BC Takes Opener Over Weber State

This afternoon marked a very historical date in the lives of a few football people as the Boston College Eagles kicked off their 2010 campaign at Alumni Stadium against the Weber State Wildcats. For Weber State, it was their first encounter with BC and, more dramatically, the furthest north and east that they have ever ventured for a football game. Unfortunately for the Wildcats, their historical moment wasn't as special as it was for BC's Mark Herzlich.

Herzlich, a Boston College linebacker, stepped foot on the turf for a game for the first time since 2008. After a long road back, today was the day that Herzlich put the finishing touches on his winning battle against cancer. Ewing's Sarcoma was the cancer he fought throughout the entire 2009 season, and today was his grand return to the football field. In a part-time role, Herzlich made 5 tackles, easing him back into game action.

For the Eagles, though, it was a shaky start. Prior to snapping the first play from scrimmage, BC committed a delay of game penalty. A few seconds later when they snapped the actual play, quarterback Dave Shinskie threw an interception that gave Weber State the ball at BC's 20 yard line. The defense held strong, though, holding the Wildcats to just a field goal and a 3-0 lead.

Then things got rolling. BC responded with 24 unanswered points, eventually leading to a 31-10 halftime lead and a 38-20 victory. The offense didn't click in the second half, but its first half performance was enough to give the Eagles the win. Shinskie went 10-for-20 passing the ball for 185 yards and 2 touchdowns. He also threw 2 interceptions. For the ground game, it was Montel Harris who stepped up, carrying the ball 19 times for 115 yards and a touchdown. He also had 3 catches for 31 yards.

For BC, they protect their own house again next Saturday as Kent State comes into town to face the Eagles. The game is set to start at 3:30. Boston College could really use another win before the tough teams start rolling in; Virginia Tech, Notre Dame, and Florida State make up three of BC's following four matchups.

NHL Wrap-up

After a long and unnecessary hiatus the NHL wrap-ups are back, and I'm just going to get right down to business.

First up, Ilya Kovalchuk and the New Jersey Devils issued a revised contract to the NHL and have finally come to an agreement, some five weeks after the initial rejection. The new deal is 15 years, $100 million. The league came to an agreement with the NHL Players Association "on an amendment covering long-term contracts." Also, as part of the agreement, the NHL has agreed to stop looking into the long-term contracts of Chris Pronger, Roberto Luongo, Marc Savard and Marian Hossa according to ESPN.com. You can read the full story here.

The San Jose Sharks inked a new goalie, Antti Niemi. Niemi is coming of a Stanley Cup Championship with the Blackhawks and will be paired up with fellow Finnish goaltender, Antero Nittymaki, who was signed on the first day of free agency this off-season. Niemi and the Sharks agreed on a one-year deal worth $2 million.

Jonathan Cheechoo was invited to attend tryouts at the Star's training camp. Cheechoo, 30, played the 2009-2010 season with the Ottawa Senators, notching 14 points in 61 games played.

Other Notable Signings :

Mike Comrie: C From: Edmonton To: Pittsburgh - 1 yr. deal.
2009-2010 stats: 13 G, 8 A, 21 PTS

Carey Price: G Re-signed with Montreal
2009-2010 stats: 13-20-5 2.77 GAA, .912 SV%

Chris Stewart: RW Re-signed with Colorado - 2 yr. deal worth $5.75 million
2009-2010 stats: 28 G, 36 A, 64 PTS

Lee Stempniak: RW Re-signed with Phoenix - 2 yr. deal worth $3.8 million
2009-2010 stats: 28 G, 20 A, 48 PTS

Patric Hornqvist: RW Re-signed with Nashville - 3 yr. deal worth $9.25 million
2009-2010 stats: 30 G, 21 A, 51 PTS

I'm Back, But Pedroia Won't Be

Well, I have good news and bad news. Good news is that I have returned from my retreat and can make posts again, but still a very limited number because of this whole getting acclimated thing. Bad news? Dustin Pedroia underwent his season-ending surgery to heal a broken foot. Even worse news? The Sox are 8.5 games behind the Yankees and 6.5 behind the Rays with a quickly diminishing number of games left. I hate to lose hope, but let's face it. I'm losing hope.

The Sox had their game cancelled tonight because of this impending hurricane / apocalypse that everyone is ranting about. So I'm gonna go make a shelter now to prepare myself -- I think they might have just misestimated that 2012 thing. It's probably happening tonight. But if it doesn't, and the world goes on, I'll have a very blank day tomorrow that concludes with the outcome of the BC vs Weber State football game. Season opener. Home opener. Gotta love it. Just gotta.

