The Anaheim Angels are world champs? I don’t know whether to rejoice for the game of baseball or to ask myself what has happened, as if I just woke up from a long deep sleep. But watching the series was a great time, watching those two teams vying for the title, and nothing captures that better than a Game Seven.
I don’t have much more to say about all that except to offer my suggestions for the Angels fans. My advice to them is to appreciate, understand and respect how rare and wonderful an honor and accomplishment it is to win a World Series. A lot of things have to go right for a team to make it that far, and only a couple of things have to go wrong for them not to. Don’t lose sight of the wonder of your championship, because it doesn’t come along very often, at least not for most teams.
I’ll say it right now, and maybe I’m not a true baseball fan, or maybe because I’m a product of the Boston Red Sox fandom, but I can never completely enjoy a World Series. That’s because other than 1986, when I was barely old enough to understand what was going on, I’ve never seen the Red Sox play in a championship. Based on that, I’m a little bit envious of every team that wins a World Series each year, because they’re not my team and a small part of me is oh so hurt that they weren’t in it this year.
It’s like when you see that guy who is dating that extraordinary girl, and you hope that guy is thankful and appreciative of his situation, because if placed in his shoes you know you certainly would be. That’s the same way I view World Series Champions and their fans, because if they don’t appreciate it, I know Red Sox fans most certainly would.
Enough about that, let’s get to the true reason I’m writing today: I’d like all the Angels fans to send us their rally monkeys, so that I can dispose of them in the most environmentally safe way possible. I probably won’t get rid of them all because there might be a slight possibility that the teams here at Boston University could put these magical creatures to good use.
These are good times for BU athletics. The soccer teams are eyeing the conference playoffs, our field hockey team has been outstanding and is currently ranked 16th in the nation, and the ice hockey season is really beginning to heat up. But while these are undeniably good times for BU sports, these teams will need a little luck, pluck, and some good bounces to make it a truly great time and push them over the top.
For the men’s soccer team it has been a wild ride this year, with its upsets over UConn and San Diego, and from cracking the national rankings to its recent losses in America East action that has cast doubt on its playoff hopes. Losses to Northeastern and UNH in their last two games could put a damper on what has otherwise been an unbelievable season for the Terriers. Those losses put Neil Roberts’ squad at 2-2-1 in the America East and places the Terriers currently out of a playoff spot. The top four teams make it in the conference and BU is four points out of fourth place. Their next game is against Hartford at Nickerson on Halloween, and they’ll need to win that game and their final two to keep in control of their own destiny. If they don’t win that one, we might as well leave their fate up to a couple of monkeys.
The women’s soccer team is in the same position as the men’s as far their conference playoffs hopes are concerned, because like the men, they’re staring upward at the other America East playoff contenders. Currently the ladies are tied for fourth in the conference, and if it all came to an end today, they’d be in, since they hold the tiebreaker over Binghamton. But the girls still have two games remaining. Lucky enough for them, they get the run of the gamut as they get to see one game against powerhouse Hartford and the other facing the punch-less Great Danes of Albany. While the men have been struggling lately, the ladies have begun to show some teeth. They scored three goals against the University of Vermont in their last win and that newfound scoring touch will be greatly needed as they take it down to crunch time in the America East.
As for the field hockey team here at BU, the Terriers had a great season, and are now the 16th ranked team in the nation. Despite their successes this year, there is a possibility that this team won’t make the conference playoffs. Tomorrow the Terriers have a non-conference game against Harvard and on Saturday they will close out the season against America East foe Northeastern. The importance of that final game is simple, as the Terriers have a 2-2 record in conference and are tied for fourth in the league. A win on Saturday pushes them into the playoffs, and a loss would knock them out. They will have to dig down deep for this win, as they hope to uphold a tradition. Of the 13 conference championships played in field hockey for the America East, BU has been to all of them.
Another team looking for something to spur them to victory will be the other hockey team here at BU. After rebounding from the loss to Merrimack by beating Nebraska at Omaha, the Icedogs will have two big tests this week when they face Northeastern on Friday, and UNH on Saturday with both games away from Walter Brown Arena. Jack Parker and the boys will be looking for any help they can get, especially when they face UNH, currently the best team in the country.
Another week of BU sports, and this one holds a little extra meaning for all the teams, as a lot could be decided this time around. The next few days could be a make or break time for the Terrier athletes and it will be interesting to see how it all turns out. These are good teams out there fighting to continue on playing. And whether they’re fighting for that chance to continue their season or are opening up the Hockey East slate, they sure wouldn’t mind any help we can give them. So don’t leave home without a good cheer, your lucky socks, or if you feel the need to, you can bring along that rally monkey. Seemed to work for the Angels quite nicely. After all, whatever it takes to win, right?