NCAA Men's Hockey Championship: The Frozen Four

After a week and-a-half off, the remaining contenders in the battle for college hockey's national-championship tournament will resume play this evening for a chance to advance to compete in the title game on Saturday. The action from the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, MN officially begins with the University of Notre Dame versus the University of Minnesota-Duluth today at 4 p.m. Central. Following that contest, the University of Michigan faces off against the University of North Dakota at 7:30. Both games will be televised on ESPN2.

As of March 28, USA Today and USA Hockey Magazine had the clubs ranked as follows:

4) Notre Dame, 25-13-5, up five spots from the previous week
3) Minnesota-Duluth, 24-10-6, up nine spots from the previous week
2) Michigan, 28-10-4, up four spots from the previous week
1) North Dakota, 32-8-3, unchanged

The four-seed Fighting Irish, coached by Jeff Jackson, needed overtime in the first round to knock off Merrimack College by a 4-3 margin. They then took a two-goal lead over the University of New Hampshire in the second round, and held on to win by one. They hold the unique position of being the only squad in the tournament to face consecutive home-field disadvantages; their win over UNH took place in Manchester, NH, while today's contest against UMD all but guarantees that the majority of fans in the Xcel Energy Center will be rooting for UMD.

Head Coach Scott Sandelin draws up the Xs and Os for the UMD Bulldogs, and he saw his student athletes blank Union College (2-0) in round one, and upset the then-number-one Yale University (5-3) in round two. Yesterday, Bulldog senior Mike Montgomery addressed the potential advantage.

"We're just really excited to be here and know we have a great following," Montgomery said. "We're anxious to go out there, and showcase the good players we have on our team. We just know we have great support throughout the state."

The Michigan Wolverines, led by Head Coach Red Berenson, have their work cut out for them in taking on the favored Fighting Sioux. Down early in a round-one tilt versus the University of Nebraska-Omaha, Berenson's squad overcame the defecit, courtesy of two extra periods, and prevailed 3-2. In round two, Michigan knocked off Colorado College, 2-1, and heading into this evening, the Wolverine bench boss is not shying away from the challenge.

"Stranger things have happened," Berenson said. "You need good goalkeeping, good penalty killing, good back checking, good play coming out of your zone and you need to be opportunistic. We know they are a better team, but we are going to come and play hard."

Then there are the Fighting Sioux. Head Coach Dave Hakstol has led North Dakota through a campaign for the ages. They embarrassed Rensselaer 6-0 in round one, and nearly defeated Denver (6-1) by the same margin in round two. The heavily favored Sioux look to add to their collection -- fifth Frozen Four trip in seven years -- of championship hardware, but are aware that their opponent has a loaded mantle as well. Their coach acknowledged that this year's Wolverine squad is not a team to take lightly.

"They're a complete hockey team in every sense of the word," Hakstol said, "and a complete hockey team that is playing very well."

Tonight's victors will meet Saturday at 6 p.m. Central for the championship. The Hobey Baker Memorial Award ceremony takes place tomorrow evening.

Frozen Four tweets of interest:

@USA Hockey: "#FrozenFour gets underway today w/ 80 of 104 players having developmental roots in the U.S."

@Michigan_Hockey: "Michigan hockey has big fan in Tigers' Brandon Inge.

@NCAA Ice Hockey : "(T)the three members of the 2010 US Men's Ice Hockey Olympic team that won Frozen Four titles: Orpik (BC), Stastny (Denver), Pavelski (Wisconsin), Drury (BU)."

Let's go, Irish!
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NCAA Men's Hockey Championship: Frozen Four Set, Schedule Should Shift

If you spent the weekend glued to channels of the tube broadcasting basketball games, I don’t blame you. It’s been a great tournament.

What else have been great have been the first two rounds of the NCAA men’s ice hockey tournament, which, like men’s hoops, determined Sunday who the four finalists would be.

But more on that in a minute.

There are a ton of issues going on in the sports world right now, and honestly, you can take your pick of interesting stories: Will Floyd Mayweather, Jr. ever fight Manny Pacquiao? Can the Barry Bonds trial end in anything but a disaster? For how many more years will the what-to-do-with-the-BCS discussion continue? Will there be professional football this season, and if so, will it start on time? Could the impending expirations of the current NBA, MLB collective-bargaining agreements mean that those two sports are right behind? Will Tiger Woods ever get his moxie back?

