Marathon Monday is a tradition in Boston, especially for college students. It's a day off from class that lets everyone go out and cheer on the racers.
My friend Jenny Taft and I went out and wanted to capture a little bit of the chaos and the fun that always surrounds the marathon. We found some great characters to talk to while we watched some of the race.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Friday, April 17, 2009
Rangers Sign Gilroy
Matt Gilroy is heading back to his roots.
After a full year of speculation as to where the 24-year-old North Bellmore, N.Y. native would sign, Gilroy agreed to a reported 2-year, $3.5 million contract Friday with the New York Rangers. This comes one week after being named college hockey's best player, winning the Hobey Baker Memorial Award, and leading his team, Boston University, to a stunning comeback win in the NCAA Championship.
Gilroy started his collegiate playing career as a walk-on, switching from his natural position of forward to defense so that he could make the squad.
After a full year of speculation as to where the 24-year-old North Bellmore, N.Y. native would sign, Gilroy agreed to a reported 2-year, $3.5 million contract Friday with the New York Rangers. This comes one week after being named college hockey's best player, winning the Hobey Baker Memorial Award, and leading his team, Boston University, to a stunning comeback win in the NCAA Championship.
Gilroy started his collegiate playing career as a walk-on, switching from his natural position of forward to defense so that he could make the squad.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Mr. Gilroy Goes to Washington
Boston University's Matt Gilroy proved once again on Friday night why he is better than everyone else.
Gilroy won the prestigious Hobey Baker Award, the college hockey equivalent of the Heisman Trophy, during an award ceremony at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. Gilroy was one of the three finalists for the honor, along with Northeastern goalie Brad Thiessen and Terrier teammate, forward Colin Wilson.
Gilroy, a 24-year-old senior defenseman from North Bellmore, N.Y., was originally a walk-on candidate for the B.U. squad and had to switch positions to join the team. A forward his entire high-school and junior league career, Gilroy quickly adapted to manning the blue line as he is the only defenseman in the history of Hockey East to be named All-American three years in a row.
Gilroy is the second Hobey winner from Boston University; preceding him was current Rangers captain, Chris Drury, who won the honor in 1998.
The next night Gilroy's Terriers are set to take on Miami (OH) for the NCAA Hockey Championship.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Road Trip
Last weekend I took a little road trip up to Manchester, NH, with my friend Jenny Taft to watch the B.U. men's ice hockey team compete in the NCAA Northeast Regionals. We decided to make a little weekend getaway out of it and rented a hotel room for the night and took in all the sights and sounds of Manchester the next day.
Here's a little video of our adventures...
Here's a little video of our adventures...
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Home Sweet Home
My freshman year at B.U. I roomed in a West Campus dorm, complete with mini fridge, impossibly small closet and annoying roommate. I knew that if I could talk my parents into it, I wanted to move off campus as quickly as possible. So my sophomore year I found a great roommate and we moved into Dexter Park, off Comm. Ave just on the border of Boston and Brookline.
I love living in my own apartment because it gives me a lot more freedom and also a sense of responsibility. If we don't pay our cable bill on time we have no one to blame but ourselves when we can't watch The Real Housewives of New York City on Tuesday night.
I love living in my own apartment because it gives me a lot more freedom and also a sense of responsibility. If we don't pay our cable bill on time we have no one to blame but ourselves when we can't watch The Real Housewives of New York City on Tuesday night.
Road to the Frozen Four
So whoever said Soundslides is easy to use is wrong. It's hard. It's stay up till 1:30 in the morning hard. But I digress...
This weekend the Terriers are set to take on the Ohio State Buckeyes at the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, NH, for the right to claim the Northeast Regional NCAA title. But in order to get there they had to take care of their own conference first.
Last Sunday the top-ranked Terriers took on 8th seeded Maine at Agganis Arena in a Hockey East quarterfinal matchup. The night before the Blackbears shocked the home team by taking Game 2 of the best-of-three series, 6-3. The Terriers did not score past the 1st period and faced an unceremonious ending to their season.
But B.U. took charge of the game, scoring in the opening minute of play and never looking back. 6 different Terriers found the back of the net, with sophomore Nick Bonino and senior Brandon Yip each tallying a goal and an assist.
This weekend the Terriers are set to take on the Ohio State Buckeyes at the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, NH, for the right to claim the Northeast Regional NCAA title. But in order to get there they had to take care of their own conference first.
Last Sunday the top-ranked Terriers took on 8th seeded Maine at Agganis Arena in a Hockey East quarterfinal matchup. The night before the Blackbears shocked the home team by taking Game 2 of the best-of-three series, 6-3. The Terriers did not score past the 1st period and faced an unceremonious ending to their season.
