Missing The Whale

It's championship week in Connecticut. In other years, that meant I was really busy.

Tonight, I'm home.

So it goes.

They played the Division III hockey championship tonight at David S Ingalls Rink at Yale University tonight.

Better known as "The Yale Whale." Or just "The Whale," due to its unique shape.

Due to scheduling circumstances, they're playing the title games over three nights, as opposed to one game on Friday and tow on Saturday.

The Lyman Hall co-op beat Sheehan 6-2 for the crown tonight.

Had it been 2014-2015, I would have been on the call, meaning I got to hang out in that magnificent building.

I love everything about it. The intimacy of the seating bowl, the sound of the crowd, the lower level with the history of Yale hockey, the two press rows -- one on each side.

I loved it enough that I went and covered it another year with Shawn Sailer, and was able to hang out with guys like Pete Paguaga. While I was working, I watched and enjoyed the game. I rarely do that.

Last year, Greenwich went to the championship against Fairfield Prep. Shawn called it "The Adams Cup" (or maybe it was the bowl) since I had broadcast for both teams. I begged WGCH to put the game on. We did, and I called with (with Chris Kaelin and Shawn). Greenwich built up a 2-0 lead before losing 4-2.

But there's more. Whenever I got to work at the Whale, I'd drink it all in. I'd stay as long as I could. I normally had to be told it was time to leave.

We also got to do the semifinal games there in 2014 and 2015, so I got my fill of the place. I even had a hotel room in nearby Shelton, so I was almost living in The Whale.

We got thrills. In 2014, John Kovach and I were running literally on fumes. Nasty colds had sapped both of us of our voices -- especially John -- at one time or another. Paul Silverfarb, Chris Kaelin, and Ryan DeMaria were among those that helped drag us through the madness that week, as we went from Greenwich on Monday (basketball) to the Whale for two games each on Tuesday and Wednesday, before hitting the Whale Friday night for the DII championship.

Saturday, March 22, 2014, was one of my favorite days in broadcasting. Ever.

A full crew, with John and I on the call, handled the emotional Newtown/Smith-Tolland overtime nailbiter in DIII. Newtown needed a chance to smile, and they got it, winning in the extra session.

John and Paul (who rescued our banner from Ingalls Rink security, who told us we weren't allowed to hang it up), then headed to Mohegan Sun (!) for girls basketball. Chris Kaelin and I stayed behind for another nailbiter, as Fairfield Prep knocked off Darien in overtime for the DI title.

Then I jumped in the car and flew up I-95 (and 395 and Route 2A) to Mohegan Sun. I listened to some of the girls game on my phone in the car and walked hurriedly into the arena. I could have gotten on the air for the second half, but John and Paul had the call under control, so it was suggested that I go take a seat.

So I sat and ate a Krispy Kreme donut, sipped some coffee (Imus Brothers, of course), and waited to get back on the mic.

I'm not good at that.

But I was back on for the Fairfield Prep/Bridgeport Central boys basketball championship game that night.

We were this upstart group of newspaper people and me (though I was also a newspaper person at that point).

But we cranked out a collection of games with good people, and I was proud and exhausted. I remember having a celebratory drink that night before collapsing in my hotel room.

We were back in 2015, but politics and contracts reared their ugly heads by then, keeping us to only the hockey at the Whale. Yet the semifinals produced what some have called a favorite call (and they know it in Greenwich).


Check this out on Chirbit

I've gotten off-topic.

But, then again, maybe I haven't.

I miss the whole scene.