These questions, and many more are tumbling through the minds of American sports fans on a daily basis, but I am here to pose the question that nobody’s asking: Why, if the NCAA men’s basketball tournament is so perfectly scheduled, so popular, and so much – right now – in the self-determined need for expansion, can the same collegiate association not put their heads together and figure out a better spacing system for the men’s hockey tournament?

After the jump, we’ll take a brief look at a few theorems.

Alright, got your turkey melt and your frosty glass of milk? Here goes:

A) Nobody cares. I pondered the different options in terms of when to list this, the easiest answer of them all, and my thought was: Let’s just get it out of the way. Of course I don’t really mean nobody, but when you calculate the number of sports fans in the country, and the television ratings/attendance numbers associated with them, hockey doesn’t just take the back seat, it takes the way-back seat. The seat that’s not really even a seat. And that’s the pro level. Start talking semi-pro and college hockey, and the numbers plummet. For the purposes of this discussion, however, we must focus on both those that do pay attention, those that one day might. So, if the numbers don’t necessitate a conversation proposing change, then that conversation’s simply not going to happen.

B) Everything Frozen Four-related must coincide with the presentation of the Hobey Baker Award ceremony. Nonsense. Change the award ceremony to either after the conclusion of the conference tournaments, or after the conclusion of the championship game.

C) It’s important to get these student-athletes back to their respective campuses and in the classroom so that they may focus on academics. It’s possible, but if they’re going to miss class (which they really don’t; all regular-season, conference tournaments, as well as the championship are played at night on weekends, with the exception of the Frozen Four semi-finals, which falls on a Thursday.

D) It doesn’t matter because, hey – look at football. Some of those teams have to wait four, five, and six weeks for their bowl games to roll around. Naw. Comparing football and hockey is clearly a case of apples/oranges, since there are tons more football programs throughout the country, and millions more dollars associated with those games, universities, television contracts, etc.

E) The most likely scenario is: They’re waiting for college hoops to wrap up. I would poo-poo this notion for two reasons: 1) Nobody is going to miss the Frozen Four because they’re enveloped in March Madness, which leads me to 2) The Final Four will be played this weekend. You’ll have two games Saturday evening, the winners of which will advance to the championship game on Monday, April 4. The Frozen Four has always – as far as I can remember – had the Thursday/Sunday format for their tournament, so if you’re going to stick with that, then why not schedule it the week following the first/second rounds of the tournament, and you can stagger the games and days with the basketball schedule.

My guess is that it’s neither of the above, and that it has to do with what will draw the best television ratings, but that’s also silly because I can’t imagine that ESPNU’s schedule is so packed that they can’t fit in the college hockey games in the same weekend that the Final Four is happening. I mean, this is the first year I can remember in a long time where an absolute ton of the March Madness contests are being broadcast, and the networks don’t have to jump back and forth in the middle of games to cover the one that’s the best matchup of the moment.

The NCAA men’s hockey tournament is one-fourth the size of its basketball counterpart, and exactly zero of the opening games were broadcast on a basic-cable channel. You could catch some on ESPNU, or online via ESPN3.com, assuming your Internet provider supported. The point being that the hockey tournament did not interfere with televised hoops whatsoever. College basketball fans got to watch any and all games desired, and college hockey fans did the same, assuming they had the appropriate cable package or Internet provider, or were in a market that carried the coverage locally.

The point is this: For much of the college-basketball tournament, coaches, players, etc. are dealing with a schedule that closely resembles their regular season. They play one or two games a week, with just a few days off in between. The only difference is when this bracket goes from Elite Eight to Final Four; the four remaining programs suddenly have six days off. But six days off is, in my mind, a world of difference than 11 or 12. The men’s hockey tournament kicks off on a Friday. Half the teams play, the other half play on Saturday. The teams that play Friday and advance play again on Saturday. Conversely, if your first game isn’t until Saturday, and you win, you play again Sunday. Logic would suggest, then, that the two Frozen Four matchups happen four days later, on the subsequent Thursday, and the two winners play for all the marbles on Sunday.

