The Autistic Sports Nerd

A Weekly Column

By: Anthony O'Hagan

Posted: 3/5/10

Hey guys, the Autistic Sports Nerd here. The Olympics are over, spring training is on the way, the NHL resumes and there is a lot of buzz going around campus about our sports teams.
UC Women's Basketball

Congratulations to the Utica College Pioneers Women's Basketball team, as they have earned their second Empire 8 Conference championship in the last three seasons.

They defeated the number two seed, Stevens, in the semifinals and defeated the number one seed, Ithaca, in the championship game. The Pioneers scored the game winning basket at the buzzer to win the championship. The final scorew was 38-37.

The Pioneers have earned the right to go to the NCAA tournament. They will play Maravian in the first round on Friday night at 7 p.m. Moravian has won 20 straight games so it will be a difficult test for the Pioneers. Best of luck to Utica College in the tournament.

UC Women's Hockey

After a slow start to their season, the UC Women's Hockey team is peaking at the right time. They won their last three regular season games. Thanks to their hot streak, they were able to host a playoff game against Neumann at the AUD this past Monday night. The Pioneers won 4-1 and will travel to take on the number one team in the nation, Plattsburgh, on Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m.

Good luck, Pioneers! Hopefully you guys pull off the upset!

UC Men's Hockey

The men's hockey team lost to host Neumann in the ECAC West quarterfinals 3-1. Tough break. Hopefully, we do better next season. Elmira beat Neumann and Manhattanville beat Hobart in the semi-final matches so it will be Elmira hosting Manhattanville in the championship game this Saturday Night.

Lebanon Valley dropped out of Division III, as they will now be a club team. They were in our conference so our schedule next year will be changed. I'm just not sure how. I should know by next week, and I will let you guys now.

The Heart Run and Walk

The Heart Run and Walk is this Saturday. This is an event where there is running an walking, but most importantly of all, donating to fight against heart disease and stroke.

People drew bids Tuesday to pie me and other club leaders and faculty. Utica College Head Football Coach Blaise Faggiano was also pied and is one of the captains for Team UC.

A lot of money was donated to fight against heart disease and stroke, which are the number one killers in America today. I will be participating in the run on Saturday morning.

The Autism Awareness Club and the Tangerine have combined forces to form a team to donate money under Team UC. This is always a great event. This is slowly becoming my favorite event of the year.

The PRSSA, sororities and fraternities, the football team and more are fighting against stroke and heart disease by donating. Let's go Team UC!

Volleyball for Disabilities

The Disability Abilites played Tuesday night and fell to the PRSSA two sets to one. The game was played Rally style. We lost the first match 30-29, the second match we won 30-25 and the third match we lost 15-11. The rubber match is up to 15.

We played the best game in the tournament so far. Our game was close and is the only match so far that came down to a rubber match. Congratulations to the PRSSA and good luck in the Semifinals against Men's Basketball.

Thank you to my teammates for playing with me. We should stick to the same team next fall for the regular intramural tournament. The semifinals and the championship game will take place Next Tuesday. Who will win? Stay tuned!

Olympics

Team Canada defeats the United States 3-2 in overtime to win the gold medal. What a game! Ryan Miller was amazing. Roberto Luango was even better, and Sidney Crosby gets the game winner. Just incredible.

That superstars and chemistry rant I made last week flies out the window. I am now eating my words. The Canadian women's team also beat the United States and celebrated by drinking beer and smoking cigars on the ice.

As a straightedge individual, I must say that it was a classless thing to do. Save it for the bars.

Finland ended up getting the bronze for both the men's and women's tournaments, making the top three teams completely identical for both men's and women's hockey.

In terms of the overall Olympics, the United States not only got the most medals, but they broke a Winter Olympics record for most medals earned of all time. Canada got the most gold for this Winter Olympics and the all time record in Winter Olympics as well.

Prior to the Rangers beating the Senators 4-1 earlier tonight, clips of positive team Canada highlights were shown during the playing of the Star Spangled Banner.

Officials from the Ottawa Senators claim that it was just a glitch and they meant to play it during the Canadian national anthem. Yeah, right.

I'm the Autistic Sports Nerd. Have a good day, guys.