Just once, when Sarah Palin or someone of her ilk drops a "Barack HUSSEIN Obama" in the middle of a speech, I want the crowd to react like the kids do in the Harry Potter books when Voldemort gets mentioned by name. Whatever faith I have in humanity will finally exhaust itself, but at least I'll get a chuckle out of it.

From the NCAA 2006-08 Men & Women's Ice Hockey Rules and Interpretations, Rule 6 Section 18:

"A goal shall be allowed if the puck has been directed into the goal by an attacking player with the skate, unless a distinct kicking motion is used."

Sadly, there's no further clarification on what makes a distinct kicking motion, though based on tonight's game it seems to include a puck hitting a foot that isn't moving towards the goal. Dammit.

I caught the first couple of innings of today's Sox-A's opener before going to work, and was interested to see that the NESN broadcast of the game opened with a quote from Sun Tzu. Which may have been more appropriate if Sun Tzu weren't actually Chinese.

There were apparently a number of broadcast outages that hampered viewing, which I assume will cause Red Sox Nation to recall their ambassador to DirecTV.

I wound up following most of the game using ESPN's game tracking widget, which was very slow. I didn't get the final score on it until I'd heard it from a co-worker a good 5 to 10 minutes beforehand (he had the final when ESPN was still listing the game as 6-4 Sox). I also didn't like how it listed balls, strikes and outs, using filled circles as a default and then emptying them to denote where the batter or team stood for each. So backwards. Like most ESPN widgety things, there's too much focus on style (graphics actually show pitched and hit balls) and not so much on accuracy (the thing listed Okajima as pitching an inning that Papelbon actually threw).

Another hockey season went into the books last night, as the Icedogs dropped a 3-1 decision to Vermont. I should be happy we got as far as the league semis; if you'd told me on January 1 that the team would get that far, get back to being nationally ranked and have an outside shot at a NCAA tournament berth, I would have put up a sizable wad of cash against that happening.

(It also didn't help that we were sitting in front of a guy I tangentially know who, in a very loud voice, basically called the game as if he were working it for the Blowhard Pessimist Radio Network. Thankfully we don't sit anywhere near him during the regular season; we'd probably have tried to throw him under the Zamboni by now if we did.)

But it's still pretty frustrating to think about the missed opportunities with this team (losses given away to Robert Morris, Harvard, Dartmouth, the OT loss to BC in the Beanpot), especially one with so many seniors and, on paper, so much talent. Throw on to that the amount of talk among fans about whether or not Jack lost the team, of if he's stayed on too long, and it's both frustrating and a little sad.

Looking forward to next season, we're apparently hosting the Icebreaker tournament, Michigan is coming back for a couple, the guys are going to the Denver Cup, and the women's Frozen Four will be on campus. Let's focus on that for the next seven months.

If you work for an institution of higher education, and you're looking for a way to drive staff morale through the floor, cancel classes during a snowstorm but require staff to come in. Nothing says "you're expendable" better than that.

This email from the MBTA just crossed by inbox:

Dear MBTA Customer:

Thank you for taking the time to let us know your thoughts on T-Radio. As we stated at the launch of this pilot test, MBTA riders would determine the fate of T-Radio. We have heard from a number of riders on a wide range of issues including the content and style.

Consequently, as of Thursday, October 25th, T-Radio will be suspended. While it is suspended, personnel from the MBTA and Pyramid Radio (the operator of the pilot program) will review and discuss the hundreds of emails received. Following a sufficient period of consideration, MBTA staff will present a recommendation on how the comments and suggestions might be addressed and whether a resumption of the pilot program is advised.

As always, we will continue to try and make your commute better through various means, and always ask for your feedback.

Thank you again for taking the time to write and have your voice heard. Its appreciated.

The quiet at North Station this morning was actually the sound of victory, for now at least.

I was pretty surprised yesterday morning when, waiting for the Green Line at North Station, I found myself assaulted by the end of one of those slower Maroon 5 songs that was horribly overplayed and overused in movie trailers. Given that we've kind of moved beyond the days of the boom box, it took me a minute to figure out that the music was coming from the station's loudspeakers.

Turns out I had stumbled into the first day of T-Radio, a pilot program of what the press release calls "an expertly programmed radio format where informative news, entertainment and safety announcements are seamlessly integrated with music to appeal to Boston’s multi-cultural T-rider demographics."

Let's unpack that, shall we?

an expertly programmed radio format - I didn't know that radio for subway platforms was its own format. Are there Arbitron numbers for it?

informative news, entertainment and safety announcements - in the time I was on the platform I heard no news. The 'entertainment' consisted of the sort of funny facts you'd find on a fact a day calendar that you get in your office's holiday swap. There was one announcement, but it was just one of the "See Something, Say Something" spots that remind us that a slogan is the T's best defense against terrorism.

For what it's worth, the most interesting thing I heard from the non-musical programming was that Pope John Paul II was named an honorary Harlem Globetrotter in 2000. I assume it went something like the dream in Fletch where the Pope's height is given with and without mitre.

seamlessly integrated - OK, there were no gaps of dead air or anything, but I figure anyone with basic radio training should be able to do this.

music to appeal to Boston's multi-cultural T-rider demographics - the T is a bit of a melting pot, so this actually makes sense. I am not sure if all the ingredients in the pot will find appeal from Maroon 5, Augustana, and Edwin McCain. Clearly, we're a bechamel rather than a demi glace.

The one thing I can say in the positive about T-Radio is that everyone could hear it. It was obtrusively loud, much too loud for me at 7:45 in the morning. I'm assuming there were complaints, as today I couldn't hear it on the platform at all. I could hear it in the walkway under Causeway Street, but that's about it.

There's an emphasis on the non-musical portions of the broadcast, which is interesting given that I've heard almost nothing that wasn't music. I'm also wondering how I'm going to hear much of the programming unless I'm waiting an inordinate amount of time for a train. This will probably work better at the Airport stop than North and South Stations (the only places getting T-Radio right now).

The kicker is that this new service rolled out the same day I got stuck in the tunnel between Park Street and Boylston for about 15 minutes. I was late to work, but at least I could think about the Pope being the Clown Vicar of Basketball.