It's Beanpot time and the Terriors face the Eagles in their first game. It's exciting to enter TD Banknorth Garden on Monday night and join the BU student section, ready to root for the BU hockey team..and more importantly root against the BC hockey team. Facing our biggest rivalry makes the game all that much more interesting. The BU/BC Beanpot competition has even acquired "The B-Line Rivalry" nickname in reference to the T.
As the game begins, cheers start up. Anti-BC cheers range from "Fuck 'em up, fuck 'em up BC sucks!" to "Not from Boston!" and are shouted at almost all games, regardless of what team BU is actually playing. So at Beanpot, in direct competition, these cheers become roars. Back and forth from across the stadium fly taunts..even the bands become involved.
BU's section is much more heavily populated than that of BC. This could be because BU
has a long history of winning performances in the Beanpot, having won 24 times in the last 38 years.
Every devoted character makes its appearance in the student section. The hotdog and Jesus are mixed in the crowd, the kid that wears a red hat and starts a ton of cheers is in his usual spot down front, and the hairy Sasquatch shows up waving the flag wildly and stirring chaotic cheers. The goalie, Bennet, makes 30 saves, hailed each time by the BU crowd and each penalty period strikes up the two minute "Olay" chant.
The first period ends with BC in the lead. The second ends with BU up 3-2. In the third period the score is tied up and the teams approach overtime. Overtime begins and all eyes are glued to the puck. I hold my breath for almost every minute of it. Unfortunately BC scores and wins the game. The crowds pour out of the stadium and regardless of the disappointing and unexpected loss, BU students continue to cheer "GO BU!" and "BC sucks!"
I overhear a BC girl grumble, "We beat you..you can stop cheering now." Request neglected, the chants don't stop the whole T ride back to campus.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Cheer for the Camera... Please?
Beanpot. Yes, regardless of the fact that we have just entered the men's basketball team's big game verses Vermont at Agganis Arena, it is hockey that is on our minds. It is January 25th and my suitemates and I have assumed our student section seats along the baseline well before the game begins. The fact that we are thinking of hockey at this time is not so much a reflection on our disinterest in basketball - in fact we have attended probably 4 or 5 other such basketball games at this point in the season..which is more than most. It is more a reflection of BU's obsession with the former sport and our die-hard commitment to it; not to mention the fact that our attendance at this particular basketball game is part of the process of achieving tickets to Boston's annual Beanpot hockey tournament at the TD Banknorth Garden.
This particular basketball game is one of the only times during the season that the team gets use of Agganis Arena as opposed to their usual home at the Case Gym. As we await the start of the game we are offered rally towels and pom-poms as others trickle into the stadium. I begin to realize that the stands remain quite sparse, with Vermont fans eventually contributing to at least half of the final turnout. I further consider the fact that these fans have traveled the hour long distance to support their team as opposed to the stroll down Com Ave that is required by the average BU student. What further concerns me is the consideration that most of the BU students, not excluding my friends and I, who have made the long journey down Com Ave, have done so in the interest of Beanpot, not simply basketball.
It is obvious that BU has associated Beanpot tickets with this game as a way of bribing students to attend, which alone is a bit unfortunate for our basketball team. However, the next observation I make strikes me the most. The game is scheduled for TV broadcast. I watch as the cameraman scans the stadium a bit discouragingly. Eventually, he pulls together a group of girls a few rows over from us, in an obvious ditch effort for footage, asking that they please cheer for the camera. The girls hesitantly gather their pom-poms and make a small, effortless "rah-rah" in response to the request.
What, I wonder, has fueled such a large disinterest in the sport? Basketball is actually one of my personal favorite sports to watch because it is fast-paced and a score can often turn around multiple times throughout a game. Could it be, then, that the team's record is not particularly stunning, with only five wins of the 18 games they had played at this point since November? Perhaps it is also a reflection of the fact that hockey at BU parallels football at most state schools in popularity and support, deterring students from recognition of other BU sports, especially ones without winning records.
In any case, this game turned out to be one of the most exciting sports games I have attended this year, the scoreboard at the end of the first half reading 24-25, Boston up by a point. Unfortunately the end of second half of the game turned things around for Vermont leaving them with a win of 70-57 over BU. A bit disappointed, we redirected our thoughts back to hockey and hurried off to collect our tickets for February's Beanpot.
This particular basketball game is one of the only times during the season that the team gets use of Agganis Arena as opposed to their usual home at the Case Gym. As we await the start of the game we are offered rally towels and pom-poms as others trickle into the stadium. I begin to realize that the stands remain quite sparse, with Vermont fans eventually contributing to at least half of the final turnout. I further consider the fact that these fans have traveled the hour long distance to support their team as opposed to the stroll down Com Ave that is required by the average BU student. What further concerns me is the consideration that most of the BU students, not excluding my friends and I, who have made the long journey down Com Ave, have done so in the interest of Beanpot, not simply basketball.
It is obvious that BU has associated Beanpot tickets with this game as a way of bribing students to attend, which alone is a bit unfortunate for our basketball team. However, the next observation I make strikes me the most. The game is scheduled for TV broadcast. I watch as the cameraman scans the stadium a bit discouragingly. Eventually, he pulls together a group of girls a few rows over from us, in an obvious ditch effort for footage, asking that they please cheer for the camera. The girls hesitantly gather their pom-poms and make a small, effortless "rah-rah" in response to the request.
What, I wonder, has fueled such a large disinterest in the sport? Basketball is actually one of my personal favorite sports to watch because it is fast-paced and a score can often turn around multiple times throughout a game. Could it be, then, that the team's record is not particularly stunning, with only five wins of the 18 games they had played at this point since November? Perhaps it is also a reflection of the fact that hockey at BU parallels football at most state schools in popularity and support, deterring students from recognition of other BU sports, especially ones without winning records.
In any case, this game turned out to be one of the most exciting sports games I have attended this year, the scoreboard at the end of the first half reading 24-25, Boston up by a point. Unfortunately the end of second half of the game turned things around for Vermont leaving them with a win of 70-57 over BU. A bit disappointed, we redirected our thoughts back to hockey and hurried off to collect our tickets for February's Beanpot.
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