Inside Jerry Remy's Sports Bar and Grill on the waterfront, Boston College alumni, decked out in maroon and yellow, are squeezed in to watch the college's hockey team play Ferris State in the NCAA "Frozen Four" Championship.
Though the championship seemed to be the Eagles' to lose — tonight marks BC's fifth title game in the last seven years, while Ferris State is making its championship debut — some fans were uneasy as the game entered the second period, with the Eagles up 2 to 1.
"[Boston College] could be up 4 to 1 and I'd still be nervous," said John Fouhy, 55, an 1978 alum, as he adjusted his BC hat. With him was his cousin, Dave Fouhy, 54, and his long time friend, Steve Blacky, 58.
Blacky said he felt just the opposite.
"I don't think they'll drop their guard. They've gone too far," he said, referencing BC's 18-game win streak. Blacky had already taped "2012" on his older BC championship hat.
Despite his nervousness, Fouhy acknowledged that BC was looking strong on the ice. "They have three strong lines that all can score," he said. "The thing about BC is their depth is incredible."
Dave Fouhy also explained that every game counts in college hockey since the season is so short. "They don't take any games off in college," he said.
As the first period ended, Blacky pressed the small goal light he had brought, which flashed brightly in the bar. "We even brought these, in case the game got boring," he said, pointing at a small set of hockey figurines, with a net and puck.
"We've been watching college hockey together for 30 years now," Fouhy said. He smiled and looked intently at the television as the players took the ice at the start of the second period.
Described by his friends as a BC superfan, Mark O'Connor, 26, a 2007 BC graduate, sipped his drink as the championship game resumed.
"The game has been pretty good so far," he said. "[Boston College] has skated well, but we've had a few guys lose an edge.
"I think we'll have a two-goal win," O'Connor continued. "That's what I'm hoping anyway. You never know with hockey. We are looking better than [Ferris State] so far."
Andrew Donahue, 26, a 2007 BC alumnus, also wore his team's colors, watching in the middle of the crowd. Donahue is the Athletics Sub Committee Chair to the BC Alumni Association - Boston Chapter, and helped organize the event.
"It's going well so far," he said. "There are a lot of passionate fans here."
Donahue organized a similar event with about 150 people in attendance for Thursday's game. He said that despite the game falling the night before Easter, the turnout for the championship game seemed just as high.
"It looks like we're taking up about a third of the bar," he said. "It's probably about 150 people again."
With every goal BC scores, the bar played the school's fight song, which the crowd really got into.
"Let's just hope we can hear it again," said Donahue.
Try BostonGlobe.com today and get two weeks FREE.Derek J. Anderson can be reached at derek.anderson@globe.com.This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
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