Tripod Championships.  Tuck. Puck. Love.

As I’m sure you’ve heard before, hockey is more than a game here at Tuck; it’s a way of life.  The majority of people play hockey, no matter their athletic background (or even ability to skate).  It is tons of fun and a great way to bond and mentally get rid of the stress and work that academics bring.  And, did I mention it’s fun?  The hockey spirit is infectious. 

 

This week at Tuck is finals week.  But, finals don’t stop hockey.  Last night was the Tripod Championships.  At Tuck, for the men, there are three leagues you can play hockey in: the A league (for the men who perhaps have played professionally (no joke) or in college), the B league (for the men who played seriously in high school or who've had significant experience) and tripod.  Tripod is so named for the third support- the stick- that is necessary for those of us without skating experience to stand.  For women, we just have a tripod league and it is split into four teams that play against each other.

 

As I said before, last night was the championship.  The night before was the semi-final.  Only at Tuck will you find not only players spending their nights at the rink playing and laughing, but fans as well.  My team was ranked third, but beat the undefeated Switchback Sweeties in the semifinals (in such a crazy, intense, and incredible game) Tuesday. The fourth placed team, the Harpoon Hunnies, beat the second place team in their semifinals.  It was a championship game of the underdogs, which was great.  The Hunnies and my team, the Longtrail Lovers, brought so much energy and passion.  With strong defense and aggressive offense on both sides, we went back and forth scoring.  The buzzer ended the regulation time with the score at 3 to 3.  The game was definitely well fought, but despite a strong performance by my teammates and I, the Lovers lost in a shootout.  The game was awesome.  So awesome that I (and many of my classmates) chose to spend two out of the four school nights during finals week at hockey, and now I’m spending another one writing about it.  But, totally, Professor… I’m studying right now….  Just taking a quick break…..

 

Guess I should get back to it.