But B.U. took charge of the game, scoring in the opening minute of play and never looking back. 6 different Terriers found the back of the net, with sophomore Nick Bonino and senior Brandon Yip each tallying a goal and an assist.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Playing with Photoshop
Here is an updated version of my picture story from last week. After learning a few tips about photoshop from Professor Mycynek I decided to play around and see what I could do to put a different spin on my pictures.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Jai Ho!
The Oscars telecast was full of performances last night, between host Hugh Jackman's opening number, his collaboration with Beyonce, Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, Amanda Seyfried and Dominic Cooper, and all the best song nominees. It certainly kept the night interesting and I definitely enjoyed the rendition of Jai Ho, the end theme of Best Picture winner Slumdog Millionaire, performed by composer A.R. Rahman and John Legend.
The video also shows Rahman winning the Oscar for Best Original Score.
Note: Zac Efron is apparently pronouncing Rahman's name incorrectly, thanks to my journalism multimedia professor Rima Chaddha Mycynek for pointing that out.
The video also shows Rahman winning the Oscar for Best Original Score.
Note: Zac Efron is apparently pronouncing Rahman's name incorrectly, thanks to my journalism multimedia professor Rima Chaddha Mycynek for pointing that out.
Video of the Day
My friend Jenny sent me this link on facebook and it was so funny I wanted to share it with everyone.
'Slumdog' cleans up nice
Dev Patel, the 18-year-old star of Best Picture winner Slumdog Millionaire, was dressed quite dapperly at the Oscars, wearing a custom-tailored tuxedo by Burberry.
The British actor, here along with co-star Freida Pinto, was one of the best dressed men on the red carpet. The tailoring on the suit had to be impeccable due to Patel's very slight build, otherwise it would've looked ill fitted and cheap. I love the one button jacket, it's young and fashion forward. The lapels stand out just enough from the rest of the jacket and the bib on the shirt is clean and crisp.
Fun fact- Patel has a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and was a bronze medalist at the 2004 Martial Arts World Championships in Dublin.
The British actor, here along with co-star Freida Pinto, was one of the best dressed men on the red carpet. The tailoring on the suit had to be impeccable due to Patel's very slight build, otherwise it would've looked ill fitted and cheap. I love the one button jacket, it's young and fashion forward. The lapels stand out just enough from the rest of the jacket and the bib on the shirt is clean and crisp.
Fun fact- Patel has a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and was a bronze medalist at the 2004 Martial Arts World Championships in Dublin.
'Wrestling' away the title of best dressed
Now that all the winners have been announced, it's time to turn our attention to the fashion standouts of Oscar night.
Supporting Actress nominee Marisa Tomei didn't walk away with an award Sunday night but she was, in my opinion, by far the best dressed of the evening.
The Wrestler star's Versace gown was stunning. The mermaid train was on trend but it was definitely the best structured on the carpet. The pleating of the dresses added volume and texture, and meshed nicely with the understated grey-silver tone of the fabric. Her hair and makeup were also impeccable, fresh and sophisticated. The navy jewels are a quirky and unexpected touch but they really pop against the muted tone of the dress.
Supporting Actress nominee Marisa Tomei didn't walk away with an award Sunday night but she was, in my opinion, by far the best dressed of the evening.
The Wrestler star's Versace gown was stunning. The mermaid train was on trend but it was definitely the best structured on the carpet. The pleating of the dresses added volume and texture, and meshed nicely with the understated grey-silver tone of the fabric. Her hair and makeup were also impeccable, fresh and sophisticated. The navy jewels are a quirky and unexpected touch but they really pop against the muted tone of the dress.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Sports Slideshow
Over the weekend I went and took some pictures of the Boston University women's lacrosse team in action. The lady Terriers are prepping for their first game of the season against UMass, coming up this Wednesday at 4 p.m. at Nickerson Field.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
CC on ESPN
Any other winter the arrival of the highest paid pitcher of all time would have attracted more attention.
But this is the winter of Alex Rodriguez's discontent. Every other Yankee item, from the CC & AJ Burnett signings, Mark Texiera coming over, the Joe Torre book controversy, has taken a back seat to the revelation that the greatest player of all time took PEDs.
Shifting away from the eye of the hurricane, Hannah Storm sat down with CC Sabathia and got his take on what led to his decision to sign with the Yankees, how GM Brian Cashman paid him a secret visit and how he is adjusting to life in pinstripes.
Jeter defends (?) A-Rod
Anyone else convinced? Yeah, me neither.
It's no big secret that Derek Jeter looks at Alex Rodriguez more like an annoying distant relative than a brother. Ever since A-Rod bashed Jeter in an Esquire interview right after signing his then-record $252 million deal with the Texas Rangers Jeter, who once called A-Rod a great friend, has kept his distance.
Everyone who knows Jeter knows that he keeps a small circle of confidantes. That includes teammate Jorge Posada, former player Gerald Williams and his childhood friends. For all of his flash and big city cache, Jeter is really a low-profile kind of guy.