Four days seems like plenty of time to get back to school, go to class, practice/prepare for your next opponent, and hit the road again. Okay, plenty might be stretching it, but I would be largely in favor of putting a condensed schedule together, and at least having the punch of your most-recent victory still a little fresh in your head. If you go the route they currently do, there’s zero chance of momentum carrying over, and you’ve got all of this time laying around to perhaps over-practice, and prepare in excess. It’s like the NFL format where the top-two seeds in each conference get a bye.

I’m not saying there’s a problem with the way the NFL goes about scheduling its post-season. It seems to work fine, and with professional football, you can probably benefit from the extra recovery time. But every year, inevitably, the discussion comes up with all four teams that got a bye: Will the week off hurt them? Will they be rusty? Are their opponents better off because they played last week, have emotional highs and momentum pulsing through their veins and locker rooms?

I’ve not looked at statistics for NFL clubs coming off that post-season bye, but I’m certain someone has, that it’s the right word combination of a Google search away. Consider that your homework. Dig up the win-loss record for NFL playoff teams after a first-round bye. My guess is that it’s probably going to be in the neighborhood of a 60/40 split in favor of teams that played in a Wildcard game. (Update: Don’t actually do that because it’s counter-productive to my point: In the last 10 NFL post-seasons, the team coming off of a first-round bye won 25 of the 40 Divisional-round games played, which is nearly 63 percent.)

Bad example, but I’m not straying from my thesis. I could argue that that’s professional, this is college. That that’s football, this is hockey. That the NFL, while doing a great job attempting to achieve league-wide parity, is about drafting, free-agent signing, and salary caps, while the NCAA can only offer scholarships, and only at the universities lucky enough to have a sanctioned program. And regardless, in this scenario, nobody’s getting a bye. Everybody in this tournament has exactly the same amount of post-season games, nearly the exact same amount of rest. So, the question remains: If teams work all year to have a successful regular season, compete and win some conference-tournament games, hope for a tournament berth, and fight for the requisite two wins to get to the Frozen Four, why are you making them wait a week and-a-half for a chance to play for it all?

Christmas being the only exception, these guys play 20 consecutive weeks of a regular season, go straight into a two-weekend conference tournament, straight into regionals, and then have to take a week off before the championship semi-finals? It doesn’t make any sense.

The way it should look, then, is that the semis should be happening this Thursday, the Hobey Baker ceremony on Friday. Saturday, then can be used for a light skate, and some rest, and your championship game on Sunday. Then you get the heck outta Dodge, get the kids back to school, and they can clamp down for papers, projects, finals, etc.

That’s how I’d do it, anyway. Allow the kids to keep their engines burning; instead of providing them with an opportunity to let some of the season’s steam dissipate, potentially resulting in a flat Frozen Four performance.

Anyway, Sunday’s two contests were hard-fought. Well, one of them was. The Denver Pioneers got trailblazed in their match against the two-seed Fighting Sioux of North Dakota. In the 6-1 route, they never even appeared partially in the game, but that’s more of a reflection of UND’s power than it is DU’s shortcomings. The final match of the weekend involved a more-defensive battle between the University of New Hampshire Wildcats and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Notre Dame took a one-goal lead early, and barely looked back. Up two headed into the third, they clamped down, and didn’t allow the lone UNH tally to find the back of the net until there were three minutes and change left in the contest. As the players began their on-ice celebration, television cameras panned to head coach Jeff Jackson on the bench, and if you’re able to read lips, you could see him say to the second assistant he hugged, “We’re going to the Frozen Four.”

And indeed they are. The matchups are set: The Irish square off against the University of Minnesota-Duluth at 4 pm Central, Thursday, April 7.

Three and-a-half hours later, it’ll be the Michigan Wolverines challenging the Fighting Sioux. Both games will be played in the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, MN. Both will be televised on ESPN@ HD, ESPN3.com. The two victors will go toe-to-toe Sunday the ninth at 6 pm, the NCAA hockey championship at stake.