Blog Vacation Necessary

I mentioned that today was my college move in day. It's been pretty hectic, and I leave for some retreat thingamajig tomorrow until Friday. I do not anticipate that I will have computer access during that time. And if I do, I will likely be cramped for time with whatever the retreat schedule may be. So I'm just going to declare a mini vacation right here. I'll be back this weekend. This is a little bit of what I was talking about that you'll have to expect. Might not have the same amount of time for posting as I normally do. But I'm trying, and more importantly, if you're unhappy with it, don't bother visiting the site. But for those who do, I figured I'd inform you that this will (probably) be the last post until the weekend.

Who Dat? The Answer...

Very quiet day here, as like I said, I moved into college day. I'm busy getting acclimated. So my apologies to everyone. Things will pick up after this week (I have this 3-day retreat thingamajig starting tomorrow). But anyway, Who Dat?

Bruins Still Shopping Savard

Marc Savard signed a 7-year extension with the Boston Bruins back in December.

Even though the trade rumors surrounding Marc Savard have severely died down since the NHL draft concluded, new reports this week are indicating that the Boston Bruins are indeed still shopping their 33-year-old center in an attempt to make a trade involving him. The reports also claim, however, that many of the potential suitors for Savard are backing off due to the current investigation by the NHL of his 7-year contract. Most people expect that the investigation will come up empty, but in light of the league voiding New Jersey's recent agreement with Ilya Kovalchuk, there is the possibility that Savard's deal is in jeopardy as well. If the league finds that Savard's deal circumvents the salary cap policy (as a result of being too front-loaded to reduce the cap hit for his prime years) then the deal could be voided. However, most believe that the deal -- which Savard signed back in December -- is not in danger of being nullified.

The Bruins are currently over the cap, and they will need to make a move of some sort prior to Marco Sturm's return in November. Savard and Thomas have seemed like the likely targets to move all offseason, but Thomas has become a near impossible string to pull because of the actions of teams around the league. Hell, Antti Niemi can't even find work. I don't see the Bruins being able to ship Thomas at a hefty $5 million per-year price. So will they trade Savard? That remains to be seen. I think they're a great team either way, and they do have an overload at the center position. Still, though, trading away your (arguably) most talented offensive player might not be the key to improving the league's worst offensive attack from last season. With camp opening up on September 17th, we can expect to learn more in one direction or another within the coming weeks.

Who Dat? Take a Guess

Yesterday you got the double whammy. Today you don't get that. But I'm giving it consideration. Maybe every Sunday will be a day off from Who Dat, and Monday will be a doubleheader. To honor Sunday football? Nobody wants to play Who Dat when football is on. And the double whammy was fun. But whatever. Focus on today, and catching Bruce. The race is getting tighter, but Bruce is still the champ right now.

Bruce	5 points
Ed B	3 points
Fitch	3 points
Enahs	2 points
Kshep	2 points
Magz	2 points
Mikey Diggs	2 points
Hink	1 point

Who Dat?

PS -- Perfect use of the auto-post. I wrote this last night. Right now, chances are I'm moving into college.

The Day Has Come

Well, this is it folks. I go off to college tomorrow. Moving into BC. I know you don't care, but there's a reason I'm announcing this. And that is because you can no longer expect the same efficiency each day when it comes to post frequency. Classes all day! Every day! Oh my God... how am I gonna do this? To tell you the truth, I'll find out soon. Will Ultimate Boston survive this hit? It must. I haven't reached by first pay-day plateau yet on our revenue charts. Therefore it must continue. And it will continue... just not as many posts each day from me. But I'll certainly try my best.

Alright, seriously. If you didn't pick up on all that subliminal messaging, I'll spell it out for you here. Let's get some damn writers in here! If you want to be a UB writer, NOW is the time to ask me. With me going away, I'd love some help. If you think you're capable of producing one blog-worthy post per day, or every couple of days -- hell, even per week -- let me know. Also, along the same lines, see the next paragraph.

College sports are starting up. Some teams have their first football games this week. I know a lot of our reader population is of the college student variety. If you go to a college with some sports teams in New England, we'd love to get some posts up here about them. With your insights as a student there. UMass, UNH, URI, Boston University, Harvard, Northeastern, Suffolk, St. Michael's, Vermont, Maine, New Haven, UConn .... the list goes ON and ON people! If you go to any of these schools and you think you could write some good sports reports about any of the teams every once in a while, let me know pronto! We can get this ball rolling with your help. Just don't come to me saying you want to be the BC football or basketball or hockey writer or something. I'll just look at you funny and ask if you're joking. Then I'll tell you I have those topics under control. But seriously there's like a jillion other schools in New England so we'd love to have writers from those parts.

