Sig-Series V event was hockey, held on Saturday, March 28, 1998 at the lovely NJIT gym. The event started at 12:12 RTS (Ruta Time Standard ) with warm-ups, the national anthem rendered nicely by Celine Dion and the Pledge of Allegiance delivered by guest speaker James Earl Jones.
The stage was set. The undergraduates have lost the Sig Series to the alumni in four straight games. Game five wasn’t a filler game but the time for payback for those alumni tough/brave/stupid (circle your choice) to show up for the rough and tumble event. The attending alumni were outnumbered by the present undergraduates three to one. The goalkeeper for the alumni with a record of (2-0-0) was Chris "THE HAND" Vakulchik and for the undergrads in his rookie year Tom "CORKY, SON OF BUS" (official nickname and I am not kidding) Gottberg (0-0-0). The first period opened up with both teams playing tentatively, trying to see if there was an obvious weakness with the starting goalies. Halfway into the first period, the alumni struck first with a slapshot by Matt Greimel from clear across the alumni zone. Apparently a female bystander caught the attention of Tom "HUHH" Gottberg and an easy save was missed by the rookie player.
Now this is where it get a little fuzzy, the undergrads feeling that the alumni were playing for keeps instead of just laying over and giving them a win proceeded to play the undergrad goon squad. The event was transformed from a friendly hockey game to beat the crap out of anyone with the hockey puck. The first period ended with the undergrads leading by 2-1. The quick scores were made by ____________________ and _________________ (fill in the blanks please).
The second period started after the oxygen tanks and crash carts were pushed out of the playing area. The game took another turn from the undergrads beating the crap out of anyone to both sides playing "wait a minute I could use the hockey stick to cause major pain to the other team". Spirited played continued until Kevin Gates and Dave Barker combined to score two more points to get the alumni back in the lead. The second period ended with the alumni ahead 3-2.
The third period opened with a controversial play. The undergrads scored on a play when showed on instant replay that the puck had entered the goal through a rip in the goal netting. The officials ruled the goal as good much to chagrin of Chris "THE OFFICIALS NEED GLASSES" Vakulchik. The scored tied 3-3, the alumni mounted a furious assault which led to Rob Owens scoring on the rebound from a hard shot from Dave Barker. By this time the alumni were moving slow motion and the undergrads decided to take advantage. The up and coming undergrad, _________________ (fill in the blank) scored from the center line to tie up the score. Halfway through the period, with the undergrads sensing total victory. The game puck was lofted into the bleachers, the game was finally a tie after a lot of time was spent searching for the missing puck (go figure).
Afterwards, pizza and soda was served to the weary competitors. Everyone tried to piece together the events of the last two hours with no success. Everybody did agree that it was a hockey game after much debate (somebody suggested a conspiracy of false memories, alien abduction, and government cover up but we all thought that was just an X-Files rerun) and also that everybody had a good time.
Final Score: 4 - 4
Chris "THANK GOD" Vakulchik (2-0-1)
Tom "I KNEW I SHOULD HAVE GOTTEN THE EXTRA PUCK INSTEAD OF THE SOBAKAWA PILLOW" Gottberg (0-0-1)
The names and events were slightly/somewhat/totally changed to protect the innocent, like Dave Barker is really Jeff Brill and Kevin Gates is really Rob Owens.
Thank you to all who attended this event.