Every week, Bostonist dispatches its internet spiders to canvas the interwebs, bringing you the juiciest morsels in Boston-based viral video. As everyone in Boston is either in school, works for a school, or knows someone who does, finals effect us all. Whether it's sleepless nights writing papers or losing your favorite drinking buddy to the thesis machine, these weeks are hard on everyone. But as the workload doubles, the evidence of procrastination triples. That's why......

Boston College defensive end went to court today and pled not guilty to charges of rape and breaking and entering. The Suffolk County DA's office released more information about the alleged incident: In addition to requesting the high bail, Suffolk prosecutors recommended that Smith be ordered to have no contact with the victim and stay away from Boston College; those recommendations were granted as well. Evidence suggests that Smith entered the 21-year-old victim’s residence shortly......

Over the weekend, news broke that Boston College defensive end Brady Smith was charged with sexual assault and breaking and entering. He has since been suspended. Smith has a football scholarship and started in 12 games last year. Boston College has plenty of reasons to hope that the allegations aren't true. Some of their athletes haven't exactly bolstered the school's reputation. Two football players, DeJuan Tribble and Gosder Cherlius, were involved in a melee at......

The long drought is over! With the Revolution losing the MLS Cup, and the results of the Superb-oh God, we still don't want to talk about it - it's been almost six full months since a local team brought home a piece of significant championship hardware. No more. Boston College hockey captured their second title of the young century by flummoxing Notre Dame 4-1. Nathan Gerbe, as he does, led the charge with two goals......

The Bruins had high hopes coming into their first playoff series in years. Within two minutes, though, Montreal had slapped them with a cold dose of bitter reality. The Habs were faster, stronger, more accurate, and less nervous. The result: a 4-1 loss. The Flying Kostitsyn Brothers got Montreal's show on the road early, as Sergei scored at 0:34 and Andrei followed at 2:02. The Bruins settled down a bit towards the end of the......

We'd heard the Miami Heat were terrible. At 13-60, with Shaq traded, Wade shelved, Pat Riley having wandered off in indignity, we didn't expect a real tough game for the Celtics last night. But terrible doesn't even begin to describe this team. Miami set an NBA record for fewest field goals (17) in a shot-clock-era game, set an unofficial record for passes right to defenders, and would have only been able to climb back in......

--More from the pillow fight! --The fallout continues over Governor Deval Patrick's failed casino proposal and House Speaker Sal DiMasi's success in stopping it. Dan Kennedy has called DiMasi a "Bare-Knuckles Do-Gooder." But the Herald notes that those who voted against the proposal may have received certain rewards. [Media Nation / Boston Herald] --Boston College law professors now want to uninvite Attorney General Michael Mukasey from giving the commencement address since he won't say......

You'd think that Boston College would know to steer clear of controversy after the Condoleezza Rice Fiasco. But Boston College Law School invited Attorney General Michael Mukasey, who won't say that waterboarding is torture, to speak at their commencement, and not everyone is happy about it. As a compromise, Mukasey will get to speak, but he won't get a Founder's Medal from BC. Then again, it could have been worse. They could have invited Alberto......

It was about a week ago when we noted that the Bruins were in 6th place in the Prince of Wales Eastern Conference, which was a decent place to be, thus drawing the winner of the weak-sister Southeast Division. In that week, the B's have solidified the 6th spot, but are now officially in spittin' distance of bigger and better things. They've won blowouts this week, they've won shootouts, they've won at home, they've won......

--More fire department turmoil: A panel of union firefighters determined that the alcohol and drugs found in the bodies of firefighters Paul Cahill and Warren Payne in August's Tai Ho Restaurant blaze did not cause their deaths. But the fire commissioner begs to differ. [Boston Globe, background: Bostonist] --While it's good that the mayor is throwing his efforts behind saving Hendry Street from the foreclosure crisis, the housing problems in Dorchester aren't limited to......

