The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey

#-1: Gopher women's hockey (Last Week: -4). What has gotten into hockey at the U.? So far, both programs have suffered only one loss, and the women avenged that loss, to #1-ranked team in the country, Wisconsin, by defeating the Badgers, 3-2, Sunday afternoon. They then followed that up by beating the shit out of MSU-Mankato at Ridder this weekend by a combined score of 10-0.

I should pump my brakes here: I expect the Minnesota women's hockey team to win every game, let alone get out of the gate as fast as they have. That one loss to Wisconsin still bothers me, even though they came back to beat the Badgers in Madison. Sadly, my expectations are so high that they can only met at the end of the season -- if they raise the trophy in March.

One game this week: they visit Bemidji St. for a two-game series starting Friday.

#-2: Gopher men's hockey (Last Week: -1). What I see from these guys has been much more surprising, and much more pleasing, too. They finished a sweep at national champion Minnesota-Duluth with another 5-4 win, then blitzed Vermont (in their first-ever meeting together, which I raise my eyebrows at) 6-0 last night at Mariucci.

This team is now 5-0. When's the last time they did that? The youngsters, most notably Nick Bjugstad and Kyle Rau, have been tremendous so far, and Kent Patterson has made the most of what has turned out to be a pretty easy start to the season by making the net off-limits to teams that don't have Minnesota's talent. I just have to hold my breath over the next 12 months to see if and when these youngsters leave for the National Hockey League.

Because of the rout-to-be at The Bank today, the Gophers and Catamounts won't complete their series until tomorrow afternoon. They then start a two-game set at Alaska-Anchorage next Friday.

#-3: Gopher soccer (Last Week: -5). It's been a good week for the survey; this squad won this week in Northwestern and at Robbie to Indiana. Unfortunately, they're still below .500 overall for the season (7-8-2). They finish the regular season this week at home: Purdue tomorrow afternoon, Nebraska to finish off the season Friday. Since I didn't see the victory over the Hoosiers, I will be there to attend the game against the Cornhuskers.

#-4: Gopher volleyball (Last Week: -2). My reasoning to not go to last Saturday's Williams match against Nebraska turned out to be the right one, even moreso by the way the Goofs lost. They actually won the first two sets. They apparently blew their wad in doing so, because they basically got crushed the next two sets, 10 and 12, before falling in the final set, 15-11.

This team is 12-6. There have been a lot of changes surrounding the roster even though the roster remains intact from last year. There is a whale that has entered the conference; Nebraska went to 8-0 with that win over Minnesota. There's a new coach who will depart in two years for another one. And it's been a hell of a schedule the team has played. Is 12-6 overall and 5-4 in the Big Ten good enough? If not, do you excuse this team or do you think this portends a slide for the program? I'm concerned.

With all the hype surrounding the Dig Pink game, I forgot that the Goofs had another match last week; they went into Madison and beat the Badgers in five. Is Wisconsin that good? They are currently on a four-game road trip. They face Purdue tomorrow evening, then visit Northwestern Friday.

#-5: Vikings (Last Week: -3). As bad as the state of U. of M. athletics have been this past half-decade, one should note that all four active sports outrank the ViQueens.

Ugh, what an ugly goddamn loss that was to Chicago Sunday night. I thought the Bears would win, but those who thought the Vikes would register the upset pointed to things that just didn't happen. The Bears offensive line is a sieve! Minnesota had one sack and gave Jay Cutler plenty of time. If you're an OL that needs healing, play the Vikings! Mike Martz will make Cutler throw 60 yards every down! He ran a lot and threw to his tight ends at will. If you have an inconsistent offensive strategy, play the Vikings!

And now Cornerback Chris Cook has been arrested this morning for domestic assault!!! They already made the switch from Donovan McNabb to Christian Ponder, so they've already punted the season. But now they have to face the Packers without Cook? I heard on the radio someone saying Vegas should have an Over/Under bet on the total number of points Nebraska and Green Bay will score against our football teams this weekend. If it were 100.5, I'd take the Over.