BU 2, Alaska 1 (OT)

 

So apparently this has become a hockey blog. I'm cool with that - show me some puck, baby!

Last night, the Boston University men's hockey team started their 2026-27 season in Fairbanks against the University of Alaska Nanooks, the first-ever meeting between these two schools separated by four time zones. The Terriers won, 2-1, in OT.

Sophomore forward Tynan Lawrence scored the game-winning goal in OT and sophomore Jack Murtagh scored the Terrier's earlier goal in the first period. Junior goalie Mikhail Yegorov made 25 saves, all during regulation - the Nanooks never got a shot on goal in the OT period.

The Terriers start the season 1-0-0 and play Game Two of their weekend series in Alaska tonight. The puck drops at 11:07 Eastern time (7:07 Alaska time).

Speaking of Alaska, Captain Ella Hibbert has completed winterization of her ship, the Yeva, in Nome and will be leaving the 49th State in the next day or two. She intends to complete her circumnavigation of the Arctic Circle next summer. Tamara Klink's Sardinha 2 is in Homer on the Kenai Peninsula, where it's been for at least the last month. Her goal is to get the boat back to Brazil, and it appears that she's going to leave the Sardinha in Homer, where it spent last winter. 

Both Hibbert and Klink were denied passage through Russian waters this summer as they tried to sail over Siberia and Scandinavia through the Northeast Passage.

Bruins 4, Jets 3 (OT)

 

New-guy JJ Peterka is earning his keep. Last night, he scored an OT goal, his second of the season, with an assist by Nikita Zadorov and Captain David Pastrnak, and the mighty Boston Bruins won the game, 4-3.   

Hampus Lindholm and rookie James Hagens both scored in the first, Lindholm assisted by Morgan Geekie and William Borgen and Hagens assisted by Zadarov and Mark Kastelik. 

Kastelic had got into it earlier with Jets rookie Tyrel Bauer. They exchanged a few punches and Kastelic left the ice with blood on his jersey. He returned to the ice nine minutes later with a clean uniform and set Hagens up with the Bruins' second goal. 

The Jets took a 3-2 lead into the third period, but Elias Lindholm tied it up late in the game with assists by Captain Pasta and Mason Lohrei. And then Capt. P and Zadorov set JJ up for the game winning OT goal.

Jeremy Swayman made 30 saves against 33 shots for a .909 average. 

The Bruins improve to 2-0-0 on this youngest of seasons, which for now puts them in first place in the Atlantic Division. Tonight, they play in St. Paul's Grand Casino Arena against the Minnesota Wild (1-0-0).

Wisconsin 4, BU 1

 

Freshman forward Lo LaChappelle scored a power-play goal for the BU Terriers 15:18 minutes into the first period, BU's first and only goal of the game and BU's first and only goal so far of this season. It was also LaChapelle's first and only goal so far as a collegiate. 

Wisconsin answered with a power-play goal in the second period and two more even-strength goals in the third. As the game wore down, BU pulled their goalie, the terrific Sydney Fogu (37 saves on 40 shots for a .925 average), and the Badgers scored an open netter. And then that was that - the No. 1 Wisconsin Badgers swept the unranked BU Terriers in two games.

What else did you expect? 

Chalk it up to a learning experience. What doesn't kill you makes you stranger. After the Badgers, all the other teams will look like, well, BC. 

BU starts the season 0-2, and the only good news is that the losses were out of conference. Next Friday,  the Terriers go up to Durham to play Hockey East's New Hampshire Wildcats (1-2-0), and then on Saturday they go to Worcester to play the conference's Holy Cross (1-0-2). Neither team is ranked.

I think it's fair to say that after losing by only 4-1 to the No. 1 team in the country, the Terriers will win both games next weekend.

Wisconsin 7, BU 0

 

Last year, the Boston University Terrier's women's hockey team opened their season with two games against No. 3 Minnesota. In fucking Minneapolis, no less. I thought they were insane. They lost both games, of course, and started their season 0-2.

