When I was at BC, the hockey program was struggling. They had a 9-24-5 record when I was a freshman and sophomore year wasn’t much better. In the 1994 Beanpot, #2 Harvard had defeated #1 BU in the first round while BC squeaked by Northeastern in double OT. I’m pretty sure that made Harvard #1 when BC played them in the final, but the Eagles were definitely huge underdogs. On the back of stellar goaltending by Greg Taylor, BC beat “Hahvahd” and took the 1994 Beanpot. This was the headline from the Boston Globe the next day (which I added to my door with this, this, this, and this):
It was the only highlight for BC hockey during my 4 years at Chestnut Hill, but it was a memorable one. Jerry York took over as coach when I was a junior, and the program hasn’t looked back since (National Champs in 2001, 2008, and 2010).
BC beat BU in OT to capture the 2004 Beanpot, and my friend/neighbor left me this note the next day:
“N” and I became friends when we started talking about our special ed jobs and our love of the Red Sox. We went to the 2004 Red Sox Home Opener, and watched a few Sox games together. Then, our friendship ended.
I don’t know if this has happened to other people out there, but it’s happened to me a few times. No more friendly notes, no more calls, and no more hanging out. The weirdest part about it all was that she lived in the same building as me, and she even stopped saying “hi” in passing. And I understand when you lose touch with someone, but this seemed different.
Anyway, I gave up trying to reconnect and/or get an explanation and that was that. She ended up saying hi to me eventually, to which I replied “Hi?”.
One of the toughest life lessons I’ve learned over the years is everyone has their reasons for doing what they do and sometimes you don’t get to know these reasons. When things like this happen, you can dwell or move on. This note reminds me that sometimes people’s actions don’t make sense, but they’re going to do what they want to do regardless. If you’re lucky to have family and friends that you know will be there no matter what, then you’re lucky enough…
GO BC!
Hi Dave. My name is Greg Taylor, and I was the goalie for BC that year. Someone sent me a link to this site; it seems like a lifetime ago. I hope you're doing well. Take care.
ReplyDeleteGreg