MafiaMan

With all due respect, sagard, I'll be wearing the biggest grin inside the Xcel Energy Center next Thursday night when Minnesota State and Wisconsin kick off the Final Five.

You're right. If UND makes the Frozen Four this season, anything less than a national championship should be reason enough to fire Dave Hakstol. In 42 years at Penn State, Joe Paterno has exactly two national titles. In 28 years at Duke, Coach K has exactly three national titles. In 24 years at Michigan, Red Berenson has exactly two national titles. In 36 years at Clarkson, Bowling Green, and Boston College, Jerry York has exactly two national titles. In 130 total years of coaching, these men have won a totel of 9 national championships. Clearly, they all need to be fired.

If Sioux fans had their way, Cardinal, Wooger would still be coaching your team! Woog's team were endlessly ripped by Gopher fans and the Twin Cities media for not winning the big one. I don't think Sioux fans had anything to do with it, although the Sioux winning a title in 1997 certainly helped bring about Doug's demise as head coach. By the way, I met Doug Woog two years ago at Joe Senser's in Bloomington and we had a nice chat about the Sioux/Gopher rivalry. I genuinely respect the guy.

I think the easiest way to handle this is to simply wait until next Wednesday or Thursday, then people can finalize their plans and post if they will be joining the crowd. I will get an estimate and give the Hoggsbreath a call Thursday night or Friday morning and let them know the number of people who will be there.

PG13 until RWtD gets a few beers in her. The R rating comes out pretty quickly after that!

During the daytime, it's fine. They have a nice menu of burgers and stuff and the breakfast can't be beat. At 10:30-11:00 am, you avoid the bar crowd and it's a decent place. By the sounds of it, some other teenagers will be there and I mentioned before, I have no problem having MafiaMan Jr. in there for a bite to eat...and he's 6.

Hmnnnnnn...this wasn't exactly what I had in mind when I read the thread title of "PLAYOFF FANTASY GAME." My bad.

Now that was so funny, I almost did this...

UMDDogz! I knew you were still alive!

You'll find Final Five tickets here for five bucks a pop after Minny is eliminated this weekend. I'd suggest you tell mom and dad to pony up for the plane fare and you'll cover the hockey tickets.

Sshhhhhhh! Don't go spreading the truth around GPL!

Actually, this clown supposedly works in marketing for the Phoenix Suns...

I wish. I have the co-rec state broomball tournament this weekend in Chaska so I'll have to resort to finding someone to text message me real-time scores. Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Anyone? Our first game? Friday night at 6:55 pm. Ugh...

I'll give Jeff some credit. Plenty of other players (on any team) would have bailed and left the team or been very vocal about being benched. To his credit, unless I just haven't been paying attention, he hasn't done either.

Actually, a friend of mine "in-the-know" just e-mailed me a picture. It's been a long, difficult season for our WCHA brethren from Minneapolis. Rather than a simple display of blonde hair to signify their emergence from the struggle of the regular season, the team opted for something a little more drastic this year. Anyways, I won't make you wait any further...here's a sneak peek at what fans in Mankato will see this weekend... The Gopher player picture below remains faceless in order to protect his identity. After all, he'll look exactly like 20 other doofuses on Friday night. No word on what Don Lucia will look like...

I honestly haven't paid much attention to the Gophers lately. In all seriousness, is he?

That just about made me laugh out loud. Goin' to Grand Forks this weekend, NDH? MafiaMan Jr had a couple of good scoring chances and an assist in the mites jamboree last weekend. I looked for Hakstol and Eades in the stands at BIG but they must have been busy Sunday morning.

I'm not sure I'd advertise 16 year old girls being there with posters like dagies on the board.

Not really. I wonder if Jeff even feels like he is part of the team these days.

As you can see from the map, it's also a very easy drive straight up Rice Street. Just lock your car doors at the intersection of Rice and University...it's a long stop light and you don't want to take any chances. Those North Dakota license plates make easy targets.

Kids are OK during the day. I had MafiaMan Jr in tow with me two years ago...he was four at the time. Mapquest directions from Xcel Energy Center to Hoggsbreath

It's a bar/restaurant that's more restaurant during the day. They have a big-screen TV with NCAA basketball on upstairs and plenty of pool tables and NDH's favorite, dart boards, downstairs. In the past, we've done this on Saturday morning because Friday of the Final Five has usually been St Patrick's Day. Getting anyplace downtown is a madhouse. Hoggsbreath is located about 5 minutes north and 2 minutes west of downtown off of Highway 36 in Little Canada. I know the owners very well and they'd be happy to set up an area for us. Last year wasn't busy at all when we came, but it's still helpful to give them a possible head-count so they can be prepared.

Touche!

To signify team unity, will Jeff Frazee be sporting one?

They can still drink starting at 10 am, can't they?