This year, the Terriers open their season with two games against No. 1 Wisconsin. In fucking Madison, no less.  They lost the first of the games last night, 7-0.

Wisconsin scored a goal in the first period and then exploded for five in the second. They added a seventh and final goal in the last period. 

Senior goaltender Mari Pietersen made 24 saves on 31 shots. Sophomore Sydney Fogu made her collegiate debut (she was out all last season with an injury) late in the second and made 16 saves on 17 shots.  

The Terriers play the second game of the series tonight (6:00 pm).

Yankees 9, Red Sox 2

 

It's over.

There's really nothing more to be said (but here I go anyway). It always sucks to lose and it sucks even more to lose the second straight game in a three-game playoff series. That the season-ending loss occurred in Yankee Fucking Stadium, the home of the you-know-who's, the site of so many previous Red Sox disappointments, makes it even worse. The fact that the Sox were just god awful - we didn't lose due to one missed play or a bad call or one unfortunate hop of the ball, but were publicly humiliated the entire series -  is just the icing on the cake.

Quick autopsy of the season: the Red Sox started as one of the worst teams in MLB and ended as one of the worst teams. For a glorious six or so weeks there in the middle of the season, centered around the month of July, they played like gods. No one knows how or why the season turned around, so no one knew how to keep the streak going or reignite the spark after the hot streak fizzled out. 

There were twin low points in last night's game. Chad Tracy pulled starter Sonny Gray, the Sox best pitcher this season, after only 70 pitches and the Yankees holding a narrow, 1-0 lead, for reliever Erik Miller, who gave up an RBI single on his third pitch. The next inning, Tracy put in pitcher Garrett Crochet, who had been out with an injury since last April and hadn't played in a single game since then. Did Crochet still have the stuff of last season? No, he have up another run - 3-1, Yankees - and then loaded the bases. Garrett Whitlock, normally a reliable reliever, took the mound and gave up two more runs before allowing a three-run homer. 8-1, Yankees.

It was difficult to watch. I turned the game off in the seventh inning.

Baseball's over for the year as far as I'm concerned. I'm totally uninterested to see how any other team fares this season, and I'm not about to wagon-hop my allegiance to someone else. We're already well into football season, the Bruins have played their first regular season game, the BU Terriers are already in Alaska for their season opener in Fairbanks, and basketball's just around the corner. 

We might not even have a baseball season next year due to threats of a either a work stoppage or a lockout due to faltering negotiations on the Collective Bargaining Agreement. 

So thanks for a glorious July, Red Sox. That was great. And thanks for the bitter ending to the season that will leave the foul taste of disappointment in my mouth as millionaire players argue with billionaire owners over future revenues. 

It's over.

Bruins 3, Rangers 0

 

Oh yeah, almost forgot, while I was watching the meltdown in the Bronx, the mighty Boston Bruins started their 2026-27 season. They won, beating the sniveling New York Rangers, 3-0, on home ice. 

There was no scoring the entire game until late in the third period when Fraser Minten finally hit the first goal of the game. Less than a minute later, the German new-guy JJ Peterka, a former career Sabre who we picked up after a season in Utah, scored. The Rangers pulled their goalie and then Mark Kastelic scored an open netter. The Bruins' Jeremy Swayman made 24 saves.

Bad-ass defenseman Charlie McAvoy (BU, 2016) did not get any time on ice last night because he is still serving a six-game suspension for slashing during last season's playoffs. 

The Bruins start this season, 1-0. They're off to Winnipeg next to play the Jets on Friday night (8:00 pm).

Yankees 9, Red Sox 0

An epic failure, a belly-flop into the bitter pool of post-season remorse.

The team that couldn't score runs didn't "figure it all out" in the one day off between their first playoff game and the loss that ended their regular season. Shitler dominated, Brayan Bello gave up five runs, including a grand slam homer, in the eighth, Roman Anthony left the game with an injury (and probably won't be back), and the Sox got all of three hits the entire game. No runs, only three hits. 