--MBTA General Manager Dan Grabauskas has received plenty of angry e-mails in his time, and should be able to take some serious heat. But he is furious about an e-mail from a Department of Corrections employee that got way too personal. Grabauskas is gay, and the e-mailer used anti-gay slurs about Grabauskas when describing MBTA service. Now Grabauskas is upset with Deval Patrick and his administration for not doing something about it sooner. The......

It was the rarest of rare occasions: a Beanpot final that didn't involve BU. Instead it was Boston College and Harvard, with the Eagles leading by two midway through the third period. BC almost blew it before taking control in overtime and winning on a Nick Petrecki goal. So two overtime wins for Boston College. And a very relieved Jerry York. BU beat Northeastern in the consolation game. Pitchers and catchers don't have to be......

Console yourselves, people. Go out tonight. Puppetry! The Bread and Puppet Theater launches a run of several projects at the Cyclorama, including The Divine Reality Comedy, the "family-friendly" The Divine Reality Comedy Circus, and a "cheap art" show. And, yes, there will be bread--rye brad with garlic aioli, to be precise. Boston Center for the Arts Cyclorama, 539 Tremont St., South End. Runs through February 10. Movies The Coolidge Corner Theater is celebrating the......

--A man walking on a pond in Weymouth on Sunday fell in and was rescued before freezing to death. Neighbors heard his screams and called for help. The footage of the rescue was so dramatic that it's been making the rounds on CNN. [WCVB] --The Globe displays pictures of the region's worst storms, which carry the subliminal message "Quit yer bitching." [Boston Globe] --Is Will Ferrell's "Funny or Die" tour coming to Boston College......

Remember when two Boston College football players and a State Trooper got involved in a bar brawl that sent a software programmer to the hospital? According to Dave Wedge, a judge has thrown out felony assault charges against Trooper Joseph Boike, who also co-owns The Greatest Bar, where the fight took place in August. Boike was accused of using a bottle in the fight, but the judge didn't find evidence that Boike did that. However,......

--Only one woman at MIT this year was granted tenure. Uh, you've come a long way, baby? [Boston Globe] --In better news for gender equality, Massachusetts ranks fifth when it comes to the number of women in powerful state government positions. Women make up almost half of Governor Deval Patrick's leadership team. [Boston Herald] --Seven people were injured in a house fire in Brockton yesterday afternoon, including former Brockton city councilor George Papas. [The Enterprise]......

In October, Boston University threw down the gauntlet and declared plans to expand. Now, Boston College is one-upping BU with expansion plans of its own. BC's expansion plan rivals that of BU. BU said it would put in $1.8 billion, and BC has announced that it will spend $1.6 billion. The BC Heights reports that the money will go to construction and renovation, and 100 new faculty members will be hired. The rest will go......

Pollock Matters Through December 9 McMullen Museum of Art Boston College 140 Commonwealth, Devlin Hall 108, Chestnut Hill (T: Boston College. Directions by car.) Boston College is running an art exhibit addressing the relationship between painter Jackson Pollock and his friend Herbert Matter. The exhibit is national news because the paintings, which were discovered by Matter's son Alex, may or may not be original Pollocks. Numerous experts have evaluated these paintings to discover the truth,......

This is Massachusetts, right? But early this morning a 2.5 earthquake hit towns west of Boston, including Littleton and Ayer. Betsy Levinson at Wicked Local spoke with Littleton police dispatch Supervisor Tim Bemis, who described residents' response to the shaking: "It sounded like a plane crash on 495, or a truck had crashed into their home." WCVB reported that this is the second earthquake in the area this month and that a 1.8 quake affected......

Boston Latino International Film Festival Howard Thurman Center at Boston University 775 Commonwealth Ave October 19-21 Free! [ Schedule ] BLIFF may sound like bluff, but we're not bluffing when we say that the Boston Latino International Film Festival has some fine films (shorts, documentaries, full-length features, and more) coming up in this final weekend of the festival's 6th year running. Titles include Bragging Rights: Stickball Stories, Immigrant Reflections: Three Boston College Service Workers......

