What do Dead Presidents and Cinderella have in common? Tripod hockey.
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A Cinderella story this year as the Dead Presidents, heavily outgunned most of the season, came out on top of the dogpile that is Tuck Hockey. Winning the coveted Legge Cup (named after William Legge, 2nd Earl of Dartmouth, supporter of Eleazer Wheelock and father of modern Tripod hockey) means that the undisputed kings of the college are clear. The Dead Presidents played hard, skated fast and put up a great fight against the Bald Bulls, who similarly played hard, skated fast, and put up a good fight, but not good enough.
Fritz "Onward Kashiyama" F. (obscure but oh so accurate nickname) made great strides towards MVP, but I think it was really the goalies who get it. They were peppered more than a Lou's omlette, but still held their own.
Tempers flared up, but Ferd "Cold Hand Luke" D. stayed calm throughout the match, while Paul "Sparkplug" G. kept the energy level high for the Presidents.
AGAIN we go to a shootout. This gave all the fans a chance to catch their breath and have another barley soda out in the parking lot. Drama doesn't not get any better than this, and tension was so high one should have cut it with baking powder.
Frank "Rollie Finger's Child" M. used the same move from the last game with a high strategy quotient, great numbers on structure and culture, but failed in the execution. As the professor says, focus on execution. lesson learned. Next year we look forward to his play.
The final shot meant that the season was over. Its been quite a ride. Keep your heads up and your sticks on the ice. We'll see you at Occam Pond throughout the winter.
Looking foward: Tuck Does Royal Mount (Montreal).....
Monday, November 24, 2008
And then there were 2
The rumors are true, my Tuck hockey friends and fans, the excitement is over. I attempted to liveblog the playoff and championship matches, but I was incapacitated in one way or another. I also realized that liveblogging sounds/is kind of lame.
But lets take a minute here to talk. This season a lot of tears have been shed, as well as blood, leaves, sputum and clothes. I am here to shed something a little different - shed light on the situation.
First we take a look at the playoffs - the Bald Bulls took it to the house against Cobra Kai dojo. A hard fought match, it went into OT and a shootout. Imagine, if you will, a packed house crowded with cheering fans, rocking the stadium as you line up your penalty shot. You skate, and here's your wind up - OH you miss the puck and nearly fall. However in the process of falling, as your body spins around in a 360 more reminiscent of the NBA's slam dunk competition, you regain your balance with just enough time to spare to fire off that one shot that earns you everlasting glory. That, THAT, is what Tripod hockey is about and how the Bald Bulls took it to the championship.
We also saw Frank "Rollie Fingers" M. go for a head fake followed by a backhand to the topshelf for the win to close out the game. As the crowd marveled at his stickwork, Cobra Kai reflected upon their lot in life. Cobra Kai, we mourn thee, but your arrogance earned you this fate.
Dead Presidents, on the other hand, easily coasted on their early goals to a victory over some other team. A late charge by their opponents made everyone feel good so it didn't get awkward later in Byrne.
Women's hockey - This was a pretty good game. I watched it, but my reporter's insticts have not fully kicked in, so I forgot to take notes. The women played deliberately up and down the ice-these are not the freewheeling Tripods but serious professionals of icy demeanor on teams named after 80s sitcoms. Carolyn "CAPM" C. and Abby "Asset Pricing Theory" S. gave their all out there in an exciting match up. Meredith "Hypothesis Tested, Mother Approved" G. and Ali "R Squared" R. pull honorable mentions. Winner: everybody.
But lets take a minute here to talk. This season a lot of tears have been shed, as well as blood, leaves, sputum and clothes. I am here to shed something a little different - shed light on the situation.
First we take a look at the playoffs - the Bald Bulls took it to the house against Cobra Kai dojo. A hard fought match, it went into OT and a shootout. Imagine, if you will, a packed house crowded with cheering fans, rocking the stadium as you line up your penalty shot. You skate, and here's your wind up - OH you miss the puck and nearly fall. However in the process of falling, as your body spins around in a 360 more reminiscent of the NBA's slam dunk competition, you regain your balance with just enough time to spare to fire off that one shot that earns you everlasting glory. That, THAT, is what Tripod hockey is about and how the Bald Bulls took it to the championship.
We also saw Frank "Rollie Fingers" M. go for a head fake followed by a backhand to the topshelf for the win to close out the game. As the crowd marveled at his stickwork, Cobra Kai reflected upon their lot in life. Cobra Kai, we mourn thee, but your arrogance earned you this fate.
Dead Presidents, on the other hand, easily coasted on their early goals to a victory over some other team. A late charge by their opponents made everyone feel good so it didn't get awkward later in Byrne.
