Boston vs Chicago day 5 part 2 I'm in a hurry

oh, one more preview. I'm rushing to leave to the game soon (and hoping to see a friend's NESN broadcast of it eventually), after a Flickr meetup in the Loop (photographer, not hockey-related, but one friend there wore a Canadiens sweater because he knew I like the Bruins, and I'll be too polite to attach a note saying "BOOOO!" on the Flickr photos showing it), then a Twitter meetup with hockey people.

NOW...I know some Bruins fans/friends/fellow bloggers out there, of course. these are smart, funny, decent people. yet I know they'll be advancing the strange, misguided notion that the Bruins are the team that should win the game tonight. yes, really, there are people that think this! the Bruins should win, even if that breaks the winning streak of the Hawks when I see them (11 games, 11 wins). even if that deprives America's Chicago's a small area of Chicago's northwest side's sweetheart of the blogosphere from seeing the Blackhawks win she's so rightfully earned by showing up to games, cheering, and belatedly posting rambling recaps. I guess we agree to disagree.

anyway, one more from The Brothers Esposito (1971)

hmm, I hope that's not a bad sign. as for an actual preview of the game, or predictions, or wishes? well, I'm disappointed it won't be the battle of the backup Finnish goalies tonight; it'll be Thomas vs. Niemi. I've been excited to see two consecutive shutouts, but I REALLY don't want one tonight. I'm fine with Boston getting a point, though I've seen too many OT and SO games this season already. I'm not wearing anything Bruins because I don't own any Bruins wear yet, and I'd probably feel guilty wearing it to a game here anyway. I don't care if Savard gets a hat trick and Thornton beats up one of the Hawks, as long as the Hawks end up winning. my idea score would be Hawks winning 5-4 in overtime.* but if I had to see a team to finally see them lose to AAAAHH DON'T FINISH THAT SENTENCE

*I'll confess (to anyone paying close attention) that I MEANT to put that wish/prediction in the post but forgot, and added it later. that wound up being the score! (in a shootout, though, not OT). I wish I'd officially predicted it somewhere

Boston vs Chicago countdown day 5

the last day of the series, but I'll have one more game preview post in the afternoon...

part I: The Brothers Esposito
yesterday was "brother against brother" photos, today it's "brothers working together." awwwww. first, the photo that convinced me I HAD to check out this 1971 book and scan and post the photos:

and now, a nice All-Star photo:

I meant to introduce this series by noting Aubrey's Hockey Advent Calendar, which is a great idea I wish I'd thought of (sure, I could have done one too, but didn't come up with a theme). she's posted a lot of interesting videos and historical articles, and today posted links to a 1971 Sports Illustrated article on the Espositos (I didn't even bother to look up any extra material to post with the photos!), and a Wikipedia list of father/son/brothers in hockey. so check it out...

I've gotten in the habit of just assuming any players in the NHL/AHL/college/junior hockey with the same name, if it's not a super-common name, are brothers. if I heard of two writers with the same name, I might wonder if they're related, but in hockey I assume they are unless it's proven otherwise. i.e., I saw the Abbotsford Heat play the Chicago Wolves, and Keith Seabrook is in fact Blackhawks' Brent Seabrook's brother. (I know, I should have known that sooner...) the Heat are the Calgary Flames' affiliate, so if Keith moves to the NHL, it'd add more interest to the already intense games between those teams...

part II: when I think of Boston, I think of:

saved the best (well, to me) for last: the MBTA! I've photographed the Chicago Transit Authority extensively, as you can see. (and even had my photos included in a traveling exhibit that's now...ON DISPLAY AT THE CTA HEADQUARTERS.) so I love photographing the transit system of other cities I visit. I had three trips to the Boston area in 2009, and each time I bought the amazingly cheap 7-day unlimited pass ($15! the equivalent in Chicago is $23, $28 for the one that includes suburban buses, which I need to get to Wolves games). I rode the ENTIRE subway/elevated system on my first trip (didn't get to all of the Silver Line, but that's a bus, not a train).

don't know whether regular MBTA commuters would be surprised by this or not, but I found the system so fantastic--on time, convenient, reasonably priced, as noted--that it nearly made me weep to have to go back and ride the CTA. and all the colorful trains! Chicago also names its lines after colors (since the 1990s), but in Boston, the trains actually are the colors of the lines they're named after--they're all plain silver in Chicago. and the variety--Chicago is purely a heavy rail system, while MBTA uses heavy rail, light rail, trolley cars, AND bus rapid transit? I had a couple bad waits, and it's not much fun to be around before/after Red Sox games, but for most part it was great. BUT...the trains shut down after midnight, while the CTA has 24-hour service, so Chicago wins based on that.

and the commuter trains! I was staying with a friend who lived barely a block from a suburban station, so I got to see MBCR trains many times. my first trip on one was to Providence, and I had a few other rides. the MBTA pass even includes short trips on MBCR, so I went to Chelsea for no extra cost.

alas, some of the more macho railfans out there don't like the MBCR colors; they can't appreciate the wonder of PINK (or magenta?) trains. anyway, you can check out more of my MBTA/MBCR photos here. Bostonist.com even used one. I've actually had more fun taking transit photos in Boston than in New York (and technically Boston's subway is older...I've read several books on the history of Boston transit. I even know about lines that used to exist!)...yes, Boston people always like hearing that something there is better than in New York. I went a little overboard posting photos here, but why not?