Wish me luck tomorrow. If my suite mates aren't around maybe I'll video a little tour of my suite and show you guys. But if they are around, I figure that's not the best ice breaker -- make a tour guide video of a 4 person suite. They might think I'm a weirdo. Maybe I am just for suggesting it, I don't know. Whatever. Who cares. Just man up and write some blogs for your school.... have them well represented on UB!

Who Dey? The Answers...

#1

#2

Time for the answers. Who Dey? There was a double whammy today. You guys made some great guesses, but there was a bonus point up for grabs for anyone who nailed both. Did anyone get that triple-score? Only one way to find out...

Clemens Pleads Not Guilty

If you haven't already seen it on the news, Roger Clemens pleaded not guilty to charges of perjury for lying to congress about his steroid use. The Rocket seems prepared to fight this thing to the end against the whole world, and since he probably won't convince anyone that he was always clean, he'll probably spend a few months in the slammer at the end of this thing. But this particular headline is just strange to me. It's like -- yes, it's breaking news. It's like -- yes, it's true. But it's just not surprising in the very slightest bit. Almost so expected that it doesn't deserve to be a headline, you know? It's like if I said, "Breaking news... the Patriots are playing football this week." Yes, it's up to date and yes, it's true. But everyone already knows that. Sort of the same thing here. Everyone and their mother knew that Roger wasn't going to plead guilty after everything that's happened so far. It would be counterintuitive. Like kicking a field goal on 1st and goal. But at least today was the absolute confirmation that we're in for a long, aggravating ride. I think they said his hearing is like a year away from now. So this will all quiet down for a while before shooting back to the surface. And when that time comes, I'll be pulling my hair out with just as much force because ESPN is covering Clemens during the midst of a heated pennant race (that hopefully the Red Sox will actually be succeeding in next year). Whether or not the Rocket used the juice (and I believe he did), I would just so much rather this whole thing be over and done with. We already have enough useless news in the media. Favre and King James have that covered. We don't need you, Roger. Go home.

Possible to Improbable

After their win in the opener of this weekend's three-game set with Tampa Bay, there were several rays of hope shining down through the gloomy skies over the Boston Red Sox season. Since then, however, two devastating losses have made most forget the possibility of reaching the playoffs and dwell on the stark improbability of the feat. Now 6.5 games out of the hunt with a day off today, the Red Sox will need to work some serious magic down the stretch. I had mentioned this series with Tampa would be not only very crucial but also very telling. It was both.

We learned a big thing or two about these Red Sox over the past couple of days. On the positive side, we learned that these guys have heart. They played like it was a playoff series. Adrian Beltre can hardly walk to first base without a severe limp due to his injured hamstring, but he doesn't care. He has vowed to play through that injury unless his hamstring "blows up." Guys are diving into first base head first. Victor Martinez is putting everything on the line to block home plate on more outfield assists from Darnell McDonald (team-leading 8 assists this year). Their pitchers have labored deep into their starts, and everyone seems to be giving it everything they have left in their tanks. But the simple, undeniable fact is that this team is nearly half-composed of minor leaguers and rookies. Guys that never in their wildest dreams thought they would see 200 at bats this season. Guys who never thought they would throw out 8 men from centerfield. Guys that never thought they would even get the chance to make a spectacular diving catch in the gap. And that's showing up big time right now on the offensive side of the game. Defensively, they're getting the job done. Our pitching is getting the job done. But 8 runs in 3 games isn't going to cut it against the best teams in baseball. Our three best pitchers went into the biggest series of the season and they pitched like our three best pitchers. They earned their salaries, like I said they would have to do. And that's why this was a very telling series. It was the most deflating blow that I've received to my optimism about this team. Our guys threw like absolute aces each night, and we came away with just one win. Lost a game in the standings as a result of this series. That is a bad sign to me.

