Back Story: Finding my true love on the Internet

If, like my wife, you've been trying to get my attention and haven't had much luck lately, here's what I've been up to:

I saw two very good hockey games last night, even though there wasn't any hockey on TV, at least not on broadcast TV, and I don't have cable. I watched Elmira College of the ECAC West defeat Middlebury College of the NESCAC (3-2) and the College of St. Scholastica of the NCHA beat Marian University of the MCHA (4-3) via Internet webcasts over my computer. It's Thanksgiving weekend and that means invitational tournament time in NCAA Division III hockey; a holiday feast for Division III hockey nuts.

Division III hockey... Yes, Virginia, there is an alternate universe. To find it go the USCHO.com. That's the US College Hockey Online website, a service that covers men's and women's NCAA hockey at all levels. From there you can find the USCHO Fan Forum. As I write this at 10 a.m. Saturday, there are 54 fans viewing the Men's Div. III forum. They will be tossing around the results of last night's action and making predictions for the rest of the weekend. They will also be berating the opposition and questioning their own coaches' decisions. In that regard it's not much different that Major League Baseball or the National Football League or the Big 10. But there is one major difference from big-time college sports: no scholarships.

In Div. III the game is played for the love of the sport. The Div. I schools buy up most of the top talent with scholarships. They are bigger and faster and some of them are destined for the pros. You don't have to go far to find that kind of action: Miami University and Ohio State both have fine Div. I teams. But in terms of competitiveness, it's hard to beat Div. III. Last night's action was a typical example.

Even most Div. I fans will quickly admit that the oldest and most intense rivalry is that between Bowdoin College and Colby College in Maine. Next Friday and Saturday they will be playing each other for the 197th and 198th times in home-and-home matchups. In Maine, this is bigger than Ohio State-Michigan football. And I can guarantee nobody is giving these boys free tattoos.

"I have been fortunate to have experienced three of the top five or six rivalries in college hockey," Bowdoin Coach Terry Meagher, told the Bowdoin College newspaper a couple years ago on the eve of one of the games. "Boston University-Boston College, Clarkson University-Saint Lawrence University, and Bowdoin-Colby. The Bowdoin-Colby rivalry is as special as any in the nation. There is always a buzz in the air as the game approaches."

Bowdoin and Colby play in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC). I will be watching. Oh, did I forget to mention that Colby is my Alma Mater. Go Mules!

You can catch what promises to be a good one tonight as the final round of the Primelink Great Northern Shootout kicks off at 7 p.m. in Middlebury, Vermont. Norwich University will be looking to keep its unbeaten streak alive against Elmira. You can watch the game here.