Friday, July 01, 2016

BC needs to get Holy Cross in Hockey East

As BCI points out, it appears Holy Cross wants to join Hockey East. There are lots of hurdles to clear, but if the Crusaders put together a solid proposal, BC needs to be their biggest advocate.

Even though the Holy Cross-BC rivalry doesn't mean much to any BC fan born after 1970, baby steps towards rebuilding it are good for BC. We are headed towards a time of uncertainty for college sports. Paying players, breaking off from the NCAA, and challenges to Title IX are all in play. Given that BC is proudly anti-athletic payment, I could see a situation where our leadership decides to de-emphasizes sports (especially if the Power 5 really starts up player salaries). However, if our historic rival is moving towards big-time sports (like Football and Hockey), it will put pressure on BC. Why would BC give up the marketing and community advantage that sports brings just when Holy Cross is embracing it? Holy Cross learned their lesson when they decided against the Big East basketball and gave up athletic scholarships.

I know that Holy Cross joining Hockey East is not the same as the Crusaders joining the Big Ten (or even something like the Conference USA), but it is a good first step. And even if it doesn't generate huge athletic momentum for them or start an athletic renaissance for BC and Holy Cross, it would still be good to play them more often. Their return to big-time sports is also a good reminder of what we did right over the years.

6 comments:

Lenny Sienko said...

"Oh Holy Cross, Oh Holy Cross
All they eat is Applesauce.

They eat it morning, noon, and night.
They even eat it when they're tight.

Oh Holy Cross, Oh Holy Cross
On bended knee, Kiss the ass of old BC."

For those of us born before 1970...play them.
Crush the Crusaders!

PJeagle said...

Can't believe all the times we sang that song toward the end of another game when BC beat Holy Cross when it really mattered.back in the late 60's. Something about beating a rival makes it that much more special. Those days of old will never be repeated, but it's always good to see a contemporary recall those glorious times. Lennie would remember that those from Fenwick 2 knew this song by heart and sang the loudest.

Lenny Sienko said...

Fenwick 2, where BC's short term experiment in accepting parochial high school grads with the highest board scores played out.

Hockey relevant memories: my roomie, Tom Reilly, took me to my first hockey game ever, trying to explain why he thought it necessary to arise at 3:00am multiple times a week to play pickup hockey on the ice down at McHugh Forum.

Fenwick 2 was the home of Paul "the Shot " Hurley. There were supposed to be no single rooms. Hurley had a single room. No cars were allowed. Hurley drove a brand new Ford T-bird, which he parked by the dorm on the restricted Upper Campus. Curfew was at 11:00pm, when the chains were dragged across the gates to the Upper Campus and all entrance was forbidden. We could set our clocks by the sound of Paul Hurly taking out the chains, hitting them with the front of his T-Bird, after "last call". It was a lesson well learned in the relative worth of star upper class hockey players versus high SAT freshman.

The contrast was Jerry York, who commuted form Watertown, attained daily Mass, for real--not just for effect like some, and who was the soul of modesty and class, even way back then.

PJeagle.....the Statute of Limitations has run on all committed on Fenwick 2...feel free to personal message me any time...we'll sing a chorus of the "Applesauce Song".

dixieagle said...

That song is part of the soundtrack of my youth. :)

Guest said...

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