Women's hockey - This was a pretty good game. I watched it, but my reporter's insticts have not fully kicked in, so I forgot to take notes. The women played deliberately up and down the ice-these are not the freewheeling Tripods but serious professionals of icy demeanor on teams named after 80s sitcoms. Carolyn "CAPM" C. and Abby "Asset Pricing Theory" S. gave their all out there in an exciting match up. Meredith "Hypothesis Tested, Mother Approved" G. and Ali "R Squared" R. pull honorable mentions. Winner: everybody.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Guest Post
Hi Folks,
I invited some guest bloggers to talk about their experience at the girls hockey game. Below is what they wrote, edited to my taste, and with my comments in [ ]. Everything not in [ ] comes from other people
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On Monday night, The Golden Girls took on Three’s Company at Thompson. We noticed a few key differences between this game and the Tripod game we caught the night before, namely, there was a lot more “strategizing” before this game. Our understanding of this “strategizing” is that the ladies were catching up on the details from the most recent episode of Gossip Girl. [great show, ps. Blake Lively is our generation's Twiggy] We could be wrong, but this is the inside scoop that we heard.
Three’s Company got out to an early lead and never looked back. The Golden Girls tried to get something going for a while with some great cheerleading both on the ice and on the bench, especially from Natasha “You go (Golden) girl” V. The encouragement was no match for Abby “Lightning” S. who scored about 6 goals (+/- 4) for Three’s Company. So much for lightening not striking twice [sweet pun guys.].
The other main differentiator was that there were fewer spectacular crashes than in the Tripod game except for one involving “Lightning” and an unidentified Mack Truck we’ll just call “Thunder”. [ mixed metaphor]
In our pre-game interviews, we spoke with Fiona “Big Bear” C. who posed toughly (see photo) [unclear what happened to this photo, and also unclear how to add photos to the blog. apologies] . When she took the ice, one of her first actions was to take her skate off. She claimed to have a foot cramp, but the inside scoop is that it was an intimidation technique. We heard third hand that she told members of the other team, “I’ll cut you!” However, on the ice, her gentle Canadian personality [I have never met a gentle canadian, for the record. most canadians i know have actually tried to cut people with their skates or else they talk about how great American malls are.] overtook the mighty threats. We suggest changing her name to Fiona “Bear Cub” C. She talked a good game but we’d like to see that intensity on the ice. We suggest she get some tutoring from Andy “Glass Jaw” N.
In the end, Three’s Company crushed the Golden Girls like Suzanne Somers crushed my heart when Thighmaster commercials stopped running [honestly, never thought Suzanne Somers references would end up on the blog. glad you guys went for it...].
I invited some guest bloggers to talk about their experience at the girls hockey game. Below is what they wrote, edited to my taste, and with my comments in [ ]. Everything not in [ ] comes from other people
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On Monday night, The Golden Girls took on Three’s Company at Thompson. We noticed a few key differences between this game and the Tripod game we caught the night before, namely, there was a lot more “strategizing” before this game. Our understanding of this “strategizing” is that the ladies were catching up on the details from the most recent episode of Gossip Girl. [great show, ps. Blake Lively is our generation's Twiggy] We could be wrong, but this is the inside scoop that we heard.
Three’s Company got out to an early lead and never looked back. The Golden Girls tried to get something going for a while with some great cheerleading both on the ice and on the bench, especially from Natasha “You go (Golden) girl” V. The encouragement was no match for Abby “Lightning” S. who scored about 6 goals (+/- 4) for Three’s Company. So much for lightening not striking twice [sweet pun guys.].
The other main differentiator was that there were fewer spectacular crashes than in the Tripod game except for one involving “Lightning” and an unidentified Mack Truck we’ll just call “Thunder”. [ mixed metaphor]
In our pre-game interviews, we spoke with Fiona “Big Bear” C. who posed toughly (see photo) [unclear what happened to this photo, and also unclear how to add photos to the blog. apologies] . When she took the ice, one of her first actions was to take her skate off. She claimed to have a foot cramp, but the inside scoop is that it was an intimidation technique. We heard third hand that she told members of the other team, “I’ll cut you!” However, on the ice, her gentle Canadian personality [I have never met a gentle canadian, for the record. most canadians i know have actually tried to cut people with their skates or else they talk about how great American malls are.] overtook the mighty threats. We suggest changing her name to Fiona “Bear Cub” C. She talked a good game but we’d like to see that intensity on the ice. We suggest she get some tutoring from Andy “Glass Jaw” N.
In the end, Three’s Company crushed the Golden Girls like Suzanne Somers crushed my heart when Thighmaster commercials stopped running [honestly, never thought Suzanne Somers references would end up on the blog. glad you guys went for it...].
Busy past couple weeks
Sorry blog fans, its been a busy couple weeks and I haven't kept you up to date with the latest news. I can confirm that a Cobra Kai winning streak was kept alive at least until tonight on the tripod front. We'll have much, much more from the tripod games tomorrow.
Tonights topic: Getting Concussed.
Kenneth apparently got concussed during a tripod game, and there is some question as to whether Glass Jaw, who went down twice tonight, ended up mildly concussed. After his second fall, Jana "Tha Bo$$" called the game. The first hit was by the Doc, while the second hit was by Ryan "Friendly Fire" K. Remember, there is no checking on B-team. These were "accidents." Glass Jaw had a tough one last week, being a little sleepy and all, he fell without being hit at least three times.
Matt "Too Tall" D. rubbed out Tony Drama against the boards this evening in retaliation for a hook earlier in the night. The ice tonight was as smooth as a flooded Buch basement room, which explains the fast hockey and aggressive behavior.
