About

So for the millions or more who don’t know me, my name is Meghan.  I’m a journalism major at Purchase College and a varsity softball player.  I’m a native of upstate New York, and just for clarification, Westchester county is NOT upstate New York.  Upstate New York is roughly 30 miles from the border of Canada and about 100 miles from the closest “city.”  The tiny town I call home is Parishville.  I guess you may call it a “suburb” of Potsdam, but even that’s a stretch. 

As you may have assumed by how close I was raised to Canada, hockey is my religion.  It’s  definitely something I miss at Purchase, particularly since transferring from St. Lawrence University – a school that lives and breathes Division I hockey.  But sports, not really any one specifically, have always been my passion. 

Unlike many students at Purchase, I don’t think they’re useless or require an IQ of less than 100 to participate.  Sports, in my opinion, get a bad rap here, which is one of the reasons I’ve created this site: to show the world that although some athletes are dumb and cocky, that some still hold on to a piece of integrity that few artists can ever claim to possess.

For all intents and purposes, I am often called by my teammates and friends as the “Canadian” despite not actually being one, but it really doesn’t bother me.  Most of my family is, and I embrace that heritage, particularly the part that produced my great uncle, Newsy Lalonde, who was inducted into the NHL Hall of Fame as a Montreal Canadien (go Habs) in 1950.  I’d like to think that I inherited some of his athleticism, as he still holds the Canadiens record for most goals scored in a game.

To sum it up, I like it all.  Sports, with the exception of maybe golf, have never bored me.  Even curling has some small appeal to me, but perhaps as an athlete, that comes from a certain understanding of its difficulty.  I have my favorites of course for just about everything, but for the big three (baseball, hockey, and football), I’m usually a little more interested than most other women I know.

First off for hockey, it’s a split decision between the New York Rangers and Montreal Canadiens.  Newsy played for both, so it’s cool to be from New York and root for the “home” team (though geographically I’m much closer to Montreal and Ottawa) and still have the Canadiens heritage.

Then there is baseball.  The sport that I have arguably been the most passionate about for the majority of my life.  I take a lot of heat for going to college 30 miles north of New York City, and many people hate me for my affiliation with the utterley loathed Boston Red Sox.  The Red Sox are as much a part of my family as anything else, and for me, they are more than a team, they are a way of thinking and achieving.  I was the girl in high school who stayed up every school night to watch the American League Championship Series.  In 2003, I went to bed nearly in tears after Aaron Boone sent the Yankees back to the World Series.  The next year, after being ridiculed on a daily basis for having been down 3 games to none, I was the type to keep the faith – wearing a different Red Sox jersey every day for good luck.  I’ll never forget that feeling, the feeling that one dynasty was coming to an end as ours was just beginning.  I could talk about the Red Sox for days… But I’ll spare you the pleasure.

For football, there’s yet another team that has been etched into my memories: the New York Football Giants.  My grandfather played semi-pro football and has long since been teaching me the greats: Sam Huff, Y.A. Tittle, and the likes.  In his basement, he has signed pictures of just about every Giant great you can possibly think of.  Pa, as I call him, is as passionate about sports as I am, and he has taught me just about everything I know about how to play and how to play well.  During a game in high school, I slid into home and sliced my leg on the catcher’s equipment.  While my coach was bandaging, Pa came over and patted me on the back and whispered in my ear, “Never let them see you bleed.”  He winked at me and smiled, saying its better to put some fear in them and not let them see the damage they did to you on the way.