So Sheriff Beckett stared down the Cleveland gang last night. Once again, when the Red Sox needed Josh to be at his absolute best, he pretty much was. Sure, he gave up one more hit than he did in his Game One dazzler, but he only gave up one run - on a double play ball. Other than that, he struck out 11 Indians and gave 44,588 Clevelanders something to do with their towels beside......

Dan Savage Thursday, October 18, 8:00 pm The Heights Room, Boston College, Free More info. The ubiquitous sex columnist and friend of Colbert Dan Savage will offer advice at Boston College tomorrow. Lena Chen at Sex and the Ivy told us of the appearance and said she might be there herself. (Now that would be something if Chen and Savage were on a panel together!) Savage has popped up frequently in the Ist-a-Verse. Seattlest was......

Maybe someday, when all this is over, we'll sit down with (or maybe without) Terry Francona and we'll all have a good laugh out of all of this. Because when it became obvious that Curt Schilling didn't have it (and he was OK, but clearly didn't have his A game, or even the B+ game he's been getting by with), maybe a different manager would have gone to Jon Lester, or Julian Tavarez (whoops! he's......

--On Saturday, some alleged whack-job trying to get a piece of Star Simpson glory told an AirTran employee at Logan Airport, "I'm with al-Qaeda. I'm with them and I'm here to blow up things." Hardy har. Those words earned 27-year-old Ermiyas Asfaw, from DC, a one-way trip to jail. Attention, world: You may be able to do whatever you want in other cities, but Boston is sensitive. We may not agree with their hypersensitivity, but......

Not only is Harvard rich, but its students know a) how to use condoms and b) how to find the campus student health center. Last Friday, the Crimson shared the news that, according to a study by Trojan condoms, Harvard students were models of sexual health. Author Christian Flow captures the excitement with the headline "Trojan Surprise: Harvard Rises Up in Sex Survey." Then Flow writes that Harvard used to be "frustrated" since it wasn't......

Steve Almond's (Not that You Asked) will be sold in bookstores starting today. He will be reading at Brookline Booksmith on Thursday, September 13, at 7:00 pm. Almond spoke with Bostonist right after Karl Rove resigned, so we caught him when he really raging against The Man. He resigned from Boston College when BC invited Condoleezza Rice to speak at their commencement, so he didn't mince words when it came to Rove or any other......

Ladies and gentlemen, may we present to you this week's nominee for Douchebag on the Diamond: Daniel Cabrera. Cabrera, 26, is a Gemini who throws and bats righty. He enjoys roaming about Camden Yards and, oh wait, headhunting. Or so it seems, at least, considering the fact that he fired a shot at Dustin Pedroia's head on Friday night during a Red Sox-Orioles matchup down in Fenway South Camden. The fact that the Sox, who......

Given the sports-crime incidents of the week, here's Bostonist's answer to Matt Taibbi's Sports Blotter - the Flagrant Foul column! Part two will appear in a few hours. Jose Offerman isn't the only sports figure cruising his way toward Matt Taibbi's Sports Blotter. A former Boston College linebacker has his eye on that Blotter. A former Boston College linebacker didn't make the NFL cut when he went to the Washington Redskins training camp, so he......

-- A man was walking home on Normandy Street in Dorchester late Thursday morning when a young black male, one of a group of three, reportedly walked up to him and asked to see his iPod. When the victim declined the opportunity to show off his piece of gadgetry, one of the men drew a gun and placed it against the victim's temple and told another to take the iPod. They then walked away. Police......

Weren't we told that losing the Lottery wasn't a big deal? Since this was the most loaded draft in years, the story went, the Celtics would happily grab a good player with the #5 pick that would complement Paul Pierce and the burgeoning youth movement, and join in on the team that would compete soon and for years to come. Yeah; not so much. Like a rube on a carnival midway, Danny Ainge fell for......