11 March 2007

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The outlook wasn't brilliant for the Bulldog six that day,
The score stood two to two, with but sixteen minutes to play.

And then when Fulton fanned a shot, and Gergen did the same,
A pall-like silence fell upon the patrons of the game.

A straggling few got up to go in deep despair.
The rest clung to that hope which springs eternal in the human breast.
They thought, "If only the Bulldogs could get themselves reset.
We'd put up even money now, if Raymond hit the net."

Akins seemed a bit lost, without linemate Curry;
And Kemper, who was a wrecker, took a sketchy penalty
So upon that stricken multitude, grim melancholy set;
for there seemed but little chance of anyone hitting the net.

But Gergen let drive some good shots, to the wonderment of all.
And Fulton tried a wraparound, but none would get the call.
And when the whistle blew, and men saw what had occurred,
there was nothing in the net, except Bobby Goepfert.

Then from five thousand throats and more there rose a lusty yell;
it rumbled through the valley, it rattled in the dell;
it pounded through on the mountain and recoiled upon the plain;
for the Bulldogs, mighty Bulldogs, were refusing to be slain.

There was ease in McKnight's manner as he stepped into his place,
there was pride in Carroll's bearing and a smile lit Nisky's face.
And when, among the many cheers, the face-off match was set,
no stranger in the crowd could doubt tDogs would hit the net.

Ten thousand eyes were on them as they skated up the ice.
Five thousand tongues applauded, cause Johnson's saves were nice.
Then, while the writhing Goepfert was flopping on the ground,
the Bulldogs all dug at it, but no one could get it 'round.

And now the rubber cylinder came hurtling through the air,
and Johnson stood a-watching it in haughty grandeur there.
Shot by the sturdy Husky the puck unheeded sped --
"That ain't my style," said Johnson.

"No goal!" Jon Campion said.
From the benches, maroon and gold, there went up a muffled roar,
like the beating of the storm waves on a stern and distant shore.
"Kill him! Kill the umpire!" shouted someone (probably the Bob),
and it's likely they'd have killed him had not replay done its job.

With a smile of certain victory, each Bulldog's visage shone,
they stilled the rising tumult, they bade the game go on.
At a signal from the referee, the linesman dropped the puck,
the goal horn blasted loudly, but Jon Campion said, "No luck!"

"Fraud!" cried the maddened Huskies, and their fans answered "Fraud!"
But at scornful looks from Bulldogs, the audience was awed.
They saw each face grow stern and cold, they saw the muscles strain,
and they knew that Johnson wouldn't let that puck go by again.

The sneer has fled from Fulton's lip, the teeth are clenched in hate.
He enters the faceoff circle, against a guy named Nate.
And now the linesman holds the puck, and now he lets it go,
and now the air is shattered by the force of Nodl's blow.

Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright.
The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light.
And, somewhere men are laughing, and little children shout,
but there is no joy in Mudville -- the mighty Bulldogs got knocked out.

*this poem is an adaptation of "Casey at the Bat" by Ernest L. Thayer

15 comments:

Donald Dunlop said...

Real good stuff DMC. Best Blog Post of the Year! Have a great summer. You guys will be fine ... you've got a coupla studs coming in next year.

St. Bob is a team of destiny this year. They'll get their first NCAA win (they'll lose their next game) over the CHA or AH or EZAC participant and they'll be able to claim to be as good as UMD or UAA.

Anonymous said...

Sieve, YOU suck RWD! You are a hypocrite, bitching about the SCSU fans chanting what they've been chanting after EVERY goal this season (and beyond) and your only mention of a phenomenal effort in your cute little ditty is "the writhing Goepfert was flopping on the ground"?? At least I had the class to mention the great game that Johnson had in goal for UMD last night on my blog. Goepfert was the difference in this game - 67 saves!! Shame on you, you're ridiculous.

Oh, and I just can't wait till SCSU can claim to be as good as UMD or UAA. Come on, are you serious Donald?? Now you just look and sound as ridiculous as RWD!

Stafford T said...

Oh never mind wintwins comments the answer that everyone wants to know is ...... who won the baby picture contest?????

Donald Dunlop said...

WT:
SCSU = ZERO NCAA wins
UAA = TWO NCAA wins

I won't even bother pointing out the UMD's success in the NCAA's compared to SCSU's. Or should I?