Wednesday Jeter did his job as team captain. He commended Alex for telling the truth, asked the media to please move forward and tried to direct as much attention as he could onto baseball. But he did it a little coldly, a little detached, a little business-like.
And I didn't expect anything more.
Picture of the Day
Alex Rodriguez looking up at photographers as he prepared to go into his news conference Tuesday afternoon. Taken from the New York Times.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Johnny Do-No-Good
Johnny Damon has never been the most adept Yankee at handling the press. Tuesday afternoon he was the sole player who spoke after the Alex Rodriguez news conference. He shared these pearls of wisdom.
"He did some bad things, he took a steroid, [I] definitely do not condone that at all. But there could be a lot worse things he could've been doing out there."
When asked by ESPN's Hannah Storm for a further explanation Damon said:
"Um, murdering someone."
Don't expect a gift basket from A-Rod anytime soon Johnny.
Fill in the Blank
Photos of Alex Rodriguez's Yankee teammates as they watched him field questions from the media about his PED use. This is what I think they were thinking about.
Texiera- "Where am I gonna eat tonight? I really wanna go to Fleming's but I just had steak last night..."
Tomko- "That Pettitte is one snappy dresser."
Wang- "They call this a media circus? I get this from the Taiwanese reporters alone when I have my acrylic nail put on."
Posada- "Maldición si va esto cualquier it' más largo; s que va a cortar en mi tiempo de la te."
Pettitte- "Dude, is this shirt too much?"
Jeter- "Uhh..."
"I knew we weren't taking Tic-Tacs"
That was the quote of the day from Alex Rodriguez.
We learned more specifics about how Alex Rodriguez used PEDs in the years 2001-2003, straight from the man himself. But is he finally coming clean and telling the truth or is he orchestrating another PR canopy to shield himself with?
Apparently Rodriguez and an unnamed cousin took a "substance" from the Dominican Republic two times a month for the three years in question. The substance had to be injected. Rodriguez said he "wasn't sure what the substance did" for him and that he
Kudos to Joel Sherman, a columnist for the New York Post, who asked Rodriguez one of the best questions of the afternoon, one that left little wiggle room in the reply.
Sherman asked Rodriguez how he, a professional athlete whose livelihood depends on his personal health, could have a substance injected into him by his cousin, who is not a doctor, a minimum of 36 times (2 times a month for 3 years) and not know exactly what that substance was.
Rodriguez looked a bit taken aback by the preciseness of the question, and after a moment to collect himself he said, "I tried to put the usage in a box for you. Sometimes it was once a month, sometimes it was three times a month. It goes back to being young and being curious. When it started it was probably in the middle of '01 and ended in the middle of '03 when I realized after my neck injury that I was being silly and irresponsible. And I decided to stop. I was a young guy."
Young. Young and stupid. And naive. Young.
To borrow from a caller on the 1050 ESPN Michael Kay radio show, if I had been playing a drinking game for every time Alex Rodriguez said he was "young" I would be in the hospital for alcohol poisoning.
Meet the Press
Alex Rodriguez is about to meet a slew of media in front of George M. Steinbrenner field, the Yankees Tampa spring training facility.
This'll be A-Rod's first time talking with reporters since his admission to using PEDs last week to ESPN's Peter Gammons. However this time the questions will not be monitored and Rodriguez will not be in the familiar confines of his Tampa condo.
I hope that he is asked blunt questions to fill all the holes from his Gammons interview. It seemed that that "interview" (more like a scripted segment) created more questions than it answered. Among the estimated 200 journalists expected at the press conference Selena Roberts, who broke the steroid story for SI, and who Rodriguez referred to as "that woman", will be among the crowd.
The news conference is just starting now, Rodriguez is sitting at a table in front of a New York Yankees banner with manager Joe Girardi and GM Brian Cashman on his right and Yankee Media Relation Director Jason Zillo on his left.
You can already hear the flashbulbs going off...
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
The Little Mermaid
Marion Cotillard's mermaid-inspired gown was definitely a show stopper at the 2008 ceremony, when she also took home the Best Actress award. Some people weren't too crazy about it but I loved it. Her countryman, the king of avant-garde fashion, Jean Paul Gaultier, dreamed up this creation.
She's edgy and French so she can pull something like this off. The iridescent material used on the scalloped detailing was brilliant, and the light hit off of it just right. It was different and I liked that she didn't play it safe, even though it was her first time at the Oscars.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Cry me a River
It's Day Four of the Alex Rodriguez Steroid Drama and I'm tired of it already.
In a completely staged and restricted 30 minute interview with ESPN baseball guru Peter Gammons, Rodriguez admitted he took steroids while with the Texas Rangers in 2001-2003. Sort of.
