Author: David Lindholm
There were plenty of things I wanted to say this week, but I couldn't organize them into one cohesive article. So here are my random thoughts this week.
1) This is the first time in seven years that Middlebury has not captured a National Title in hockey. From '95-'99, the Panther men won five straight National Collegiate Athletic Association titles, and in '00 and '01, the women captured two of their own in the first two National Championships for women's hockey.
2) Hapoel Tel-Aviv, a soccer team from Israel, is making a huge dent in its European competition. Last week the team continued their unbelievable run, defeating A.C. Milan (one of the world's best teams) by a score of 1-0 in Cyprus. The game was moved from Israel to the neutral location because Tel-Aviv was deemed too dangerous, and now Hapoel will go into the fire this Thursday in San Siro Stadium in Milan. Hapoel has a good chance of knocking off another of Europe's elite and making their way to the final four of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Cup.
3) The National Hockey League's (NHL) trading deadline proved once again to be full of action, as some big names went flying across the league. First, on Monday, Pavel Bure went to the Big Apple from Florida to play for the Rangers. Then, on Tuesday, Adam Oates went from the Washington Capitals to the Philadelphia Flyers, and the Colorado Avalanche got another high-profile defenseman in aquiring Darius Kasparitis from the Penguins. What does this mean? It means that the Flyers and the Avalanche are even more potent title contenders now, but who knows if the Rangers will be able to muscle their way into the last Eastern playoff spot even with Bure.
4) Spring training has almost concluded and the regular season starts in only 11 days, when the Cleveland Indians travel to Anaheim to play the Angels. The Red Sox open the season a day later, on April 1, against the Blue Jays, and the Yankees will be in Baltimore on the same day. Both the Sox and the Yanks are itching for the new season to begin. The Yankees fell just short last year and are looking to make up for it, while the Red Sox have added a stellar centerfielder and a new pitching staff, and everyone gets the feeling that, if the Sox stay healthy, this year's American League East could feature one of the best pennant races ever.
5) And finally, another soccer reference: this is the year for the New England Revolution. Their Major League Soccer season starts on this Saturday, when they go to New York to play the MetroStars. While it's no Sox-Yanks rivalry, the Revs and the Metros do have plenty of bad blood and it should be a great game. Prediction? Okay, here it is: 3-1 Revolution, starting the season off with a bang on the road.
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