Stick to twinkie baseball.

DC said...

I really don't understand what would provoke a response like that.

I don't know about the baby picture contest! Logan must be starving by now.

MeanEgirl said...

Wow, some people are taking this stuff too seriously. It's a poem. "the writhing Goepfert was flopping on the ground" ... it fits. It works. People shouldn't get so upset over it. I'm sensing some jealousy in that some people are upset that they can't write sweet as poems like this one.

I thought it was awesome, RWD. :)

Btw, your man Curry ... he's GOING DOWN. No one (but me, of course) messes with Casey and gets away with it!

DC said...

Additionally, this poem was an adaptation of "Casey at the Bat," in case it was not immediately obvious. I tried to stay true to the poem in meter as much as I could, and tried to make things rhyme. This is not an original composition, and I thought it was evident, esp. by the "No Joy in Mudville" part, but I guess I didn't make that clear.

LetsGoMavs said...

I think what WT didn't mention is part of her comment addressed your poem and the other part was from your rants on uscho last night...the part about SCSU fans being classless (or something of that nature) because they yell "sieve you suck" to R&R part 2.

Either way, agree to disagree. Ripping on Bobby to her is like her ripping on Curry and then some. I told ya, she loves Bobby.

Also, you probably don't want to go to the battle of the brains with her or question her smarts or education, as she's very educated and smart. Keep in mind, she's a SCSU fan but she didn't GO there...and she has a highly educated and professional job. I'll tell you this much about that...look at BatGirl's comments about premies and the people who work with them and keep them alive and the respect to have for them...well, that's her...well, not her with that baby, but ones like it. Her smarts make babies live every single day...so I would stear clear of the comments of that nature.

It's fair, you hate Bobby...she hates your hate for Bobby, I hate UND...we all have someone to hate:)

Oh, and she doesn't hate UMD either. Her dad is alum, so she cheers for them when they're not playing SCSU...so really, it's just your comments that got her.

Ok...let's all take a deep breath......

DC said...

I will respond to your most recent comments in email.

LetsGoMavs said...

Oops! I meant the "smart part" to go to MEg...I thought I wrote that but in my rambling I didn't. Her comment kinda indicated that WT wasn't smart enough to write a poem like that (maybe I took it wrong) so my point was, "woah, don't go there!" That's not a can of worms we want to open.

Either way, no harm and no foul. I see that you didn't mean to rip on Bobby and I can see why she thought you did and took away from his great playing. Again, I'm the outsider...so I can see it both ways and think that she took things not how you intended and that things maybe came across how you didn't intend.

Either way, let's all move on. I'll send her your e-mail address and maybe you guys can hammer it out.

DC said...

Thank god we are getting this ironed out.

Anonymous said...

Read the top of the page again-it says "sarcastic". Anybody that knows RWtD knows that her middle name is sarcasm.

We're all hockey fans, we have the best league in the country. We're going to have the best league tournament in the country this weekend. Everyone of us loves our team and hates the others for our own reasons. It was pretty obvious how much talent is in the WCHA this last weekend when #1 and #10 and #2 and #9 both needed 3 games to advance.

Nobody likes a fan that dishes it out and then can't take a little rubbing when they deserve it. You can rib me about the kelly green that I bleed, but you better expect to get it back. RWtD takes ribbing just as well as anyone I know.

Now-can't we all get along?

I'm not Anonymous I am HockeyMom aka Bridget......hope to meet some of you at the Final Five this weekend. I don't care what color jersey you're wearing...stop up and say hey-and don't forget to buy me a drink.......I'm Irish.

LetsGoMavs said...

Ok mom! We're trying to get along. HA! I've always wanted to say that and it was just fitting.

I think that there's some misconceptions on both ends and that they're getting ironed out and all will be well in the end.

Promise mom, we'll behave now:) Oh and no green beer for you...you'll probably crash the grocery getter if you have too many!

DC said...

SHE DRIVES A MOBILITY SCOOTER!

Anonymous said...

I do, but it's not because I need it, I'm just that lazy.

This weekend, I will have green and white tassles on the handlebars.

And it's fine if you all behave, but I sure as hell won't be.

HM