Boston vs Chicago countdown day 4

I'm leaving the house tonight (yes, on a night when there's hockey on!) because there's a blogger (and not even sports bloggers!) party tonight and I need to be social to make up for the fact that last night I dreamed I was reading a blog. and I woke up before I could "click to read more." and some secret was never revealed to me. and how pathetic is everything I just wrote? anyway, day 4!

part 1: The Brothers Esposito

well, I hope this photo isn't a bad omen:

a photo like that today would absolutely get the nhLOL or LolLeafs treatment

meanwhile:

part II: when I think of Boston, I think of: Boston Harbor

well, not really, I didn't spend nearly as much time on the waterfront in Boston as I should have on my 2009 trips. I only got this shot (on Flickr I was informed it's a car carrier) because I was visiting the Institute of Contemporary Art nearby (you can take some great photos there, but not in the galleries, which is too bad, because I wanted to take photo of people looking at art, not the art itself).

Boston vs Chicago countdown day 3

sorry I fell behind with this--part 4 in a few hours. I had another great game to go to last night...that's two shutouts in a row for the Hawks (and by different goalies, first time that's happened since 1983!). against low-ranked teams, but it still counts.

part I: The Brothers Esposito

I finally scanned all the photos, returned the book, owed $1.60. I hope it's worth it, dear readers! (and thanks to Hockey Gone Wild for the nice mention of this series and the blog in general). now, getting to what we really want to see: BROTHER AGAINST BROTHER in the NHL!

the game above ended in a tie, back when they still had those

part II: when I think of Boston, I think of:

I'm skipping some more obvious ones, like chowder, or medical schools, or friggin' historic plaques every 10 feet, and going to: brutalist architecture!

I think this is right side up...taken on a visit to the Government Service Center. here's Flickr search results; I recommend Seth Tisue's great photos of the place, especially since he was the one giving me a tour the April 2009 day I took this. if you'd like more Paul Rudolph architecture see the Flickr group about him. there's also the Boston City Hall--Flickr search results for that. (if you like American architecture at all, especially pre-WWII, you must look at army.arch's photostream). I know that a lot of historic buildings were destroyed in the heyday of "urban renewal" to build it, and a lot of people thought and still think it's ugly, but it can be damn photogenic.

Boston vs Chicago countdown day 2

more stuff that doesn't really relate to the Bruins @ Blackhawks game I'm going to this Friday. (there's a huge new post right below this one, btw--I've got to space things throughout the day...)

part I: The Brothers Esposito

today, from this 1971 biography, more relatively early photos:

"credit for an assist"

part II: when I think of Boston, I think of...this place, it's pretty popular.

from my first trip inside, June 16, 2009. Sox won 8-2 in an interleague game against the Marlins. the friend I went with will rant at length against interleague games. I was asking him what foods he doesn't like one time, and he said "I hate walnuts. I hate walnuts even more than I hate interleague play!" unrelatedly, I'm thinking of an old Simpsons line I'd always hoped would catch on but didn't seem to: "well, you can cram it with walnuts, ugly!" uh, I'm not going to write much about the Red Sox now, but at least I've given you two useless walnut-related catchphrases...

Boston vs Chicago countdown day 1

yes, it's now only 4 nights until the big Bruins @ Blackhawks game, and I thought I'd do 5 days of...I don't know, stuff that has to do with Boston. then I'll write some quasi-legitimate game preview, but for now...

part I: The Brothers Esposito!
recently I had to take two buses to get to one of the three Chicago public libraries open on a Sunday to pay overdue fines (can't pay online), and browsed the sports books while there so I could get something new to make it worth the hassle, and found this 1971 book, listed as by Phil Esposito and Tony Esposito with Tim Moriarty. it recounts the brothers' childhoods, Phil's time with the Black Hawks (spelled with two words back then) and Bruins, Tony's with the Canadiens and Hawks. so, I'll have photos I scanned from it every day this week. (probably not stories, the book is way overdue* and I don't have time to type them).

the CPL has an interesting selection of hockey books from the 1960s -70s (and more recent ones, of course); I'll feature more of them later, but this book made the most sense for the Bruins-Hawks game.
*ironically, I've racked up more fines on this book than the fines I went to pay that day. but surprisingly someone else has requested the book, so if I didn't read it now who knows when I could get it again.

part II: when I think of Boston, I think of:

Dunkin Donuts! EVERYWHERE! (the chain was started near Boston) more than once, I saw Dunkin stores literally across the street from other Dunkin stores! or in the same train station! my first Boston visit in 2009, I made a point of having DD coffee every day (6 days) and taking a self-portrait with it. that's on my Flickr, as is this shot of a fragment left on Revere Beach, just past the end of the Blue Line train.