second set. So yesterday afternoon, I caught the Metro downtown and watched the two semi-final games. The first game, between Miami University (Ohio) and Bemidji State University (Minnesota), wasn't the most exciting hockey game I've ever attended. Both teams had been number four seeds in their respective regions for the tournament and had managed back-to-back upsets to reach this stage. However, the first and third periods were pretty flat, with all the scoring (except Miami's empty netter at the end) occuring in the second period. Miami eliminated Bemidji State (final score 4-1).
The second semi-final was MUCH more exciting. Number 1 ranked Boston University is looking for its fifth National title, while the University of Vermont (a number 3 seed in its region for the tournament) that had a winning record against BU this season. BU took an early lead, 2-0 after the first period, but Vermont controlled much of the second period with three unanswered goals. But Boston University didn't give up, tying the game at 3 by the end of the second period. While Vermont briefly regained their lead in the third period, it was pretty clear by the middle of the period that Vermont was simply running out of energy. BU regained the lead and were able to control the puck until time expired.
Saturday evening, I'll be back downtown to watch the championship game between BU and Miami. I'm not confident that Miami can manage another upset, but if they play as well as they did when they eliminated Denver (the number one seed in their region) in the first round they might just have a chance. We'll see...
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