That's what you get for scheduling 8 a.m. classes

(Props to Jon)

Or
He’s Late, Far Too Early
Boston University professor, sportswriter and backyard hockey rink enthusiast Jack Falla has died at the age of 62. Having long since given up jocks for docs, I had fallen off his radar – a point embarrassingly brought home at a friend’s wedding a few years back – but his 8 a.m. classes – scheduled to weed out the weak – were among the few I looked forward to at BU, and the litany of tributes to sportswriters for whom he had been a mentor are testament to his influence as a professor. He loved sharing stories of the backyard hockey rink he had built – the Bacon Street Omni – which found its way into many classes, stories, books and even his recent novel. An inveterate name-dropper, he twice got to interview Wayne Gretzky, the second time getting to skate with the Great One in a passing drill. My favorite story, though, was when he visited the home of retired Hall of Fame goalie Gerry Cheevers, who had one of his trademark goalie masks, with stitches marking where pucks had hit, on display in the foyer. After Cheevers’ had answered the door and left to find Gerry, Falla was left alone with the mask. Unable to resist, he put it on, and as he turned to look at himself in the mirror, he found himself goalie masked face-to-face with Cheevers. Through it all, he was still a fan. Falla also was a stickler for punctuality, and one of his mantras was “If you’re on time, you’re late.” In his honor, I was not late for a meeting all week.