MafiaMan

I've already told my broomball team (made up mainly of Gopher fans) that the first goal I score tonite, I'm going to run by our opponents' bench with my hand cupped over my ear. Maybe for the second goal I score, I'll do the fake moon. If I get the hat trick, I'm going to take my stick and spank the goalie while yelling "who's your daddy?". If it starts a fight or I get a midconduct penalty, I'll just tell the ref that I was being spontaneous and it was 'heat-of-the-moment.'

Or maybe that constant ringing is post-concussion syndrome leftover from your days in a certain fraternity house on campus?

DaveK, Having watched that game myself, I remember being in complete agreement with you the moment I saw it. You and I come from a different generation of sports fans, one where Kirk Gibson pumping his fist after hitting a home run off of Dennis Eckersley in the World Series or Magic Johnson hugging Kareem after winning the NBA title was a celebratory act. I think the biggest difference in sports between today and 20-30 years ago is that today, the athlete, not the team, is celebrated. I, like you, miss the days of Barry Sanders simply handing the ball to the official after scoring a touchdown, but, alas, those days are gone. One could argue that the Super Bowl Rams of a few years ago went to the extreme with celebrations, but going even further back, the 1980's also gave us "The Fun Bunch" of the Washington Redskins receivers and Billy "White Shoes" Johnson's ridiculous dancing celebrations, not to mention the stupid Ickey Shuffle. Given some of the foul-mouthed trash talk that goes on between players from the bench and fans, I don't think Randy's act was a big deal. Everyone knows the Packer fans' tradition of mooning the visiting team bus as it rolls away from Lambeau. At least he didn't pull a cell phone out of the padding and pretend to make a call...

If the idea is to get people on their feet, I'm not certain playing G'N'R a thousand times a night is the answer. Having been at the Xcel Energy Center this week for the Red Wings/Wild game, I can tell you that what gets some laughs and gets fans on their feet is playing some movie clips which encourage excitement. I know this has been discussed before at length, but I am not sure if this is happening at the Ralph or not. A couple of my favorites have been the scene from 'Braveheart' where William Wallace yells at his troops before they go into battle. Another good one is from 'Happy Gilmore," where Happy is set to tee off at his first major golf event and he turns to the crowd and says "cmon...how about a little noise?".

Why is it that whenever I read one of NorthDakotaHockey's posts, I feel like standing up in front of everyone in my office (picture Mike Eruzione make-believe scene in 'Miracle' after the Norway exhibition game) and yelling out "MY NAME IS MAFIAMAN...AND I PLAY FOR...THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH DAKOTA!"? Go Sioux!

Yea, I heard AZSIOUX really caused a ruckus during his city league hockey game the other night when he scored a goal, then pretended to moon the opposing goalie.

Is Phil Kessel going to play?

I apologize if some of us don't want to join the pity party that is "SIOUX LOSS HURTS"? Just because it didn't involve the Sioux directly doesn't mean it wasn't worthy of discussion.

So do I, hence my comment.

The comments over on Gopherpucklive regarding the Kessel "I can't hear you" incident are almost comical. One of my favorites is "we never boo our own when they return to their hometown." Surely, even the homer-est Gopher fan can't be that naive.

OK, Doc, I'll admit...watching the team skate into a circle and then all fall backwards (think 1980's Redskins "fun bunch") would make me laugh out loud. What would be even funnier is watching Kessel pull that same stunt in his first NHL game...and have somebody like Chelios promptly introduce him to the boards in his next shift.

First Danny Irmen's classless jersey pop and then Phil Kessel taking a victory lap around the Kohl Center on Saturday night. When did the Gopher hockey team become NBA-esque in their celebrations? With all due respect to Minnesota, it's time Lucia put the hammer down on these Terrell Owens-like prima-donna look-at-me-look-at-me-look-at-me incidents.

No Joe Senser's tonite?

Stop being a pre-madonna and just do it!

Wow! Given that nobody expected a back-to-back championship season last year, that's pretty big talk about them not even making the tournament. Denver is coming off a weekend sweep at Wisconsin. Never underestimate the heart of a champion.

I was wondering if you'd catch that little insert. I'm in the mood for a chuckle...PM me with your 'rebuttal.'

No problem, dagies.

Agree totally. All you can do is win games and let the rest of the chips fall where they may.

Actually, I only attended Saturday's game (insert "whew" expression here). Moving on...the focus is on the rest of the season. I'm convinced Wisconsin and Denver will be 1-2, so the question is "can the Sioux get to third place?". If Goldy gets swept this weekend and the Sioux sweep SCCC, things could get interesting.

If if's and but's were candy and nuts, there'd be plenty of treats for all the kids, right? Fabian's shorty was a spirit-lifter, but promptly giving up two goals was a sure-fire death knell. This has already been mentioned by several people, including me, but given the memory or the Bina incident, it's beyond comprehension as to why the Sioux lead the conference in the type of penalty Foyt received. There's no excuse, none.

Hmnnn...so the Sioux should have just cancelled the game Friday and taken the forfeit? Good thing the 1980 Olympic team didn't look at "odds" or "statistics" or else the greatest upset in sports history may have never happened. While UND was clearly being outplayed, the fact of the matter is they went from a two-goal deficit to a three-goal deficit while Foyt was in the box. Enough said.