You don't win a playoff game in the Bronx with three hits. You don't win any games without any runs.

 

Sonny Gray (18-5. 2.72) will pitch tonight against the Yankee's Max Fried (5-5, 2.80). It will almost assuredly be the last game of the Red Sox' weird-ass season. Our bullpen is depleted, our batters listless, and our opponent energized and confident.  

The Yankees still suck - last night offered no evidence to the contrary - but the Red Sox are already mentally resigned. It was a nice mid-season streak (what a ride!), but now the frost is on the pumpkin and it's time to think about football and basketball and even ice hockey.

The Red Sox will probably break my heart again next year.

Cubs 6, Red Sox 2

 

Season's over, folks, at least the regular season. 162 games in the books, and the Boston Red Sox won 87 of them (.540).  Third place finish in the AL East, clinched the second Wild Card seed. Oorah.

What a long, strange trip it's been! The season started out with a spectacularly, even historically, bad start. By June 24, they were dead last in the AL East, 14 games under .500 (.410), and 15½ back from then first place New York. And then the Yankees came to Fenway for a four-game series and everything turned around. 

The Red Sox swept the Yankees in that series - four straight wins for the first time all season. They even won their next game against the Nationals - five straight wins. They lost the next two games but then won 15 straight and completed a 27-3 run for a spectacular July before falling back to earth and playing .500-baseball the rest of the way - respectable, but not nearly as thrilling as that 27-3 run. 

And now here we are, one day off between the regular season and a three-game Wild Card series played entirely in the Bronx. Lose more than one game and the season's over; win two and face Tampa Bay in the ALDS.

The Yankees will start their pitching ace, Adolf Shitler, because of course they will. The motherfucker's got a 14-6 record and a 1.95 ERA, and in his last start against the Sox, struck out eight enroute to a 1-0 Yankees victory. He's 2-0 against Boston this season in three starts, but notably did not pitch during the Sox' four-game sweep of New York in June. Pro tip: do not listen to the announcers of the televised coverage of tomorrow's game - their already-scripted narrative of the Yankee's supposed superiority and Shitler's dominance will be almost as nauseating as their gooning over Aaron Judge. The Yankees suck, so listen to the local coverage on WEEI radio (via SiriusFM or any other means accessible to you) instead during the broadcast.  

The Sox have not yet announced their pitching for the series, but it will most likely be either Sonny Gray (18-5, 2.72) or Payton Tolle (9-6, 3.03), with either a healthy and rejuvenated Garrett Crochet or Tanner Houck in Game 3. Expect long relief by Brayan Bello, and Whitlock and Chapman as the closers.

The pitching is looking fairly solid for the Wild Card, but the Boston batting has been pretty anemic the entire month of September. The Red Sox scored only 11 runs in the last week of the season (six games, 1.8 runs per game). The batters better wake the fuck up by tomorrow for there to be even a chance of anything beyond the Wild Card series in the post-season. 

Red Sox Nation once again finds itself standing on a precipice, not quite sure what to make of the season. Were they a good team that just got off to a bad start? Were they a bad team that just got a lucky, mid-season break? Both? Neither? No one knows. Do they have a chance to win two out of three in New York? Sure, statistically, anything's possible. Ignore those Calvinistic cloud of self-doubt - we're 6-7 vs. the Yankees this season and are certainly capable of taking two more. Maybe. 

Oh, yesterday afternoon. Almost forgot. In the first inning, catcher Adley Rutschman homered, his 13th of the season and fifth for the Red Sox, and Andruw Monasterio brought Nick Sogard home from third with an infield hit in the second. The score was 3-2, Cubbies, going into the ninth, but then reliever Patrick Sandoval, after 4⅓ innings of three-hit, shut-out relief, gave up three runs and put the game out of reach. The 2026 Red Sox ended the regular season with a loss.

