OK, no need to panic. The waitress brought me the satellite book, and there were other options: SportsChannel New York had a replay similarly scheduled for 11:30 as did the SportsChannel affiliates in Ohio and Chicago, and if all else failed, Texas' HSE had a replay pegged for midnight.

Live from New York...nothing.

The Windy City? Nothing.

Cleveland? Cincinnati? Nothing.

The smoke could be seen visibly pouring out of my head. At least by then, it was almost midnight and our last options still loomed.

I pleaded for one last chance from the woman pushing the buttons. She, apparently thought as much of college hockey as did the cable sports networks. But in a near-empty bar, she agreed and switched the big screen TV to...

....guys in blue uniforms jumping up and down. Hockey players. From Lake Superior State.

In an instant the image was gone, like Harvard's season. The scene was only part of the opening for the upcoming replay of the day's other game Minnesota-BU, but for us, it stood for the entirety of Harvard's loss.

My stomach sank. Alexis told us of the overtime finish, of the breakaway goal that beat Aaron Israel, of the crock of a five-minute penalty assessed to the Crimson's Kirk Nielsen late in the game, of Lou Body's back injury that robbed Harvard of a critical defenseman as fatigue became a factor.

I couldn't form these opinions myself. I could only rely on the secondhand testimony of someone 1500 miles away from the arena in which it happened.

So we were left to wonder. About a game that we never saw, even a boxscore that we wouldn't see until it came out in The Crimson three days too late. About how BU was eight goals worse than Lake State in the title game, and how easily the Crimson might have been champions.

And worst, about the way spring break saps the Harvard campus of life during the one sporting event which might get its student body collectively excited about its athletes.

Last night, a giant-screen television at Duke University showcased the Blue Devils' NCAA basketball championship game against Arkansas and literally thousands of students showed up to watch the game together. Imagine their excitement, feel their collective tension with every made or missed shot.

Even their shared heartbreak at game's end, as Duke came up short.

But hey--at least those loyal fans got to share their feelings together.