So, how was your spring break?
Good, you say? That’s nice. Well, a few things happened in the world of Husky sports while you were away.
A recap is in order.
The Husky baseball team (6-4) has made a decent impression so far, enough to help sophomore pitcher Sheldon McDonald earn Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) pitcher of the week honors. On the hardwood, men’s hoops got dropped from the CAA tourney by George Mason, who eventually won the title. Honestly, who didn’t see that coming?
Continuing on, men’s hockey finished their regular season descent with a thud in a 4-1 loss to BC Saturday; they’ve got Vermont in a playoff best-of-three starting Friday. But not all is trying on the ice – Kristi Kehoe and Leah Sulyma earned All-Rookie honors from Hockey East on the women’s side. The women’s track team placed second in the New Englands (men’s placed ninth). And finally, the undefeated women’s swimming and diving team met its match in the waters on March 1, placing fifth in the CAA championship.
Unless I’ve forgotten something, that should be about it.
—–
My spring break was spent covering the state high school basketball and hockey tournaments, which will be decided this coming weekend in Worcester and at the TD Banknorth Garden, respectively. As I did my work, I began to notice the chants and catcalls that each team’s fans use to heckle the other.
Some were creative (Catholic Memorial’s “God’s on our side!”). Others were not (Wellesley’s “Sieve” ripoff of our own Dog House). One was hilariously unfortunate (Lincoln-Sudbury’s defense chant: “L-S-D! L-S-D!”). But all of them captured how unique the flavor of high school sports really is.
Here at Northeastern, we have an abundant array of songs, chants and demeaning statements for game day, ranging from the safe “Go N-U!” to the more blunt “Sieve, you suck!” But save for that “macho, macho man” deal that our fans go into upon a brutal hockey check from one of our boys, I’m not sure if we have that many on the creative side. I’m not sure why and it bothers me.
Then again, maybe I’m missing the point entirely. Chants aren’t exactly meant to be complex now, aren’t they? Just a thought.
—–
I’ll close this with a plea. Northeastern student and fellow Burrillville (R.I.) High School graduate Ashley Giorgi is embarking on a mission to help fight a deadly disease.
She’s preparing to run the Rock and Roll Marathon in San Diego, June 1 with “Team In Training,” a group that’s out to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. She’s looking to raise $2,000 for cancer research, but with about two-and-a-half months to go before the race, only $145 has been donated.
Every bit helps in the battle against cancer. Even if you only have a couple of bucks on you, please consider giving to her cause at www.active.com/donate/tntsdh/tntsdhAGiorgi.
Good luck, Ashley!
– Chris Estrada can be reached