Boston Summer - SEP.12.08
Entry posted by Cory Schneider
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<table align="center" border="0" width="80%"><tbody><tr><td><img src="http://cdn.nhl.com/canucks/images/upload//2008/06/cory_blog.jpg" align="left" border="0" hspace="4" vspace="1">The first question you always get come September is, "what did you do this summer?"
Trust me, I'd love to roll out some fascinating tale about the day I spent hanging with the Red Sox and how a freak stinger into the dugout led to me pinch hitting for Tim Wakefield in front of 36,000 <a href="http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/bos/ballpark/facts.jsp" target=_new>Fenway</a> faithful, but the truth is far less compelling. No Papi and no dingers in the ninth, though I did WATCH a Sox game a few weeks back…
No, I spent the summer subletting an <a href="http://bruins.nhl.com/team/app?page=PlayerDetail&playerId=8469626&service=page&tab=prf" target=_new>old teammate</a>'s apartment back in Boston and taking a financial policy course at <a href="http://www.bu.edu/info/about/" target=_new>Boston U</a>.
I'm not saying summer school isn't a fun, but the highlight of my stay back in Boston wasn't on campus. I'd say with a fair measure on confidence that it was <a href="http://www.boston.com/ae/music/articles/2008/07/28/good_times_roll_at_country_fest" target=_new>Country Fest</a> at Gillette Stadium (where the Patriots play). Kenny Chesney, Keith Urban, LeAnn Rimes and a few other acts played the festival.
<img src="http://cdn.nhl.com/canucks/images/upload/2008/09/091208_chesney_t.jpg" align="right" border="0" hspace="4" vspace="1">A couple of us took a bus down there and had a good time, which was nice break from books and papers and regulations, which was sort of the opposite. Don't get me wrong, it's great to keep the mind alive after not taking a course for almost a year, but all BC offers through the summer is graduate courses. Thankfully it was a lot of group work, and my group helped me out because honestly, it was a bit beyond me.
I have four more electives before I graduate with a bachelor's degree – which I should be able to bang off in the next two summers – and those won't be graduate level. At least not in financial policy.
<img src="http://cdn.nhl.com/canucks/images/upload/2008/09/091208_fenway_t.jpg" align="left" border="0" hspace="4" vspace="1">I've blogged about my "appreciation" for the Red Sox before. You only have to go to spend one summer evening in the stands at Fenway to understand. It's pretty magical, especially come October when the city starts to buzz.
MLB playoffs aren't in the cards for me this season, so I made sure I got a Sox game in when I was back. There's no such thing as a boring game at Fenway, but I watched the Angles drag a no-hitter into the ninth inning on my Red Sox. I think it was a <a href="http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/news/wrap.jsp?ymd=20080729&content_id=3219793&vkey=wrapup2005&fext=.jsp&team=home&c_id=bos" target=_new>6-0 blowout</a> and the stands were still full when Dustin Pedroia drilled a single under the short stop to break Lackey's no hit. The stands emptied pretty quickly after that. Still, a great time. And what does that say about Boston fans? I'm not sure.
I guess I'm leaving out the Canucks rookie conditioning camp back in July, but if you're reading this blog, you've probably heard all about it, so I won't get into that.
Today officially marked the end of summer for all the young guys. It's all about testing, then two days of on-ice out at UBC before we fly to Camrose for a rookie tournament against the Flames and Oilers.
<img src="http://cdn.nhl.com/canucks/images/upload/2007/09/grabner3_09072007_t.jpg" align="right" border="0" hspace="4" vspace="1">I'd say after the initial dread of fitness testing wears off, most of the guys will be pretty excited to suit-up and get onto the ice again. I'm looking forward to renewing my grudge match with <a href="http://canucks.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=381879" target=_new>Michael Grabner</a>.
We sort of have this running competition in practice: he tries to get in alone and pick the corners on me and I try to get the best of him. I'm not quite sure where the record stands between us because we played together for a full season last year, but I want to jump out to an early edge in 2008-09.
I'm going to try to squeeze some regular blog in between practices over the next week or two. Feel free to post any questions and I'll try to answer them in my next submission.
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