Personally, I’m thrilled as can be that the Irish have advanced this far. I’m tempted to say that UMD will knock off the Irish, only to fall to North Dakota, but the homer in me says Notre Dame advances, only to become runner-up for the second time in three years. Either way, those games should be being played on the March 31, April 3, not the following weekend.




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NCAA Men's Hockey Championship: Sunday's Second-Round Games

Okay, so titling these games first and second rounds is a little tricky because the rounds have actually been split between days this weekend, but after today, it will be crystal clear, because we'll be able to officially call the next round the semi-finals, and, well, there'll only be four schools left. But that's what I've been doing, so, courses, mid-stream, etc. This tournament has been exciting to follow, even though my poor man's basic-cable package, and my non-supportive Internet provider have afforded me the opportunity to watch precisely zero games, and to listen to just as many. Being a hockey fan, I'm used to being in the red-headed stepchild sports class, but I've realized now that following college hockey is probably akin to being a double minority.

But that's cool. I've enjoyed it, and maybe next year, Daddy will've gotten a raise that affords him a broader cable package that includes ESPNU. Maybe.

Before we talk about today's matchups, it should be noted that, so far, this tournament has not been devoid of upsets. On Friday, defending champion Boston College got embarrassed by Colorado College, but on Saturday, it was the Tigers who tasted defeat, as they fell 2-1 to the Michigan Wolverines.

The big upset of the day, however, was number-one seed Yale getting downed by Minnesota-Duluth, courtesy of a 5-3 margin. So, as games get underway today, three of the top four seeds have been sent packing; only number-two North Dakota remains. The temptation -- not at all based just on seed -- is to say that the Fighting Sioux is the favorite to take home the hardware. I mean, they appear to be the most dominant club.

In a stalwart effort to defend their title, Boston College went 30-7-1 on the season, but they also went somewhere else yesterday: home. North Dakota's 31-8-3 record is, for my money, the most impressive record of the 16 berths, even though they lost one more, tied two more than B.C. But they also handled their assignment Saturday, even if it was Rensselaer.

Speaking of the Fighting Sioux, though, their game is the first on the Sunday slate, a 4:30 pm Central start against the Denver University Pioneers. Now Denver fended off Western Michigan yesterday, but they were down two goals early, and needed two overtime periods to get the win against a team over whom they were favored. At least I think they were. Nevertheless, it's Denver/North Dakota up in Green Bay, WI. Peep it on ESPNU HD or have yourself a listen on ESPN3.com.

For my money, however, the game of the weekend is our second dose of home-field advantage, and that would be the 7 pm start up in Manchester, NH between the University of New Hampshire Wildcats and the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame.

Yes, that's right, the Irish held off Merrimack, but in fashion similar to Denver's victory. They fell behind 2-1 early on, and then were down 3-2 in the third, managed an equalizing tally late in the game, then helped themselves to a game-winning goal in overtime. This, of course, ruled. So, the Wildcats and the Irish will get after it to close out the weekend of college hockey.

Action will resume Thursday in St. Paul, MN. It'll be the winner of Notre Dame/New Hampshire taking on Minnesota-Duluth, and the other contest will pit the winner of Denver/North Dakota against those bastard Wolverines from Michigan.

Let's go Irish!
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NCAA Men's Hockey Championship: Saturday's First-Round Games

The second half of the NCAA men’s ice hockey regionals get underway Saturday in both Manchester, NH, and Green Bay, WI, but before we get to the contests, note that, in yesterday’s games, Yale knocked off Air Force 2-1 in overtime; Minnesota-Duluth blanked Union 2-0; Colorado College crushed Boston College 8-4; and despite taking an early 2-0 lead, Nebraska-Omaha lost to Michigan by one goal.

Today’s first tilt features Rensselaer and the number-two seed North Dakota, which is slated to get underway at 12:30 Central in Green Bay’s Resch Center.

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is an educational institution in Troy, NY that focuses, among others, on architecture, business, engineering, and information technology. And they have a hockey program. Guess anything’s possible in New York. They managed a 20-12-5 regular season, and although they were knocked out in the ECAC preliminaries by Colgate, the Engineers still managed to get their tournament number called, perhaps largely thanks to the play of two-time All-ECAC senior center Chase Polacek, who led the conference in points, tallying 21 goals, 28 assists.

