SAMPLE MONDAY

My idea for Mondays was both a look back and a look ahead. Since most polls - college basketball, college hockey, FCS football come out on Monday, I'd take a feature look at some team or a player on a team in one of the polls as a top on the blog.

I'd follow with a look at where each Massachusetts area team landed in the polls. Linking to league awards which also come out on Monday would also be a natural here. This could be contained to major sports in Division I or expanded beyond that. I included just Massachusetts teams, but other New England teams could certainly be included.

The Lowell information below, I think would actually make a good story with more reporting. Because this is just an example, I re-used quotes I got at Hockey East media day.


There's plenty of hockey still to be played, but landing in the top 10 in this week's U.S. College Hockey Online top 20 represents another step in a huge turnaround for the UMass-Lowell program.

In early 2007, rumors were rampant that the school was considering either dropping its program down to Division II or III or eliminating it altogether.

While the River Hawks were eventually spared demotion or contraction, the damage to recruiting was considerable as many players were leery about signing with coach Blaise MacDonald's squad fearing that the program had been spared only temporarily.

But MacDonald's squad thriveA year ago, the River Hawks made a surprise run to the Hockey East Tournament finals before falling to eventual national champion Boston University.

"It's hard to articulate how hard it is to brush away what had taken place and build your program back up to a national level. All the credit goes to the players who stuck with the program," MacDonald said. "These kids have a chance to leave a legacy no one else has had here."

Boston University Jack Parker said he was proud of the rebuilding job done by MacDonald, his former assistant.

"There were whispers about them dropping the program or dropping down to a different division again. There still would have been talk about that if they weren't doing what they were doing hockey-wise," Parker said. "It's great for all of college hockey. We can't afford to be losing teams."

Lowell was joined by four other Massachusetts colleges in the USCHO top 20.

Boston Univeristy - No. 7
Boston College - No. 16
UMass - No. 19
Also Receiving Votes- Northeastern, Merrimack.
BU's David Warsofsky was the Hockey East Player of the Week.

NCAA FBS Football
Boston College continues to receive votes in the Associated Press and coaches polls. After Saturday's win, ESPN's Mark Schlabach has BC facing Pitt in the Meineke Car Care Bowl, while Bruce Feldman has the Eagles facing Cal in the Emerald Bowl. CBS projects BC to play Southern Miss. in the EagleBank Bowl on Dec. 29 in Washington D.C.

NCAA FCS Football
After its 19-9 loss at Maine was knocked out of the top 25 for the first time this season. The loss likely ended any chance for the Minutemen to reach the FCS playoffs. UMass' 19 interceptions thrown this season are second worst in all of Division I football.

Holy Cross continued to climb. The Crusaders are now No. 13 after beating Fordham Saturday and are tightening their grip on the Patriot League with just three games remaining.

BC-ND week arrives; Is this the week for Northeastern?

As Notre Dame continues to try to regain its former place among college football's elite, beating Boston College would be a big step.

The Eagles don't have nearly Notre Dame's tradition or reputation, but BC has won the last six games in the series. BC, which has struggled on the road and against good teams has a chance to make a statement if it can extend that streak to seven.

Cancer has created an odd friendship between Sister Barbara Ann Hallman, a nun in Indiana and Boston College linebacker Mark Herzlich.

ESPNChicago.com has a Q&A with Irish receiver Golden Tate.

Massachusetts football matchups

Northeastern (0-6, 0-3 CAA) vs. Towson (2-4, 1-2 CAA) 1 p.m. Parsons Field
If Northeastern is going to win a football game, today is the day.
At 0-6, the Huskies are in the midst of another rough year in a series of rough years for the football program on Huntington Ave.

But this week, the Huskies host a Towson squad, which at 2-5, hasn't been able to get any positive momentum going either. Being at home might be enough to put Northeastern over the top.

UMass (4-2, 2-1 CAA) vs. Richmond (6-0, 4-0 CAA), Saturday, 3:30 at UR Stadium

After beating No. 4 New Hampshire at home on Saturday, the UMass football team can all-but solidify its playoff position if the Minutemen can pull an upset of No. 1 Richmond. But UMass has struggled on the road over the past two seasons and Richmond hasn't struggled against anybody. The Boston Globe looks at the unlikely path to NFL prospect of UMass offensive lineman Vladimir Ducasse.

Holy Cross (5-1, 1-0 Patriot ) vs. Colgate (7-0, 2-0 Patriot), 1 p.m. Fitton Field
Last year Colgate beat Holy Cross on the last game of the regular season to win the Patriot League title. The Crusaders are looking for revenge.

Friday Hockey Results

BC beat Notre Dame in the weekend's hockey undercard.

After being picked last in the preseason poll again, Merrimack gave its fans some added reasons for optimism, stunning Vermont, 5-2 in Burlington, Vt.

Freshman Dalton Speelman's Hockey East debut lifted New Hampshire over Northeastern.

Lowell improved to 2-1 beating Colgate, 2-1 at home.

Two Marcous paced UMass' win over Maine. The game took an ugly turn after Maine's Adam Shemansky had to be taken off the ice on a stretcher with a neck injury. Maine coach Tim Whitehead said it was mostly precautionary.

Saturday hockey schedule for Massachusetts teams:
Northeastern at Lowell, 7
Michigan at Boston University, 7

Enhanced rivalries?

The national attention won't arrive in South Bend until Saturday afternoon. The annual Holy War game between Boston College and Notre Dame is certainly the main course of the rivalry weekend between the two schools.
But in recent years, a hockey meeting between the two national powers has usually served as an appetizer and in some cases dessert. Tonight many of the BC fans that traveled to South Bend will get to see the No. 14-ranked Eagles and No. 9 Irish play hockey.

It's an idea that other New England schools should copy. Four different schools - New Hampshire, Maine, Northeastern and UMass - play in Hockey East and football in the Colonial Athletic Association's North Division.

New Hampshire visited UMass in football on Oct. 24. Less than a month later the Wildcats will be in Amherst for two hockey games on Nov. 13 and 14. Why not play the two sports on the same weekend? If the two leagues coordinated schedules, the atmosphere and paying crowds for each sport could be enhanced.

Few of the New England FCS schools travel more than a few dozen fans to road games in either football or hockey and Durham, Amherst and Orono aren't exactly weekend getaways for most. But a three-game weekend might make shelling out for a hotel more palatable to many fans. Bus trips, tailgating and other organized fan gatherings would most certainly follow.

Scott Meyer of the CAA and Pete Souris of Hockey East each said schedule coordination hasn't been discussed.

Obviously the schools involved, as well as the two conferences, would need to cooperate for this to happen. Meyer said the CAA has already begun scheduling conference games for the 2011 season so Hockey East would need to schedule some games further in advance. The arenas at UMass and UNH are used for sports other than hockey and non-sporting events as well. The coaches might need some convincing as well.

But these aren't difficult hurdles and the pay off seems worth it.
HOCKEY LINKS

The New England Hockey Journal profiles Merrimack's Stephane Da Costa heading into weekend action.

Boston College at Notre Dame
After last week's loss to Vermont, Eagles hope to build momentum.

Boston University vs. Michigan
Already at 0-2, defending champion Terriers try to find momentum.

UMass vs. Maine
With games at UMass and New Hampshire, Maine is preparing for play on larger ice surfaces.
Minutemen hoping to build off last week's win over BU.

New Hampshire vs. Northeastern
The Concord Monitor previews UNH and the rest of the conference heading into the first full weekend of Hockey East games.

Vermont vs Merrimack
Vermont isn't underestimating the Warriors.