ON SPORTS ~ The Beanpot...

Edition #16
Thirteen Things about THE BUMBLES -and one of our favorite college traditions...

What - you've never heard of The Beanpot? You must not have spent any time in Boston. Here's a brief overview for you:

1. The Beanpot is a college hockey tournament held in two rounds over the first two Mondays each February between Boston College, Boston University, Harvard University and Northeastern University.

2. The Beanpot just crowned it's 57th champion and is played in the Boston Garden - home of the NHL Bruins and NBA Celtics.

3. The tournament was originally created as a "filler" to sell tickets on slow nights just after Christmas. Six years later it was moved to February after gaining popularity.

4. The February timing falls right after the Super Bowl and before Spring Training, near the middle of the NHL and NBA seasons. This means that there is not a lot of professional competition with The Beanpot. It is also a tune-up to the NCAA hockey regional tournament and Frozen Four championship.

5. The quality of play is very high as well. These aren't crummy hockey players. Three of the 4 teams have won the national championship within the last 20 years. This year's Beanpot final round had the #1 and #3 teams in the nation matched up against each other.

6. It is always the same 4 teams. And they are geographically located within mere miles of each other. B.C. and B.U. share the same line of the T (public trolley subway) with Northeastern branching off the same T line and Harvard a different line across the river. There is no seeding in the tournament - the schedule of matchups is rotated from year to year to keep things fair.

7. The Beanpot is a major recruiting tool for all 4 colleges involved. It is broadcast on NESN, which is owned by the Red Sox and Boston Bruins, throughout all of New England.

8. The Blizzard of '78 hit during the first round of The Beanpot and left many stranded in the Garden for several days. That year the final round wasn't played until March due to the time it took to clear out all that snow. B.U. beat Harvard for the championship.

9. People have joked that The Beanpot should be called the B.U. Invitational because B.U. has won half of them - 29 out of 57 overall - and appeared in 46 of the 57 final rounds. In the last 25 years B.U. has missed the finals only twice and they won 17 of those 23 finals appearances. B.C. won 4 of them, Harvard and Northeastern 2 a piece.

10. Current NHL alumni of The Beanpot include Brian Gionta (NJ Devils), Tom Poti (WA Nationals), Chris Drury (NY Rangers), and Rick DiPietro (NY Islanders). Perhaps the most well known Beanpot alumn is Mike Eruzioni, who scored the winning goal against the Soviets as Captain of the U.S. Hockey Team in the 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid.

12. Ted Donato is a Harvard and Beanpot alumn, a former NHL player, and has been Harvard's coach for the last 3 years. Greg Cronin has been coaching Northeastern for 3 years and comes from a family line of Beanpot almumni, though being a graduate of Colby he is not one himself. Jerry York, a B.C. and Beanpot alumn, has been coaching B.C. for 14 years and has the 2nd most wins in NCAA Hockey history between B.C. and Bowling Green. Jack Parker is a B.U. and Beanpot alumn, is in the Beanpot H.O.F., has coached B.U. for 35 years and ranks 3rd behind York for coaching victories.

13. Molly is a B.U. alumn. She was wicked psyched to see B.U. beat Northeastern this week for the Beanpot trophy. Look for a Beanpot presence in the NCAA Hockey Regionals in late March and the Frozen Four April 9th - 11th.

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