This won’t be the first time the clubs have met: In 1985 -- one season removed from RPI’s second (the first came in 1954) national title -- the eighth-seed Fighting Sioux and the top-seed Engineers squared off in the opening round, which resulted in a North Dakota win. Although the Engineers haven’t made the tournament since 10 years after that match with the Fighting Sioux, they do have eight tournament appearances under their belt, along with five Frozen Fours.

In addition to Hobey Baker Memorial Award finalist Polacek (Edina, MN), the Engineers have been led by junior netminder Allen York (Wetaskiwin, Alberta), who has compiled a .927 save percentage, and 2.05 goals-against average.

On the North Dakota end of things, there’s a touch more history. A touch coming in the form of: fifteen Western College Hockey Association titles and seven national championships. As if that’s not significant adversity for RPI, already, then this is: a 30-8-3 season for the Fighting Sioux, an unbeaten streak that goes back three months, all culminating in the WHCA title, earned last week in St. Paul via decisive wins over Michigan Tech, and narrower-margin wins over both Colorado College and Denver.

Like RPI has in Polacek, North Dakota has their own Hobey Baker finalist in Matt Frattin, senior forward out of Edmonton, Alberta, who tallied an amazing 35 goals and 22 assists. The Fighting Sioux have also witnessed some lights-out goaltending from sophomore Aaron Dell (Airdrie, Alberta) who delivered a solid season: 1.89 GAA/.921 save percentage.

Saturday’s second game pits the 21-10-6 New Hampshire Wildcats against the four-seed Miami (OH) RedHawks, 23-9-6. That action will get underway at 3 pm Central, and, for now, can be called the only true home-ice advantage in the tournament, even though New Hampshire is listed as the visiting team. This tilt will also feature to Hobey Baker finalists. They include: New Hampshire’s Paul Thompson (senior; Derry, NH (Editor’s Note: You better believe he’ll be the weekend fan favorite of all four venues.) 28 goals, 24 assists), and Miami’s Andy Miele (senior; Grosse Pointe Woods, MI; 21 goals, 44 assists).

New Hampshire looks to make the most of the energy that will be created from playing at the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, and especially with NH native Thompson on the ice, especially considering their disappointing semi-final exit -- a 4-1 loss to Merrimack College -- from the Hockey East conference tournament one week ago. Miami, on the other hand, may already have momentum in their favor, having recently disposed of Michigan for the Central College Hockey Association championship in Detroit last week. In addition to the two Hobey Baker finalists that will square off on the offensive side of the puck, New Hampshire has enjoyed fine netminding from junior Matt Digirolamo (Amber, PA), who started all 37 contests for the Wildcats, totaling a 2.49 GAA, and a .921 save percentage, while the RedHawks have appreciated the goaltending of both Connor Knapp (junior; York, NY) and Cody Reichard (junior; Celina, OH).

Game three of the afternoon will take us back to Green Bay, and will feature Denver and Western Michigan. As mentioned, Denver lost to North Dakota last weekend in the WCHA championship, but don’t let that fool you; their 24-11-5 record still impresses, as they faced stellar team after stellar team all season, and managed to string together and eight-game win streak that stretched from mid-December through most of January.

Offensively for the Pioneers, Denver native, sophomore Drew Shore led the way with 23 goals, 22 assists, and freshman Sam Brittain (Calgary, Alberta) manned the pipes for most games, generating a .923 save percentage to go along with his 2.24 GAA. In fitting fashion, DU is tied with North Dakota in total national championships (seven) in program history, most recently netting back-to-back trophies in the 2004, 2005 campaigns. They also boast 15 WCHA tournament championships, 2008 being the last one they won.