Update: It's Tolle. Payton is 1-0 against New York in two starts, and has struck out 18 Yankees over 13 career innings pitched against them, with only one run.  His last start against the Yankees was in that four-game Fenway sweep last June, when he went seven shutout innings with only one hit but seven K's. We can use some of that kind of pitching tomorrow. 

Yankees suck.

Jaguars 35, Patriots 6

 

Today's game was an absolute mess. QB Drake Maye turned the ball over three times - a dropped ball, a second-quarter interception in the Jag's end zone, and another INT in the third quarter. Trevor Lawrence and the Jags got TDs off of two of those turnovers, and missed a FG on the other. 14-3 on turnover points alone (Trevor got intercepted once, resulting in a New England FG).   

Don't despair (yet). Remember last season when the Patriots started 1-2 and then won their next ten straight games?

With today's loss, the Pats fall to 1-2 (just like last year). Last year, the season seemed to turn around during Week 5 in Buffalo. This year, the Pats visit Buffalo in Week 4. I'm not writing the Patriots or Drake Maye off this season until I see how they fare next week against the Bills.

The Pats fall to 1-2 and third place in the AFC East, while the 3-0 Bills lead the division. The Bills are 7-point early favorites, but Buffalo has had it easy so far this season, with wins over the 0-3 Texans and 0-3 Chargers. At 48.6 and 54.8, Maye and Josh Allen, respectively, are the two lowest-rated QBs in the NFL. Allen has only five more yards (204) than Maye's 199, yet the Bills still lead the NFL in points per game (50.5). I chalk that up to the powder-puff defenses Allen's been facing so far and James Cook III"s 192 yards rushing (fifth highest in the NFL). 

Football - it ain't always pretty but you can't look away.

Another Week at No. 2

 

The Texas Longhorns (4-0), who had to struggle to beat No. 14 Tennessee, 17-14, yesterday, are still good enough in the eyes of 62 of the AP Poll voters to stay at No. 1. However, six sagacious voters chose the University of Georgia Bulldogs (4-0) to be No. 1 after the Dawgs 41-13 win over the unranked Oklahoma Sooners. The six first-place votes are twice as many voters as last week, so at least there's some progress.

AP Polls are meaningless. The only poll that matters is the final Selection Committee rankings and everything else is just a beauty pageant. Still, it's nice to be recognized. 

Notre Dame (4-0) is still No. 3 and didn't get any first-place votes - no one thinks they're anything more than third best. No. 4 Miami (4-0) got three first-place votes and No. 6 Indiana (5-0) got one. No. 5 Ohio State (3-1) didn't get any first-place votes because you're not No. 1 with a loss hanging around your neck.

Half of the Top 10 teams are in the SEC (Texas, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, and Old Miss). Alabama (4-0) is ranked No. 7 and Florida (4-0) moved up 13 places to No. 8 after beating then-No 4 (now No. 9) Ole Miss, 52-28. 

I don't know if the Gators are finally back or just got lucky yesterday, but the Bulldog's schedule just got a whole lot tougher. With a Week Nine game against No. 8 Florida and road games at No. 7 Alabama and No. 9 Ole Miss this season, any whiners about Georgia playing an easy schedule had better shut up after the Dawgs run that gauntlet.

In all, ten SEC teams are in the Top 25. In addition to the five teams in the Top 10, LSU (3-1) is No. 11, Mississippi State (4-0) is No. 16, Tennessee (3-1) is No. 17, Kentucky (3-1) is No. 24, and Missouri (3-1) is No. 25.  Polls are meaningless beauty contests, etc., but the Big 10 has only six teams in the Top 25, and only two in the Top 10.

Next weekend, No. 8 Florida plays No. 25 Missouri, so at least one SEC team will probably drop out of the Top 25. Also, No. 7 Alabama plays at No. 16 Mississippi State, and depending on the final score, two teams might drop out. 

