Sunday, October 16, 2005

Sports Sports Sports

What a terrific sports weekend. The teams I love won. In football North Dakota beat Minnesota-Duluth to stay unbeaten, remain on top in the NCC, and hold onto their national #1 ranking. In hockey, the Sioux swept Northeastern at home.

But it's as much fun in sports to cheer against teams. And I am blessed in that department also. The Vikings lost a game on the road, to no one's surprise. Les Steckel, please report to Winter Park.

The Gopher football team choked away a game at home against Wisconsin ... oh no, they didn't get Paul Bunyan's Axe!! Good thing they got that Brown Jug! Maybe they can also get the Pig Trophy! They play for such cute nothings in the average football conference that is the Big Ten Little Eleven.

The Gopher hockey team gutted out a split on the road against a tough, tough nonconference opponent. Oh wait, they lost and tied at home againt Alaska-Fairbanks. (The total for the weekend was three points for Gopher freshmen, fourteen for Sioux freshmen.)

And Notre Dame lost at home to Southern Cal. This one might be the best, because Notre Dame has the hoariest cliches (outside of Little Eleven trophies) that you can imagine: wake up the echoes, ghosts present at the field, touchdown Jesus, etc. On Saturday, they broke out another hoary cliche and wore their green jerseys. Big deal! It takes a lot more than a different color scheme to beat the Trojans. My new hero Matt Leinart led a game-winning drive late in the fourth, including a perfect clutch pass on a fourth-and-nine. After the game, Leinart dared suggest that USC is truly the team with the supernatural on its side: "They were looking down from up above and we got in."