Western Michigan hockey embodies an animal not at all unfamiliar to Denver; they’re the Broncos. WMU’s most recent action came courtesy of a loss in the CCHA championship at the hands of Miami (OH), but they knocked off in-state rival Michigan to get there one game prior. Patrolling the crease this season for the Broncos has been the tandem of Jerry Kuhn (senior; Southgate, MI) and Nick Pisellini (Itasca, Ill). On the offensive front, Max Campbell (senior; Strathroy, Ontario) and Chase Balisy (freshman; Rancho Santa Marga, CA) led the charge with 29 points apiece. The Broncos bring a 19-12-10 record to the fold, their fifth meeting in club history against Denver, but the first time the schools will meet in the tournament, and the first time they have played one another since 1983. Additionally, this is WMU’s fifth tournament (0-4) appearance, their first since 1996. The puck drops at 4 pm Central.

Our fourth and final contest of the first round finds the Merrimack College Warriors squaring off against the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame in a 6:30 start back up yonder in Manchester. Merrimack brings to the ice a 25-9-4 record, and look to rebound after a disappointing 5-3 loss to Boston College in last weekend’s Hockey East conference championship. They bring significant offensive firepower with six players totaling 30 or more points on the season, led by Stephane De Costa (sophomore; Paris, France), who lit the lamp 14 times and added 30 helpers to his point total. Their main man with all the heavy gear has been junior Joe Cannata (Wakefield, MA), who posted a 2.44 GAA, and a .921 save percentage.

On the Fighting Irish end, Notre Dame comes in with a 23-12-5 record, which was an impressive campaign, considering the tough schedule they faced throughout the year. In the CCHA playoffs, the South Bend ice squad took two of three from Lake Superior State, but had a disappointing championship round, losing to both Miami (OH), and Michigan, in somewhat-decisive fashion. The Irish have been led by T.J. Tynan, who put together a massive season, generating 52 points (22 goals, 30 assists), and Mike Johnson in net (2.62 GAA, .903 save percentage).

Historically speaking, Merrimack is making their second (2-2) tournament appearance, and has gone as far as the quarterfinals (where they lost to Lake Superior State in 1988). Notre Dame is making their fifth (4-4) tournament appearance, and has gone to the finals once (a 4-1 loss to Boston College in 2008).

The winners of today’s games square off tomorrow afternoon – DU/WMU winner vs. NDU/Rensselaer winner at 4:30 pm Central; Miami/NH winner vs. ND/Merrimack winner at 7 pm -- to determine who moves on to the semifinal on April 7. The championship will be played on Saturday, April 9.
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NCAA Men's Hockey Championship: Friday's First-Round Games

We’re three weeks into March, and that means a number of things, most notably that everywhere you look, folks are talking brackets. There’s the revamped tournament of Phish songs, Playboy usually does a thing, and of course there’s the college basketball tournament. The one I’d like to focus on, however, is NCAA men’s hockey, the 16-game tournament that leads to the Frozen Four.

It all gets underway tomorrow with four (two in Bridgeport, CT; two in St. Louis, MO) contests, and the second half on Saturday (two in Manchester, NH; two in Green Bay, WI). The two days comprise the first round, and the winners of each contest will play the second round the following day in the same venue in which they logged a round-one victory. The two semi-final tilts will take place in St. Paul, MN on Thursday, April 7, as will the championship, slated for Sunday the 9th. Let’s have a look at this year’s clubs.

The first Friday game gets underway at 2 pm Central at the Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, and features Union College out of Schenectady, NY and the University of Minnesota-Duluth.

The Union Dutchmen have a mixed plate of sorts on their hands, as this is their first tournament appearance since moving up to Division I hockey some 20 years ago. They posted a 26-9-4 regular-season record, and claimed their first Eastern College Athletic Association championship. While those stats might make up the meat and potatoes of their entrée, the seldom-favored vegetable portion, if you will, comes in the form of their winless seven-game history against the UMD Bulldogs, who went 22-10-6 in the regular season, and fell to Bemidji State in the quarterfinal round of the Western College Hockey Association tournament.

Union was led in scoring by junior forward Kelly Zajac (Winnipeg, Manitoba) ,who tallied 13 goals and 29 assists on the season. Dutchmen sophomore netminder Keith Kinkaid (Farmingville, NY) compiled a 1.98 goals-against average, a .920 save percentage through 37 games.

This is UMD’s second tournament berth in three years, their seventh in program history. On three of those seven appearances, they made the Frozen Four.

