{"id":24003,"date":"2001-04-07T09:26:00","date_gmt":"2001-04-07T14:26:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2001\/04\/07\/euphoria-and-a-cigar\/"},"modified":"2010-08-17T19:54:15","modified_gmt":"2010-08-18T00:54:15","slug":"euphoria-and-a-cigar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2001\/04\/07\/euphoria-and-a-cigar\/","title":{"rendered":"Euphoria And A Cigar"},"content":{"rendered":"
Outside the Pepsi Arena an elderly man wearing a maroon and gold Boston College tam-o’shanter spoke to a friend before the game.<\/p>\n
“I gave up cigars for Lent this year,” he said. “But if they win …”<\/p>\n
He patted his breast pocket, grinned and looked to the sky. <\/p>\n
“I think He’ll understand.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Jerry York and the Boston College Eagles ended the Curse of ’49 Saturday night against UND. (Photo by Jayson Moy)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Perhaps so. There had been enough Close But No Cigar frustrations for BC fans in the NCAAs over the years that a stogie during Lent to celebrate a title might well be excused.<\/p>\n
It had been a long time since legendary coach Snooks Kelley led the Eagles to their last national championship in 1949. That was only the second year of the NCAA tournament, and being 1-for-2 must have felt pretty good at the time. Unfortunately, the Eagles had gone 0-for-51 since with enough heartbreak for a lifetime of soap operas.<\/p>\n
There were unsuccessful trips to the title game in 1965 and 1978. Then the most agonizing stretch of them all ran from the mid-eighties through 1991. Some of the collegiate sport’s most dominating talent — All-Americans or future NHLers like Brian Leetch, Craig Janney, Tim Sweeney, Greg Brown, David Emma, Kevin Stevens, Doug Brown, Bill Guerin, Steve Heinze, Marty McInnis, Scott Harlow, David Littman and Ted Crowley — failed even to reach the championship game.<\/p>\n
The latest era of frustration began when this year’s seniors were freshmen. They lost to Michigan in the 1998 title game, to eventual champion Maine in a 1999 semifinal and to North Dakota in last year’s championship game.<\/p>\n
Close but no cigar.<\/p>\n
The monkey on the Eagles’ backs had grown into a gorilla and with each banana peel that Boston College slipped on, the weight grew heavier. Opposing fans, especially those of archrival Boston University, would torment BC with chants of “1949! 1949!” in the same fashion of the Boston Red Sox and 1918 or the New York Rangers and 1940 — that is, until they finally exorcised that demon with the 1994 Stanley Cup.<\/p>\n
“We know the last time that BC’s won a national championship,” said Brian Gionta one day earlier. “But that’s not our concern. For these guys, we know that’s our last goal this season to accomplish.”<\/p>\n
Indeed, it was the only challenge left standing for this year’s Eagles. They’d won the Beanpot, ending a Boston University stranglehold in the Battle for Boston, and then gone on to take both the Hockey East regular season crown and the conference tournament. They then advanced to a rematch with North Dakota in this NCAA title game. All that was left was just one more win.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Bobby Allen (left) and Krys Kolanos address the media after the title game. (Photo by Adam Wodon)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n