Despite an interception and 11 incompletions, Georgia's Gunner Stockton still has a QB rating of 209.1 after last weekend, second only to No. 4 Miami's Darian Mensah (228.2). Overall, the Bulldogs lead the FBS in points per game (54.8), but Florida is right behind them at No. 2 with 53.5 points. making that Week Nine matchup all the more ominous. Georgia is tied with four other teams for third in total touchdowns (12). 

Defensively, Georgia is fourth in fewest yards given up per game (232.5), but 18th in points per game (13.3, tied with Texas, incidentally). Next week's opponent, Vanderbilt, has given up 21.8 points per game, 60th in the FBS, but still better than Florida's 22.8 (69th). The Dawgs will romp over the unranked Commodores, but then after that things will get real interesting, with games at No. 7 Alabama (4-0), home against unranked Auburn (3-1),  No. 8 Florida (4-0) here in Atlanta, at No. 9 Ole Miss (3-1), and then No. 25 Missouri (3-1) in Athens. 

In other words, whoever wins the SEC this season will have EARNED it.

Georgia 41, Oklahoma 13

 

In his post-game interview, Coach Kirby Smart expressed his dissatisfaction with Georgia's performance. It wasn't humility or false modesty on Smart's part - the Dawgs offense really was hot garbage in this game. Fortunately, Oklahoma played even worse, turning the ball over four times on interceptions and fumbles and once on downs. Georgia scored 20 of its 41 points on those turnovers, including the play of the game - an 85-yard return by linebacker Chris Cole of an Oklahoma fumble for a TD. 

After falling behind, 28-0 at the half, Oklahoma scored a third-quarter TD following an interception of Georgia QB Gunner Stockton but missed the PAT. Later, following a recovered Georgia fumble, they managed to miss a 54-yard field goal. It was that kind of day for the Sooners.

Both sides played ugly, but Oklahoma was at least twice as ugly as the Bulldogs. Stockton finished the day with 171 yards on 14 of 25 attempts, including one touchdown and one interception. Running back Nate Frazier was out with an injury, but  Dwight Phillips Jr. led the Dawgs with 84 yards and one rushing TD an one reception for a TD. The day's breakout performer was probably wide receiver Talyn Taylor who had one touchdown and four receptions for 110 yards, including one beautiful one-handed catch with a defender draped all over his body (the penalty was declined).

The No. 2 Georgia Bulldogs are now 4-0. No. 1 Texas struggled this afternoon at No. 14 Tennessee, eventually winning by a field goal, 20-17. If the AP Poll voters only look at the scores tomorrow, there's a chance Georgia moves ahead of Texas in the rankings. But the Bulldogs weren't playing like a No. 1 team today if you watch the tape and the AP voters love Texas and their Arch Manning, so they're likely to decide that a 3-point road win over a No. 14 team is better than a 28-point home win over an unranked team and keep at least the top two rankings as they are. No. 3 Notre Dame beat unranked Purdue on the road, 49-10, but I don't think they'd dare move the Irish up over Georgia on a day when both teams won.

Next up for the Dawgs are the unranked Vanderbilt Commodores (3-1) in Athens. Vandy lost at Auburn today, 21-15. Fortunately for Georgia, the Commodores' Heisman runner-up QB Diego Pavia has graduated and is gone, and new quarterback Jared Curtis got sacked four times today and threw an INT. The early line favors Georgia by 23½ points.

Four games down, eight to go - at least until the playoffs. 

Red Sox 2, Cubs 0

 

The Red Sox sweep Friday's doubleheader in Fenway, beating the Chicago Cubs, 2-0. All of the scoring in the entire game (both teams) came on Wilyer Abreu's double in the eighth inning, bringing home Jones and Kiner-Falefa. 

The Sox are 87-74 with one game left to this season. They'll play that last game in Tampa tomorrow to avoid the massive nor'easter barreling down on New England. Some unexpected logistical drama to end the season. Also, one less day to rest up and prepare before the Wild Card games in New York.