04/27/24
March 21, 2010
SportsFilter: The Sunday Huddle:
A place to discuss the sports stories that aren't making news, share links that aren't quite front-page material, and diagram plays on your hand. Remember to count to five Mississippi before commenting in anger.
If you're going to wear a statement-making emergency outfit like New Mexico's Steve Alford did at yesterday's game, your team needs to be able to go out on the court and back that up.
posted by beaverboard at 12:44 PM on March 21, 2010
The "Shivering Sixteen" NCAA hockey pairings are out. In Hockey East, BC (automatic as the tournament champion), Vermont and New Hampshire were selected. I'm a bit surprised that Maine, who beat BU in the tournament semifinals and took BC to overtime in the final, was not selected while Vermont and New Hampshire were. UNH was the regular season champion, but their showing in the tournament (beaten by Maine 2 games to 1 in the opening round) was not good. My perennial dark horse favorite, Alabama-Huntsville made it in again this year, so I have someone to root for besides the Hockey East schools.
posted by Howard_T at 02:47 PM on March 21, 2010
That Guardian article says that Nagodoches' "greatest claim to fame is that most of the debris from the doomed space shuttle Challenger fell on it." Perhaps, but as somebody who started his 6.5-year, four-college educational trek there, I have to point out that Nagodoches is the home of Stephen F. Austin State University and the rainiest place I ever lived.
posted by rcade at 03:13 PM on March 21, 2010
I've never seen the Ala-Huntsville hockey team play. I'm wondering what makes a team from that area (of all places) competitive with the traditional cold weather hockey powers.
My initial guess would be the generational legacy of the post-war European talent migration to Huntsville for the space propulsion program. Werner Von Braun and all the German rocket scientists, etc. And some Austrians, Hungarians and Czechs as well.
Many of the descendants of those first post-war families have remained in the Huntsville area.
posted by beaverboard at 04:19 PM on March 21, 2010
I'm wondering what makes a team from that area (of all places) competitive with the traditional cold weather hockey powers.
Not exactly local boys, beaver. And I can't imagine them sticking around too long against a motivated Miami squad. They had a let-down in the CCHA semis, but Rico won't allow that again.
posted by tahoemoj at 05:01 PM on March 21, 2010
Mauer signs eight-year extension: $184,000,000
posted by tommybiden at 06:31 PM on March 21, 2010
Here's some more from last year on Huntsville and youth hockey:
Nestled in the heart of Southeastern Conference football country, Huntsville is not a typical hockey hotbed. But it is the home of the United States Army's Redstone Arsenal, the Marshall Space Flight Center and a large number of defense contractors. They attracted workers from the North, turning Huntsville into an oasis of sticks and pucks, complete with youth programs, the Division I Alabama-Huntsville Chargers and the Huntsville Havoc of the Southern Professional Hockey League.
posted by etagloh at 06:48 PM on March 21, 2010
The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
posted by BoKnows at 10:47 PM on March 21, 2010
A week late, but this tackle is worth seeing.
posted by Mr Bismarck at 12:13 AM on March 22, 2010
Great line from the Guillen link: "Putting Twitter in a Guillen's hands is like lighting matches in a gas station parking lot."
Oney Guillen is entertaining on Twitter. "I hope the dorks aren't running the organization or else were fucked. 3 geeks who never played baseball a day in there life telling expe ... a day in there life telling experts what to do." Guess he's not a Moneyball fan.
posted by rcade at 07:27 AM on March 22, 2010
They had a let-down in the CCHA semis, but Rico won't allow that again.
Do you think Rico could make a stop in Amherst and teach Toot how to motivate his guys? We were second in hockey east at the end of January and fairly high in the pairwise rankings, only to fall on our faces and lose 6 in a row in February. The Mass Attack has developed a pattern of doing really well until the winter break and then falling a part at the end of the season.
Losing 8 guys who represented 62% of their offense will not help either. (yes the link is a shameless plug to my own writings but it doesn't alter the fact that Toot needs to do something different with his team next year)
posted by Demophon at 08:43 AM on March 22, 2010
Nestled in the heart of Southeastern Conference football country, Huntsville is not a typical hockey hotbed.
Huntsville is in the northern part of Alabama, just 20 miles or so from the Tennessee line. While the weather there is not exactly New Hampshire cold, even in the summer it tends to avoid the oppressive heat and humidity common in the deep south. The idea that the influx of defense-related personnel at Redstone Arsenal contributes to hockey's popularity is well-founded.
Huntsville was quite a surprise to me when I first went there on a job assignment in 2001. The legacy of the Von Braun years was evident in the fact that there are 3 universities in the town, and one of the better German restaurants I have ever eaten in is there also.
posted by Howard_T at 03:04 PM on March 22, 2010
Nice profile of Clint Dempsey in the Guardian.