My $port$Center highlight would be them actually showing today's game live, but hey, its the Davis Cup...hell, it could be the Timber Cup for Best Lumberjack and they'd pre-empt the game... Anyhoo, that was the single-most exciting game I have ever witnessed, finally a game that could top the 1989 Providence-Maine Quarterfinal that went 2OT before Martin Robitaille sent Maine to the Phinal Phour. I was really ticked off because I started my VCR at 12:55 and went to eat lunch with my grandmother, returned at 1:45 and saw that I had just taped almost an hour of TENNIS! Of course, the footage of Aranxta twisting her ankle was almost as gruesome as watching Mike Grier's demolition of a poor BC defenseman in the Beanpot. I had forgotten how annoying Bob Norton's habit of naming every single player's high school, home town, former team as well as every living relative whenever he mentioned a player really was. At least I got to turn him down and listen to a pair of Joes: Carr and Clark (former asst. coach at UMaine) do the game on radio, this also allowed me to sit in agony as I listened to Maine score the winning goal while Lee Trevino was putting. E$PN and the NC$$ will definitely be getting some hate mail from me...and I used to be their biggest fan, too... :( UMaine was able to exorcise a demon with their victory: It was in that building that Michigan State beat us my freshman year to eliminate the Bears in the quarterfinals. Everything about that trip was bad, and my most vivid memory isn't even of the game itself... While I'm mentioning that season of 1991-92, I recall that the folks out west spent most of that spring and summer talking about the All-West Phinal Phour, and the "superiority" of Western College Hockey,now that its an All-East (ahem, all Hockey East) Title Game, should we Easterners start claiming "superiority"? I don't intend to, but it is food for thought. Did anyone notice that Tom Mees kept talking about the "storied traditions" surrounding all four teams at the Frozen Four? Forgive me, but Maine's "tradition" runs about eight years, when Maine went to BU and swept them in a weekend set at Walter Brown. On the other hand, Maine is the only member of the foursome to have won a title since the days of Disco, Fanta and 8-tracks. I have a great idea to save Maine and BU money, whoever wins this NC$$ title also gets to win the Hockey East banner, none of this "Co-Champs" that we've been hearing about. Or we could just call the game a tie and declare Maine and BU co-champs of the NC$$...somehow though, I don't think either Walsh or Parker are high on sharing with each other. There was a good piece in today's PPH (yes, I know, odd that they'd print something worthwhile) but its a great idea by Pat Borzi for a REAL contest: "Smilin' Jackie Parker" vs. Shawn (The Executioner) Walsh. Steel Cage. Vince McMahon handling the pre-fight interview. I think that would almost be as interesting as the hockey game... Once again Grant Standbrook picked the cream of the goaltending crop. I remember when he was recruiting Allison he called and Karen Fielder, the head secretary at the time, said that she had never heard him get excited over a goalie (and when you think about the last few netminders he had brought to Orono that's hard to imagine) but he was excited about Blair Allison, and now we see why. Well, its about time for me to head home and tune in the Davis Cup, I mean the Championship Game. Good luck to Maine...I'd wish BU luck but since Jack Parker ignored my attempts in 92 and again in 93, (and Walsh's in 91) I figure it'd be a waste of time and bandwidth. John Forsyth "We stayed with the (tennis) match based on the philosophy that you stay with a live event until its conclusion." - John Krulewitz, a publicist for E$PN -Its just a shame they forgot their philosophy four hours later... Maine 5, BU 4 OT (but will it be one, two, three...?)