Positive Numbers: Gopher men's hockey (Last Week: -3). So the day of the game I was able to get a scalped ticket from the scalper I trust for $45, much less than the $70 I was quoted the day before. (I thought when you're scalping tickets it's dog-eat-dog, and you find the best ticket you can regardless of anything, but I've found that things are just a lot easier if you trust one guy, especially after he made me an offer and I said I'd look around first before coming back to him and taking up his previous offer and he actually gave me another ticket for five dollars less). I'm glad I waited and didn't panic.
I still have deep reservations over the North Dakota Fighting Sioux controversy, feelings only amplified when I saw so many ND fans coming to the Xcel Energy Center shouting "Go Sioux!" And it didn't help that so many of them were so obnoxious. But when you talk to a person from the other side, like I did when I got to my seat (which was deep in the middle of the visitors' section) and started to talk to the guy next to me, it gets a little harder to demonize the "enemy" even if the enemy holds the wrong view.
Anyway, the U. was able to overcome a sizable Fighting Sioux contingent and memories of their last meeting (where North Dakota spotted the U. a 3-0 lead and scored the final six goals of the game) to blitz the No-Names 5-2, take the West Region and advance to the Frozen Four for the first time in seven years. This is unlike the team that lost to Notre Dame around the New Year; they were flying on offense and tough to penetrate on defense. In short, they are an impressive team that looks like they're peaking at the right time.
But we will see if they can take on the overall #1 seed in the tournament, Boston College, in the semifinals Friday in that hotbed of hockey, Tampa. Win that and it should -- should -- be a cakewalk in the Frozen Four final the next day; the other semifinal pits schools that are not Division I in any other sport, Union and Ferris St. (although Union is a #1 seed). Can the Gophers return to the their spot as one of the powerhouse programs in men's hockey by winning this year's championship?
But I just cannot give this Positive Numbers and a pass through the WMNSS for the next year. First of all, this is the Women's Basketball Invitational, a tournament only three years old. They were playing the championship game at home -- like they did the previous three games of the tourney. Finally, the Goofs were playing Northern Iowa, which isn't a name program nor a team that is any good.
What we have here is a coach that's feeling the hot seat and bent over backward to rig the tournament in her favor. Apparently Pam Borton engineered this arrangement in order to get the most favorable game settings for her team as possible in order to save her ass. It shouldn't work; the new athletic director should realize that the program is still hitting rock bottom and remove Borton with someone else. A WBI trophy shouldn't mean anything.
#-1: Gopher baseball (Last Week: -5). Wouldn't you know it, the Gopher Nine have won their last six games! It's a 4-0 screening week after sweeping the Citadel Sunday, tripling South Dakota St. in a weekday one-off Wednesday 9-3, and taking the first two games of their conference-opening series against Michigan. Now, all these wins took place at the Metrodome, and their next two games (Sunday against the Wolverines and Tuesday against Augsburg) will finish their record-setting 27-homestand. We'll see how good this team is once they have to play on the road, which will begin on Friday, where they start a three-game series at Ohio St. But there's a good chance this club won't win this many games in a row again this year.
#-2: Wild (Last Week: -4). They should hold special commemorative events for the North Stars more often. The Mild played two games during this Minnesota North Stars Reunion Weekend and they won both (though neither game was in regulation). That makes up for losses before the wins at Washington and home to the Eastern Conference-leading New York Rangers.
The one difference between the victories and defeats, besides the North Stars (who, by the way, have an all-time record that really, really sucks: 758-970-334): Mikko Koivu. His speed, athleticism, vision and leadership was fully evident in the win over the Panthers. We probably would still miss the playoffs if he was 100% the whole season (one where I was surprised to learn, despite the four-month nosedive through the standings, stands at 33-35-10), but he might be better than the team's third and fourth lines put together.
Guess what; there's only one week left in the season! Woo-hoo, it can't come sooner. At Chicago and Nashville, then finally home to said Blackhawks and the soon-to-be-former-Bastard Winnipeg Jets.
#-3: Timberwolves (Last Week: -6). Split the four games they played this week. They're, like, 2 1/2 games behind in the race for a playoff spot. But the season is slowly starting to become a showcase for Kevin Love, who pulled down monster numbers in the wins vs. Denver and at Charlotte (a team the Woofie Dogs have had a lot of trouble beating). They may not make the playoffs now, but the future does look bright. I hope I don't get burned hoping the best out of them. This week: at Portland and Sacramento, one game at home to Golden State Wednesday, then a rare two days off before going down to New Orleans
#-4: Swarm (Re-Entry!). I did not realize that the Smarm played three games this week. I think that's unprecedented. Unfortunately, what is also unprecedented is the squad losing all three games, thus extending their losing streak to four games. Saturday's game at Edmonton has to be a killer because they lost it in overtime. Fortunately they still sit in third place in the Western Conference, 1 1/2 games clear of bottom-dweller Washington for a spot in the National League Lacrosse playoffs. They will try and get off the schneid when they finish the road portion of their schedule at Philadelphia Friday.
#-Infinity: Gopher men's basketball (Last Week: -2). Thursday's NIT final was one of those wah-wah-wahhhhhhhhhhhh moments: The Goofs looked mighty impressive ever since the tournament began and you began to think the team has finally gelled, which should bode well for the team actually making it to the realy tournament, the NCAAs, next year, especially if Trevor Mbakwe decides to stay another year.
But losing the championship game in Madison Sqaure Garden on ESPN2 to Stanford in blowout fashion was embarrassing. I mean, being in a consolation bracket is one thing; being the last loser of that consolation bracket is another.
The thing that put them on a surge through this point (and including a semifinal victory over Washington) was hot shooting. But like Kobe Bryant said about his shooting in a win over New Orleans where he hit the game-winning jumper but was held scoreless through the first three quarters of the game tonight, "I couldn't hit the ocean if I were on a boat." The Goofs shot terribly, and the Cardinal managed to assert themselves just after halftime on their way to a very easy victory.
So now what? If you're the new AD, are you heartened that Austin Hollins has come into his own, that Mbakwe decided he wanted to stay another year, that a large and solid nucleus can bring that chemistry again the following year? If I were the new guy I would try and "buy him out" and bring in someone different. I think we have seen the coaching and recruiting ceiling of Tubby Smith.
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