YaneA

Illustrated with Will Ferrell as Sean Connery from Saturday Night Live "Jeopardy" Sketch: "Hole-y Goalies for $500, Alex" (works for Kangas & Stalock) Have we heard if Gophers decided to have more fun as blonds again this year? If so, "Does the Carpet Match the Drapes?" or "More Blond Jokes!"

F-ighting S-ioux N-etwork

For sheer poetry, it's hard to beat the "Crappie/Crappy" sign illustrated with pictures of fish/Gopher. Someone has promised to make a "I'm Too Hexy for My Shirt" sign. Could do "There Will Be Blood" "March Sadness" illustrated with Goldie crying a single perfect tear. I am making a "Beware the Eids of March" sign and a "H8 Go4s" sign in the form of an ND license plate.

As others have said, the '97 championship team came out of nowhere and surprised a lot of people. At the F4 in Milwaukee, we had the good fortune not to have to face the Michigan juggernaut in the title game because BU eliminated them. Accepting that year's Hobey, Brendan Morrison said, "sometimes the best team doesn't win." I always thought those were sour grapes. But maybe what he meant was that anything can happen in a one and done tournament, a stronger team can be knocked off by an underdog, superstars can stumble, puck luck can favor one team and frustrate another. In 1997, the Sioux were the last team standing and, in my opinion and Mr. Morrison notwithstanding, that fact alone qualified them as the "best" that season. On the other hand, from the beginning of the '99-'00 season, I knew, just KNEW that the team was going to claim its 7th title. I don't know how I came to be so certain but the certainty was definitely there all season long. After we shutout Maine in the semifinal, a friend and I ran into Maine's coach, the late Shawn Walsh, on the off day at the fanfest in Providence. Seeing us in our Sioux jerseys, he came up to us and said, "Your team is going to win." And he was right. We came from behind to beat BC and left flabbergasted the ESPN sportscasters who had intoned during the second period intermission that the Eagles were 20 minutes away from the championship. No Hail Mary that time for BC Superfan Doug Flutie! The '00 Sioux, it seemed, was a team of destiny. But, maybe our '09 team is something even better: a team of DETERMINATION. They've been brilliant, although not perfect, down the stretch, winning the MacNaughton Cup when, well into December, people were making book that they wouldn't even qualify for home ice. So, I'm hopeful, very hopeful, and I'm definitely pulling for this band of brothers to go all the way.

What's this business about "mood"? You owe me breakfast at Hogwarts!!

You forgot me!!

Offices also closed until 10 a.m., a fact I did not discover until after I awoke at 6! Boo! UND continuing to monitor situation and will make another announcement, if necessary, at 7 a.m.. Check webpage www.und.edu

I did NOT accompany you menfolk to the Platinum Fox. I was back in my hotel room, reading Gideon's Bible, when you guys crossed over into the twin cities of Sodom & Gomorrah, Ohio.

What?? This sounds like an outrageous lie!!

I will go along to the 3rd place game with you, if that's okay. Al said he's gotten us tickets only for Sioux games (lower bowl, he says) but I'm sure I can pick up a ticket from a despondent rodent fan somewhere in the Cities. On second thought, those tickets will probably be stacked alongside copies of City Pages under the "Free Take One" sign, wouldn't you think?

MM-- I am in if I can get a ride for me and your T.J. Oshie bobblehead. I'll be coming down on Al's fan bus and he said we'll be staying at the AmericInn. I think that's near you, isn't it?

Can someone verify game times so I can set VCR before leaving for Madison? Herald says 7:07 both nights; USCHO schedule page say 7:05 Friday, 8:05 Saturday. But then again, on UND's page in the USCHO website, it says Tom Buning is still AD.

No, they will be tended at home by friendly neighbors. As far as I know, they've never cornered a badger in the backyard but there have been some birds and rabbits that did not make it out alive. It's a wild kingdom out there, ruled by the law of the jungle.

I'm going to ask what is probably a dumb question. Unlike most of you posting in this thread, I can't do any parlor tricks like statistical analysis or stuff mathematical so here's my question: Isn't there any way to freeze the value of a win or the detriment from a loss in these formulas? I mean, if you beat a team when that team is riding high (think UND's sweep of the Gophers before their nosedive) shouldn't those wins be worth more "points" for lack of a better word than someone else beating that team when that team is in the dumper?

Yikes!! I hope not. I can't imagine what they could put in a hotel room that would make me want to pay that kind of price. I hope Al got some great group rate or that we're going to be at a Hilton lite--Garden Express or whatever they call it.

Yes, after the OT, they showed the tribute portion of "Brad Miller Time Episode #22" on the big screen. Seniors players skated back out onto the ice, applauding fans who returned the favor. Players skated a lap and saluted fans in every corner of the rink then the players themselves watched the rest of the tribute to great applause from those of us remaining. As usual, the student section stayed for it all. I got all misty-eyed myself. Sweet way to thank our Great 8 Senior Sioux. LaPoint also did one of the "Go Sioux" bumpers and the clip of him got thunderous applause. Let's go to Madison and get that C-U-P.

So sorry I wasn't there in the Farce's heyday. These reminiscences sound very much like what Hakstol may have meant when he said in today's game day article in the Herald that the team needs a real home ice advantage and crowd atmosphere to feed off in order to beat the stud-heavy Tigers.

The team is staying at the Hilton, I believe, same as passengers on Al's bus.

I'm going totally out of the box with this pick: Frattin (Eidsness)

Am I remembering this correctly> Bruess got NO PENALTY during the game for the hit that broke Pointer's leg. Instead, didn't one of our guys--Malone, maybe--go to the box for something? Because I remember thinking WTF? Our guy's on the ice incapacitated and one of his teammates is put in the penalty box.

I'm not giving DAZ a pass--I didn't see their broadcast but I did read the story online after getting a "breaking news" text and read it again in the morning paper. So, I was only commenting upon what I HAD read and not on what I HADN'T seen. That's the way an opinion should be formed, I think.

If you read Mike Jacobs' editorial justification for the handling of the story, which was in Sunday's paper, he cited first and foremost the outing of the story by WDAZ. Among his other proffered justifications was that the story unveiled the truism that even prominent oil-and-water unblended blended families are dysfunctional just like families of the non-prominent variety! That bit of "news" and insight ranks a distant third on a list of the newsiest headlines imaginable, far behind "Blind squirrel finds acorn" and "Sun shines on local dog's butt." The followup sidebar about Clifford's son Steve insisting on a separate memorial fund that uses his father's name only--not his step-mother's--which is linked above raises the question whether the Herald is going to print every snarky tit-for-tat, back-and-forth, he-said-she-said between the factions in the family. Having opened that door with the memorial fund story, the paper appears obligated to present the stepmother's reaction. Where will the paper draw the line and which faction will demand the last word?

I wish you a speedy recovery, Pointer. Heal fast. I look forward to seeing you back on the ice again soon.

I meant the story made me shake my head. I think it's sad that a great man's memory is now tainted with a storyline better meant for pulp fiction or soap opera than a period of mourning. Is that the Herald's fault? No. I think it's interesting that the Herald sat on the story until another outlet scooped it and then the paper ran the story with this sort of lurid detail. I don't think I'm a better person, let alone a better-informed person for having read the story. Is it news? Yes, but the tone seems likely to create in the public arena more heat than light.