Gionta Among Men

As a student at Boston College, even though I worked for three years in the Sports Media Relations office, I wasn't friends with a lot of the athletes. It's not that I didn't like them, I just tended not to hang in the same circles. Perhaps my best BC student-athlete friend was Cal Bouchard, an exceptional player on the women's basketball team. She not only won numerous academic awards, but also was drafted by the WNBA, and played for the Canadian Olympic team in Sydney. I hung out with her briefly at my five-year college reunion, and she continued to crack me up.

My favorite football acquaintances were a defensive lineman named Pat Kneib, who was as brilliant as he was funny in one of my freshman philosophy classes; and tight end Rob Ellis, who snagged touchdowns and sang beautifully with the college's all-male a cappella group.

Some of the athletes with whom I attended BC have gone onto high-profile success. There were the Hasselbeck brothers, who were Boston College quarterbacks and, I was told by classmates, were very nice guys. One of them's on a Super Bowl-bound team, while the other is the backup QB for my beloved New York Giants. A former BC softball player who roomed with my friend's sister -- and married the younger H-beck brother -- was a sweetheart in her college days, from what I've heard, too. And before Chris Hovan played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Minnesota Vikings, he would swing by the Communication Department offices, where I worked my senior year, to talk with a professor. (And no, he wasn't wearing face-paint at the time.)

But then there was one guy on the hockey team, Brian Gionta, who always was nice to me, even though he hardly knew me. The guy was a legend on campus, and reminded more than a few people of Doug Flutie in the respect that both were short, talented BC athletes who commanded respect. I had one or two communications classes with him -- one of them was a public speaking class -- but he'd sometimes delve into pleasant small talk with me before or after class.

In the years I was at BC, the Eagles were much like their Major League Baseball counterparts: the painfully close also-rans. I remember in 2000, when they were on the cusp of winning it all, they lost the title game to North Dakota, 4-2. Watching the game on TV, I remember seeing a devastated Gionta skate around the ice. The next day, I was still reeling from the loss -- and I had only watched the game -- when Gionta walked into the same Vanderslice Hall elevator. He pleasantly said hello and carried himself as if nothing had happened. It's then that I realized, "Hey, if he isn't that upset, I shouldn't be either." Just a cool guy.

Of course, the year after I graduated, Gionta and his teammates claimed the NCAA trophy that had eluded them for years. Gionta was unceremoniously picked 84th overall by the New Jersey Devils the following off-season. But after a few relatively quiet seasons in the NHL, he has scored 28 goals in his first 46 games this season. And even though I'm a New York Rangers fan, I had to grin when I saw him hoist the Stanley Cup in 2003. Oh, and he's representing the U.S. in the Torino Olympics.

It's just nice seeing nice things happen to nice people -- who are nice to me.