MafiaMan

I ran some numbers on priceline and travelocity last night. Like I said, I was paying for my dad anyways, so we're talking about $400 for the bus, $400 for hotel room, meals for Wednesday-Sunday, etc...for a few hundred bucks more, it may very well be worth it. Hey, new odds! Saturday only: 40/60

I've lost sleep crunching the numbers in my head, but there's a possibility that if the Sioux win on Thursday, I may just break the bank and fly out of Minneapolis/St Paul with my boy on Saturday and return on Sunday. Considering I was going to pay for everything for my dad on the trip anyways, I'm guessing a five day venture by bus can't be much cheaper than a 24 hour stint by plane, can it? 5:95

I sent my dad one last e-mail asking if he was 100% certain he was willing to pass this trip up. 10:90

Good question. I'm even mulling over the thought of coming down there on Friday/Saturday should the Sioux win on Thursday. Crazy! 7:93

She'll have to divorce me first for him to have a shot at her. 5:95

It's lower bowl or bust for me. And I'm not talkin' the kind of 'bust' I saw at The Platinum Fox in 2005, either! 12:88

So you're straddlin' the company line that tickets won't be a problem? My last FF was in Columbus so don't know how to gauge Milwaukee or St Louis. 13:87

With Al's bus leaving at 7:00 am Wednesday morning, I'd have to leave Bloomington at about 3-4 am that same morning to meet the gang in Fargo (3 days). I PM'd Big a HG to check in on the Wednesday evening option (which would mean 2 days). It's not dead yet. Still a bit concerned that people seem to think there will be plenty of tickets available in Denver, yet they themselves have scrambled and overpaid for 300 level tickets before-hand. 15:85

I sent him a PM a bit ago. I was all set to board the Sioux bus but my dad's a bit skittish about leavin' the ranch for five days. I've also got my boy with me this weekend and he missed a week of school last month for my grandfather's funeral...be a bit tough to have him miss 3 more days of school this week. I'm bummed...but not sure what to do. 10:90

Due to some issues out of my control, my dad has backed out of going to Denver this weekend. I still want to go, but it's not in the cards in 2008. Current odds: 10:90

For several reasons, my dad has now opted to stay at home and not join the trip. Does anyone on Al's bus need a roommate for the weekend? New prognosis: 40:60

Here's a pic of Yttrium's vehicle making its way to Madison two weeks ago...he says it doesn't look very good, but it runs like a champ!

How many of you on the bus have your tickets in-hand? Seems like everyone who is telling me to "hop on the bus" without tickets and wasn't worried about seats themselves decided to get their 300 level tickets and not take the chance. I'm still 90/10. Dad is now on the fence due to weather change in SW ND and calving season. New prognosis: 70:30

hrkac would also like to point out that for every person you forward this message to, siouxsports.com will use their beta-tracking system to record how many people receive it and donate 5 cents per forward to this 8 year old's college scholarship fund. How cool is that? Seriously, though, great story, and another in a long list of reasons why I love the Sioux. Still 75:25

Fixed your post. 75:25

Fixed (see above). 84:16

Best cheer of the '97 Frozen Four by Sioux fans after defeating BU 6-4: BEST TEAM WON! BEST TEAM WON! BEST TEAM WON! 83:17

And when you play with better players, you become a better player. And when you become a better player, you become a better team. And when you're a better team, well, that's just better than not being a better team. 84:16

You beat me to the punch. Cue the Naked Gun skit...I've got a 50/50 chance...although there's only a 33% chance of that!

I've mulled that option already. Still mulling...a lot depends on what time we're back in Fargo Sunday night. I'm now going to post odds of me making the trip on each post I type. 12:01 pm Friday afternoon's odds: 75/25 for going.

I've been in touch with Al but might have a sticking point: It appears the return trip is NOT thru Deadwood, north to Belfield, and west to Fargo. My guess is the return buses will head east to Omaha and find I-29 and head north from there.

One of the great moments of NCAA hockey history was Justin's goal with less than 20 seconds left to win the NCAA title... 2:20 mark of this video... Sparty On!

So how do you clarify something when you're a voter by saying "yea, but MSU plays a trap-style defense so even though Miller faces over 1,000 shots, they weren't real quality shots?". Couldn't you also say that Tony Hrkac's offensive numbers were overly-inflated due to North Dakota's going-like-gangbusters-offense under Gino in the 1980's? I basically agreed with you on the fact that I think JPL was a far better choice than Jones. I'm not sure what the criteria is exactly but I'm guessing that the committee doesn't necessarily want winners from the same team two years in a row. Then again, Peter Sejna won it in 2003 and Marty Sertich won it in 2005, so honestly, I have no clue what the selection committee thinks.

I think had Panzer had 30 goal and 51 assists, his numbers would have been too much to ignore. You're right about Miller. Those 31 wins and that .950 save percentage are unbelievable.

I thought I had the wrong year but am at work and trying to compute other numbers as well on vacation and not thinking straight. I went ahead and fixed my original post to show the correct numbers, which obviously help Ryan out a little bit, although his 01-02 season was very good too. Thanks for pointing out my mistake. My biggest point is we can't argue that JPL deserves the Hobey and say that Ryan Miller didn't deserve his. Jeff Panzer should have won it in 2001 and if it were up to me, Ryan Jones would not be a finalist for the award this season and JPL would be. Just my two cents.