Update

I didn't go to Harvard (thanks, Madoff). I quit my shitty job. I moved to Quincy. I'm a budding writer (hahaha). 

The Patriots missed the playoffs behind Matt Cassel, who they ended up trading - along with legendary OLB Mike Vrabel - for a SECOND ROUND PICK in the upcoming draft.  I know, I know, In Bill We Trust and all that, but this smacks of a cheap sell-off in a draft that might be the worst athletic showcase in over a decade. 

Boston College is having a good year in hoops, terrible in hockey, and fired Coach Jags.

I gave up my season tickets, was slightly pissed about missing the sleep-inducing 17-0 win over Notre Dame, but it was worth it.  I used my savings to get piss drunk and watch better football.  I'm the worst alumnus in Boston College history

Patrick Lane is going to Harvard

Master's in Early American History, I start this fall so I can catch a breather and move on. I start working at Harvard soon so my ALM will only run me 40 a class (hopefully the $1,750 thesis fee is subsidized!!!). I'm really excited to begin this program and add The Credential to my resume. 2 or 3 years from now I go from an overly raw early entry to a polished, mature candidate. It's all or nothing again next time, and I just might shock and drop a few JD/PhD applications if I'm feeling I can make a G.  Right now, I'm just enjoying the final days of Boston College. If my kids don't end up going there, I could be the last of either family to attend BC, which makes me all the more glad that I followed my heart and came back home for school.  It was hard having to fall back on the Master's and not even leave 128, but the Greater Boston area really is my home, and I just move from place to place without really losing my identity.

For some perspective: 10 years ago I was a malcontent at Xaverian High. 7 years ago I was down and out at Trinity High. 6 years ago I drop out of UMass with a hazy plan and a 2.0. 5 years ago I'm in Boot Camp. 

 In 6 weeks I become a college graduate, and about 4 months later I become an Ivy League grad student. Wow.

0 for grad school applications forced me to think outside the box and return to that ancient idea of a safety program at a world class university, so Harvard it is.

BTW, as much as I fretted that the ALM wouldn't be accepted as a "real" Harvard degree by the snobs, it IS a Harvard degree and it HAS gotten people into Ivy League PhD and professional programs, so I'd say I'm making a smart choice while moving 1 step closer to my ultimate goal.

In 2010 I will send out my applications again, early list includes Georgetown, Harvard, Yale, and a few Chesapeake regional programs.

Grad School Massacre and the Greatest Defeat in Human History

Patrick Lane is an utter absolute failure, according to the advisory committees at 7 of the 8 grad schools I applied to. I heard back from Texas, Brown, and Vanderbilt within 2 days of each other, which prompted me into a near-catatonic depression. But that isn't even the worst thing to happen to me that week.

The Patriots, who I predicted to win Super Bowl XLII 55-19 in a glorious blowout....lost.

Yup. 17-14. Worst game of football I've ever seen. The Giants defensive line got after Brady much as the Soviet Third Army plundered the young female population of East Prussia during the 1945 drive toward Berlin. I don't want to live in a world where there the Manning Brothers are back-to-back Super Bowl MVPs at the expense of New England offensive miscues, but that is the lot I have been given.

BC basketball made me want to enter one of those crazy religious orders where you can't talk, masturbate, or watch TV, just so I could perhaps learn to let go of the pain of mediocre ACC hoops in a sequestered monastic prison of the self. Bloody awful. Tyrese Rice isn't as good as he thinks he is but that UNC game was a beauty.

BC hockey has the worst home season this decade but makes the 2 seed in Worcester with a Red Sox-esque run through the Hockey East Tournament, which happened to be perhaps the least magnetic post-season tournament I've ever seen. There was little to no crowd vitality and I found myself not so much enraptured by the BC-UNH triple overtime classic as I was chained to it like a 90-lb. crackwhore to a Mattapan radiator.

The Red Sox won this morning in Japan. I turned on the TV to Manny's 2-run double in the 6th and was mighty pleased. If I could start every morning like that I wouldn't need to run this graduate school gauntlet to make myself feel halfway decent everyday.