Topic 2: Rumors abound
Rumours abound about a bench clearing brawl during a tripod game. Lately I know that Leo "LT" was sent to the box, and I've heard of a few more penalties taking place. "Ichabod" Lud had to take control of the game and separate the disputing parties.
We're going to have a last regular season game special blog post coming up with weekend, with quotes from players, captains, spectators and people how have no relation whatsoever to Tuck hockey.
Topic 3: B-Team bonds over Bud Light pitchers
B team sat down the other night to some bud light pitchers at Murphy's and talked shop. I believe the Muppet Christmas Carol came up once or twice. Dain "The Pain" recalled his swimming glory days while others watched the Giants.
Tonights topic: Getting Concussed.
Kenneth apparently got concussed during a tripod game, and there is some question as to whether Glass Jaw, who went down twice tonight, ended up mildly concussed. After his second fall, Jana "Tha Bo$$" called the game. The first hit was by the Doc, while the second hit was by Ryan "Friendly Fire" K. Remember, there is no checking on B-team. These were "accidents." Glass Jaw had a tough one last week, being a little sleepy and all, he fell without being hit at least three times.
Matt "Too Tall" D. rubbed out Tony Drama against the boards this evening in retaliation for a hook earlier in the night. The ice tonight was as smooth as a flooded Buch basement room, which explains the fast hockey and aggressive behavior.
Topic 2: Rumors abound
Rumours abound about a bench clearing brawl during a tripod game. Lately I know that Leo "LT" was sent to the box, and I've heard of a few more penalties taking place. "Ichabod" Lud had to take control of the game and separate the disputing parties.
We're going to have a last regular season game special blog post coming up with weekend, with quotes from players, captains, spectators and people how have no relation whatsoever to Tuck hockey.
Topic 3: B-Team bonds over Bud Light pitchers
B team sat down the other night to some bud light pitchers at Murphy's and talked shop. I believe the Muppet Christmas Carol came up once or twice. Dain "The Pain" recalled his swimming glory days while others watched the Giants.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Campion Beat
Tripods looked good out there - it seemed to be another win for Kobra Kai dojo, with a great performance by ironman Charlie "The Rocket" W., who stayed on the ice for the B team game as well. Just don't take a stick through the throat gents - you only get one trachea.
B-Team usurped some ironmen Tripodders to fill its ranks on Sunday night (the late game), but played an incredibly competitive game. Tony "Drama" had a number of goals and at least one temper tantrum, according to eyewitnesses. Ryan "Rescue Ranger" (is it because he's a little CHIPPY or a little daley?.... you decide) lived up to his name after "Glass Jaw" started yappin. A. "Backcheck? Whats that" Lynch gave me a ride to the game so I did not talk about her red hair. John, dubbed"Rockin' Roller Coaster" by Glass Jaw, was taken out of the last ten minutes of the game with a pulled muscle. Drew "Big D" again used his stick to swat away pucks like flies.
HIGH RBV quotient this week with Halloween arriving on a Friday.
Aggressive Behavior - the team chants and Rocky theme song for last night's Tripod winners was pret-ty, pretttttyyyyy, prettyyyyyyy, pretty aggressive.
Takedowns - lots of people fell. I would suggest practicing stopping.
Lax - Someone put Kobra Kai on a Wheaties box - am I right?
Lippers - great banter out there, and true sportsmanship showed after last night's tripod game.
Green and white lined up for gentlemanly glove pounds and a few back slaps after a hotly contested game. We were denied access to the locker room post game, but this reporter believes he heard the sounds of bottles poppin, and perhaps some "take your shirt off, twist it round your head, spin it like a helicopter" action.
B-Team usurped some ironmen Tripodders to fill its ranks on Sunday night (the late game), but played an incredibly competitive game. Tony "Drama" had a number of goals and at least one temper tantrum, according to eyewitnesses. Ryan "Rescue Ranger" (is it because he's a little CHIPPY or a little daley?.... you decide) lived up to his name after "Glass Jaw" started yappin. A. "Backcheck? Whats that" Lynch gave me a ride to the game so I did not talk about her red hair. John, dubbed"Rockin' Roller Coaster" by Glass Jaw, was taken out of the last ten minutes of the game with a pulled muscle. Drew "Big D" again used his stick to swat away pucks like flies.
HIGH RBV quotient this week with Halloween arriving on a Friday.
Aggressive Behavior - the team chants and Rocky theme song for last night's Tripod winners was pret-ty, pretttttyyyyy, prettyyyyyyy, pretty aggressive.
Takedowns - lots of people fell. I would suggest practicing stopping.
Lax - Someone put Kobra Kai on a Wheaties box - am I right?
Lippers - great banter out there, and true sportsmanship showed after last night's tripod game.
Green and white lined up for gentlemanly glove pounds and a few back slaps after a hotly contested game. We were denied access to the locker room post game, but this reporter believes he heard the sounds of bottles poppin, and perhaps some "take your shirt off, twist it round your head, spin it like a helicopter" action.
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