KINGSTON, R.I., April 5, 2016鈥擝y day, Conor McManus studies the larvae of Atlantic mackerel. By night, he鈥檚 chasing a puck on a sheet of ice.
McManus plays right wing on the Bay Blades, the let鈥檚-have-a-blast hockey team at the 溏心vlog免费B站鈥檚 Graduate School of Oceanography.
The team will face off against its longtime rival, the High Stickers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, on Saturday, April 9 at 2 p.m. in Boss Ice Arena on the Kingston campus. The event is free and open to the public.
鈥淚t should be fun,鈥� says McManus, 24, of Milton, Mass., who is on target to graduate from GSO with a doctorate in oceanography in 2017. 鈥淲e鈥檙e all pretty excited.鈥�
The teams have been competing against each other since the early 1980s as a way to meet other scientists鈥攁nd create some school spirit on the campuses.
The 15-member GSO team is made up of scientists, researchers, staff, students and even an alumnus and his son. Most of the men鈥攜es, they鈥檙e all men鈥攑layed hockey as kids and still love the game as adults.
They practice on Thursday nights at St. George鈥檚 School in Newport.
鈥淚t adds another level of camaraderie and campus spirit to GSO,鈥� says McManus, the team鈥檚 spokesman. 鈥淚 love the people I skate with. They鈥檙e nice guys. It鈥檚 also great exercise.鈥�
The team will square off again on Saturday, April 16 at 2 p.m., for a game at Gallo Ice Arena in Buzzard鈥檚 Bay, Mass. The winner of the tournament gets the coveted Niskin Cup. For the record, a niskin bottle is used by oceanographers to collect sea samples.
Ed Baker, manager of the marine science research facilities on the Bay campus, has been playing on the Bay Blades for a decade.
鈥淚n the world of hockey there鈥檚 something called 鈥榟ockey disorder鈥� where you really like hockey a lot,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an enthusiastic appreciation of the sport. Many of us have it, even though we鈥檙e not that good.鈥�
Baker says he鈥檚 buddies with many of the High Stickers鈥� players. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e good guys, but when they get on the ice it鈥檚 all business. We鈥檙e in it to win.鈥�
Pictured above: Bay Blades hockey team from 2014. Photo courtesy of GSO.