I don't really smoke anymore but the drinking has maintained itself nicely. A few beers, perhaps some wine, but I try not to delve into semi-inebriated self parody.

The NCAA tournament sucks. All this "OMG COLLEGE BASKETBALL IS THE BESTEST THING EVR!!!!!!!!11111!" is a big steaming truckload of malarkey. There is a reason half these teams play before empty arenas on ESPN during the regular season, and its because baseball and football are infinitely more cerebral than a game any college dropout with good genes can master at 19.

Here we go again......

We're going to try this again. It's Super Bowl week of course, with the 18-0 New England Patriots taking on the Giants yada yada yada you know the spiel.

I'm thinking 55-19, some kind of unholy destruction that we haven't seen since Bill de-pantsed Joe Gibbs 52-7 way back in October.

I'll try to update the blog once or twice a week from this point on, if only to keep me a little busy.

Since I last posted.....

Matt Ryan became the greatest thing since sliced bread, as he singlehandedly dragged BC to an Atlantic title and an 11-3(!) record and #10 final ranking.

The Patriots choked in the 2006 AFC Championship Game to the Colts, who then win the Super Bowl. The Pats and Colts both dominate the 2007 regular season, with the Pats winning the head-to-head with a dramatic 4th quarter comeback, and Tom Brady has the greatest season ever for a quarterback thanks to Randy Moss. Now we're playing yet another Super Bowl. 

BC Hockey made it to another Frozen Four, and again dropped the National Championship Game to a Big Ten school, this time Michigan State.

BC Basketball is still inconsistent and uninteresting.

I applied to 8 graduate schools, a process I never again wish to repeat.  I really need to start writing and focus on past tenses and verb inclusion. I get ulcers thinking about a thin letter snowstorm.

Abby started her Masters program at BC, with a 4.0 GPA thus far. She's amazing. She also received a bevy of awards for her perfect performance at work. Looks like the Patriots weren't the only perfect thing in New England last year.

I'm taking  a couple electives (English, Math) to finish up my A.B. in History. I really don't think I'm going to miss Boston College because I have been longing for a normal schedule for quite a while now and will benefit from being able to spend nights with Abby after the first week in May. 3.75 GPA, so its looking like cum laude, maybe magna.

I finished the thesis, which was a painful experience for all involved.

Turkey Week

It's been a long month so far, but hopefully a rewarding one as well. The Patriots don't look like a legitimate Super Bowl candidate, having feasted on lousy teams and imploded against quality opponents. We've got Chicago next Sunday on the new carpet, and I trust Brady to pick apart the Bears' Cover-2 scheme. Prediction: Patriots 31, Chicago 20.

Boston College continues to give me childish glee. Saturday's 38-16 smoking of the Maryland Terrapins makes the Thanksgiving game against Miami one of the most important road games in school history. If we win, and Wake loses to UMD, then we're in the ACC game. I don't think it'll happen. This feels too much like the Syracuse game in 04, and I won't let my heart get broken again.
Prediction: Miami 24, BC 16.

Happy November

First off, I'd like to thank all the SUV drivers of the world for making today the warmest November 1st I can remember. Quitting my job wasn't such a good idea in retrospect, seeing as how I've been bled dry by rent, utilities, and traffic tickets (oh thank you GI Bill, without you nothing is possible).

Bleed her dry, she says, while holding the knife. I knew that raise had strings attached.

Intro

Thanks for stopping by. My name's Patrick Lane and I'm a junior at Boston College. The title refers to my dual status as a qualified submariner as well as an Eagle. I don't want to do yet another college sports blog, and I certainly don't want to mess around with politics, so I'll just use the blog as a means of creative expression and whatnot. Depending on readership I'll see how things go. I'll occasionally post short stories and random idioms, hopefully spark up some interesting conversations about great literature, philosophy, etc. I'm mainly looking to start something that provides a leisurely alternative to the sports blogosphere.

I'll probably post my thoughts on Augustine's feelings on the myth of temporality to make myself sound much smarter than I actually am, but until then I've got to go pay my rent and drive around in circles.

I'll fill in my backstory in future posts, I think most will be intrigued.