A-Rod and his PR team were very careful to never have him flat out say, "I took steroids." We'll never get that sound bite from him. Instead we got "I did take a banned substance."
"When I arrived in Texas in 2001, I felt an enormous amount of pressure. I felt like I had the weight of the world on top of
me and I needed to perform, and perform at a high level every day."
Wah wah.
I'm so sorry. I'm sorry that Tom Hicks gave you a quarter of a million dollars to play a game for a living. I'm sorry that you were, at 26 years old, already being widely considered as the best all-around player in the history of the game. I'm sorry that countless little kids bought your jerseys and wanted to be just like you one day. I'm sorry.
Are we supposed to believe you didn't know what you were taking? That for three years you took a "banned substance" and never bothered to look at the label? He also claims that he didn't know he had failed the drug test until Sports Illustrated contacted him for comment on the story last week. However, according to the Mitchell Report all 104 players on the failed list were notified three years ago.
"When you take this gorilla and this monkey off your back, you realize that honesty is the only way," Rodriguez said. "I'm finally beginning to grow up. I'm pretty tired of being stupid and selfish, you know, about myself. The truth needed to come out a long time ago. I'm glad it's coming out today."
It seems like all that came out were excuses and more lies.
Who are you wearing?
Ah, the infamous question asked to all the stars as they traipse down the Oscar red carpet. Personally I watch the Oscars more for the awards and the awkward exchange of the Oscar statuette from presenter to winner but the fashion is definitely a sweet afterthought.
In anticipation of this year's Academy Awards (Sunday, Feb. 22) I will count down my favorite gowns from past ceremonies. They are in no particular order, the fabulousness of all the dresses is pretty much even.
Here's the first one...
Cate Blanchett always turns it out on the red carpet. She has impeccable taste (or at least her stylist does and she's smart enough to listen to him/her) and her body is like a canvas for all those beautiful clothes.
This Armani Prive gunmetal number she wore to the 2007 ceremony, when she was nominated for not one but two performances, is no exception. I remember watching her on the pre-show interviews and being blown away with how chic and sophisticated she looked. It looks like the dress was just poured over her and adhered to her body. Perfection.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Obama on A-Rod: "Tarnishes an entire era"
During his first prime time press conference as Commander-in-Chief President Obama was asked to comment on Yankees 3rd basemen Alex Rodriguez's admission that he used performance enhancing drugs in the years 2001-2003.
depressing items when it comes to Major League Baseball."The President, who is a fan of the Chicago White Sox, said that he was concerned about the message of athletes taking illegal drugs was sending to kids. He said he hoped that kids look at the situation and learn from the mistakes of these over indulged and over paid athletes
by saying "it's not worth it."
Bet A-Rod's thinking that same thing right about now.
Note: The reporter who asked the President the question is Washington Post correspondent Michael Fletcher, a B.U. alumnus.
Terriers win Beanpot
Boston University beat Northeastern University 5-3 Monday night at the TD Banknorth Garden to capture the unofficial title of Best in Boston Hockey. The no. 1 ranked Terriers held off the no. 3 Huskies en route to their 29th Beanpot title, the second in the past three years.
Jason Lawrence (CAS '09) scored the game winner, breaking a 2-2 tie, midway through the 2nd period. B.U. added two more goals in the 3rd, both came during a Northeastern power play.
Freshman goaltender Kieran Millan turned in a 23-save performance and improved his season record to an impressive 18-1-1.
"It's quite a run he's been on," said B.U. head coach Jack Parker. "We're fortunate to have him going as good as he's going."
Sophomore forward Nick Bonino (CAS '11) was awarded the Most Valuable Player honors while Northeastern goaltender Brad Thiessen took home the Eberly Award for best save percentage in the tournament.
For a school with no football team and half empty attendance at basketball games, hockey is the culture at B.U. The Terriers take on the University of Maine for a back-to-back President Day's weekend matchup in Orono, Maine.
Rodriguez Admits to 'Roid Use
Didn't see this one coming.
I've never been the biggest fan of Alex Rodriguez. He's arrogant, tries too hard and seems like a distraction to the rest of his no-nonsense Yankee teammates. But steroids? From "Mr. Clean" baseball? I always thought A-Rod's stats came from his God given talent and his obsessive workout and diet regimen.
Guess he had a little extra help along the way.
Some people are calling for the Yankees to cut their ties with A-Rod and run. Realistically, this will never happen. But if for some reason it did, I wouldn't protest.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
B.U. Women's Hockey Works with Charity
Saturday afternoon was a great day for hockey and fundraising.
The Lady Terriers defeated UConn, 3-1, and also raised some money and awareness for a great cause.
The Skating Strides Against Breast Cancer, led by the Hockey East Association, is an annual campaign among the women's hockey teams to fundraise on part of breast cancer research.
Click here to read the full article.
Monday, February 2, 2009
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