Let's Take The Internet Connections Away From the BU Kids

I don't flame much. I don't enjoy it - well, maybe a little - and I don't think that it's right to step on another writer's creative works. However, I don't consider myself to be above a few good potshots when they're deserved.

That said, when I do flame, it's usually in the direction of one of the two schools located on Comm Ave. It's always good-natured and never ill-meaning - the spirit of competition is, after all, just that. But when something like this piece from Boston University's Shep Hayes - clearly, the red-headed stepchild of the lineage that produced Jimmy and Kevin and Rutherford B. - hits my timeline (which is definitely the new "lands on my desk"), I really can't resist.

(The comment which I submitted for moderation, which I'm pretty sure covers everything that went wrong in those 1,000 words and even more sure won't be approved:

Except for the part where NU and BC tied at Conte, 7-7 and the part where Northeastern won 2-1 the next night at Matthews and the part where BC was the number one team in the country.And the part where BU didn’t deserve two points from their embarrassing 5-4 win in December. And the part where Northeastern beat Merrimack at Lawler – a feat only accomplished by Lowell this season.And definitely the part where an ECAC team is regarded as less of a weak link than the Huskies. And the part where Cronin has done a magical job recruiting top-flight talent while standing in the shadows of Parker and York.And the part where, while BU was on a 4-7-2 slide after being unjustly anointed national Number One, Northeastern went 6-3-3, and didn’t lose to any teams that currently sit in the bottom-third of the most embarrassing conference in college hockey. And they certainly didn’t lose to them by five goals.And the part where NU had the third-most freshman applicants of any school in the nation this year. And the part where they’ve worked in unison with the Colleges of the Fenway to improve the Roxbury and Fenway area.Maybe you should take a note from your own writing and – you know – do some research.

But other than that, quality journalism. 

/end rant)

In full disclosure, I am - nearly - a Northeastern product. I'll graduate from NU with my Master's in just over four weeks, which will likely open up a world of opportunities for me in the unemployed-or-at-least-grossly-underpaid sector. But I am not a homer - even if I do consider Punters to be the greatest bar in the world.

If you're going to write about hockey, write about hockey. If you're going to write about a school's social position, write about that. If you're going to write about a weekend series, do that. But don't lump it all together in some half-hearted defense of your own institution's struggling numbers, urban sprawl and nearness to all the most wonderful neighborhoods in Boston, especially when the dark cloud of Allston hovers over your campus - Allston and the Fens, by the way, are basically 1 and 1a in the Boston crime scene, thanks in no small part I'm sure to some combination of watering holes, college students and terrible decisions.

And, if you're going to write about hockey, at least check the box scores before you reflect on games that only happened two weeks ago. I get that final scores are mundane details in the grand scheme of things and that rankings mean next to nothing - otherwise Yale wouldn't be ranked - but they might be relevant in a piece that talks about hockey. Maybe.

BU, last I checked, was a big journalism school. I know lots of people who graduated with degrees in Journalism from BU, and some of them are even doing pretty well for themselves. They are, as Shep intimates, an "academic research" school. They also seem to wonder why Northeastern hates them so much.

Maybe that's why it was written - to spread the flames and re-ignite the rivalry. But I doubt it. BU fans don't really care about Northeastern. They care about BC, UBurger, themselves and nobody else - that's evidenced when they chant things like "BC sucks" even though they're playing Lowell.

Like I said, I never wish ill will towards anyone. That said, Shep, I'm sure that you're a great guy. I really like your name, and I'm always beyond happy to see that I'm not the only white kid who can grow a curl-fro. I hope that your (ridiculously overpriced) BU education takes you far in life.

And I also hope that this travesty of a piece of journalism winds up being nothing more than a blemish on your record when all is said and done.