March 25, 2003

Weekend Sports Poops and Props

Print More

This past weekend was one of the best for Cornell sports in the three years that I’ve been here. And on top of that list, of course, is the work that the hockey team put in at Albany. So in the space below, I give credit where it is due, and rip those who deserve ripping.

Props

Big props go out to the men’s hockey team. The Red capped off a magical ECAC season by capturing the postseason tournament with a heart-stopping 3-2 comeback win. I was about to toss my cookies when Harvard’s Tyler Kolarik gave the Crimson the late lead. And the replays of Kolarik’s championship-winning double-overtime goal on the big screen made my stomach churn even more. But Mark McRae — who became my favorite person in the world on Saturday night until Sam Paolini stole that honor about 20 minutes later — made my heart stop with 32 seconds remaining in regulation. And did anyone else see that Paolini’s goal was ESPN SportsCenter’s Play of the Day on Saturday night? The laser from the faceoff dot beat out plays from all those college basketball games to earn top honors. Oh, and it had this fan cheering…

Pa-o-li-ni, clap, clap, clap clap clap.

Poops

Harvard, of course. The Crimson played well, and had the partisan crowd at Pepsi Arena stunned, but hey, the good guys won in the end. Mark Mazzoleni, Dom Moore, Kolarik, Noah Welch