Even if the Yankees or Rays play .500 ball the rest of the way -- a very hopeful thing to wish for -- Boston will need to surge into a streak of 23 wins and 8 losses (or better) to slide into the playoffs. Yes, we still play New York 6 times. Winning a chunk of those would certainly help drop the Yankees to that .500 mark. But it's going to be very difficult. It's imperative we go 23-8, but it's practical that we will need to do even better. And that's my biggest concern. I'm not sure about this team's ability to string together multiple wins in a row with such a depleted and inexperienced roster card. Like Tim Kurkjian said this morning, it's basically a miracle that the Red Sox are still in the hunt. They've had an amazing season considering the injuries they've been hit with. They're unlucky to be behind the two best teams in baseball in this division. But for the optimist, those are the exact reasons to hold out hope. Six months ago, before the season began, nobody would have given them a snowball's chance in hell of being 74-57 with the players they have lost for extended periods of time. Nobody. Well, they did that. And now, nobody is giving them a chance to make this postseason. I'm even pretty unsure at this point, too. For the optimist, though -- this group does like to prove people wrong. Let's just hope they can do it one last time.

Belichick Going Hard at Patriots

Following the Patriots' 36-35 preseason loss to the St. Louis Rams on Thursday night, head coach Bill Belichick has not been shy when it comes to ripping into his team for their poor performance on many levels.

"He gave it to us pretty good," quarterback Tom Brady told WEEI about Belichick in their last two team meetings on Friday and Sunday. "There's always a running joke with our team, the humble pie. He was serving it on Friday. It was just what we needed. We didn't go out and play very well."

For many players, that statement is accurate. The defense was lackluster and the running game was nonexistent. But for the QB himself, Brady was quite stellar. 18-for-22 and 273 yards is pretty impressive, not to mention his 3 scoring strikes including the 65-yarder to Randy Moss. Once they found a rhythm, the passing game was mighty efficient.

Still, you almost get the feeling that Belichick wanted to disrupt their rhythm at times. On a fourth and inches from midfield, he pulled off the offense and sent out the punting unit. In what was a very uncharacteristic move for Belichick since the emergence of his high-octane offensive unit, Brady half-jokingly admitted that his coach may have had a plan to go along with that call.

"I think he wanted to do it just to yell at us," Brady said about the decision to punt the ball away. Whether it was for that reason or many other potential reasons -- I, too, believe that there may have been some agenda for doing that. He may have wanted to get more looks at the defense, which had a distinctly different style on Thursday night. Games 1 and 2, the DBs were jamming at the line and getting in the faces of receivers. This week, they were giving them 5-10 yards at the line and dropping back into coverage. My view is that Belichick wanted to get a look at guys like Devin McCourty playing strictly coverage and not being aggressive. You need to find out what different guys are capable of -- jam the line every time, and the good QBs will burn you on it. Additionally, the fact that Maroney and Taylor got no carries may suggest that this week's game wasn't an exact simulation of what the regular season gameplan will be. So, for that, I have no worries.

But regardless of the gameplan or the tactics, there were plenty of physical mistakes out there and plenty of justification for coach Belichick to rip into his squad. It's been a clear theme this season with that staff. They took down all the memorabilia of the past Super Bowl championship teams in New England. He's serving the humble pie, reminding his guys that they aren't entitled to greatest by dawning the uniform -- they have to earn the privilege to dawn the uniform and work even harder to find that greatness.

Who Dey? Take a Guess (Double Whammy!)

#1

#2

Remember how I said I had a schedule all arranged with each day's Who Dat selection? Well I missed it yesterday. Which means I have to make up for it today to avoid bumping yesterday's girl all the way to the back of my schedule. So you've got a double whammy today. Make your guesses according to these numbers. #1 and #2. They're worth a point each. However, I'm offering 1 BONUS POINT to anyone who nails it 2-for-2 before anyone else has successfully guessed one of these two girls. So give it a shot. Think about it. You can jump right up to Bruce's level with a sweep today. Or Bruce could skyrocket even higher above the rest of the field. That's up to you.

Bruce	5 points
Fitch	3 points
Ed B	2 points
Enahs	2 points
Kshep	2 points
Magz	2 points
Hink	1 point
Mikey Diggs	1 point

Who Dey?

Sorry Folks

Sorry for there not being any posts lately, folks. I was venturing to the Ocean State for some activities. After all, Rhode Island is the state of my first ever college experience. Decided to take a stroll down memory lane. Wasn't at the computer all day. But my understanding is that the Red Sox lost a heartbreaker last night. And that sucks. But it's not over yet. Win tonight, and everything is still within reach. Lose tonight, I'll be having some serious doubts (but still not throwing in the towel just yet).

Anyway, things will be back in order tomorrow. I promise. Have a great night.