This year the Bulldogs were led by Duluth-native junior center Jack Connolly (Duluth, MN), who lit the lamp 16 times, and dished out 39 helpers en route to being named a Hobey Baker Memorial Award top 10 finalist. Between the pipes for UMD is junior Kenny Reiter (Pittsburgh, PA), whose season included a 2.36 GAA, a 9.11 save percentage.

Friday’s second puck drop (Scottrade Center, St. Louis) will occur at 4:30, and pits the University of Michigan against the University of Nebraska-Omaha.

The Michigan Wolverines make their 21st consecutive tournament appearance and boast a record 34 total berths. Additionally, they hold the record for Frozen Four (23) appearances, as well as national titles (nine). Michigan went 26-18-1 in the 2010-11 campaign, and placed third in the Central College Hockey Association tournament.

The Wolverines are led by senior forward Carl Hagelin (Sodertalje, Sweden), who scored 18 goals, 30 assists on the season, and goalie Shawn Hunwick (Sterling Heights, MI), whose numbers included a 2.31 GAA, and a .921 save percentage.

The UNO Mavericks put together a 21-15-2 regular season, and were eliminated from the Western College Hockey Association tournament courtesy of a loss to Bemidji State.

This is UNO’s second appearance in the tournament, and will be their third contest against Michigan (a 10/22 4-2 win, and a 10/23 6-1 loss) this season. Senior forwards Matt Ambroz (New Prague, MN) and Joey Martin (Thorold, Ontario) led the Mavericks this year with 34 points a piece, while goaltender John Faulkner (posted a 2.55 GAA, saved .967 percent of shots faced.

At 5:30 tomorrow evening, once the Union/UMD ice dust has settled, college hockey fans can see the number-one seed Yale University take on Air Force.

The YU Bulldogs come into Bridgeport with a head of steam having won 27 contests while only dropping six on the season. The final four of those wins came consecutively, culminating in an ECAC championship victory. This will be Yale’s third straight tournament appearance, although, in their previous meeting with the Falcons, the Bulldogs coughed up a three-goal lead and fell 4-3. Yale does, however, own the serious lead over Air Force, nine games to four.

Junior forward Brian O’Neill (Yardley, PA) and sophomore forward Andrew Miller (Bloomfield Hills, MI) led the offensive charges for Yale this season, compiling combined totals of 29 goals and 57 assists. The Bulldog defense was shored by senior goaltender Ryan Rondeau (Carvel, Alberta), who finished the season with an impressive 1.79 GAA, a .933 save percentage.

Air Force finds themselves in the tourney for the fourth time in program history, their berth coming on the heels of a 20-11-6 regular season, which wrapped up last weekend via a 1-0 win over Rochester Institute of Technology (Editor's Note: How a school of technology not only has an athletic program, but one with a hockey team good enough to reach its conference championship game is beyond me.) to give the Falcons their fourth Atlantic Hockey Association championship in five years.

Senior forward Jacques Lamoureux (Grand Forks, ND) led Air Force with 20 goals, 24 assists on the season, while freshman goalie Jason Torf (Hermosa Beach, CA) manned the pipes, posting a 2.90 GAA, a .908 save percentage.

Friday’s final game, the second of the day in St. Louis, will feature the number-three seed Boston College Eagles and the Colorado College Tigers.

Colorado College earned its 20th berth to the tournament by posting a 22-18-3 regular season record, but falling short in the WCHA tournament when they were downed by the University of North Dakota. This is their first tournament bid in three years, and four wins would get them their third national title, their first two coming in 1950 and 1957.

Leading the Tigers this season are senior winger Stephen Schultz (Westbury, NY), who scored 16 times and added 27 assists to his point total, and sophomore goaltender Joe Howe (Plymouth, MN) saved .901 percent of shots faced while compiling a 2.94 GAA.

Defending-champion Boston College enters the tournament as a three seed, recent winners of their second straight (10th overall) Hockey East title.

Junior forward Cam Atkinson (Greenwich, CT) and senior forward Brian Gibbons (Braintree, MA) provided the Eagles with a ton of offense in the regular season, combining for 48 goals and 53 assists. Senior netminder John Muse (East Falmouth, MA) manned the crease for BC, posting a 2.13 GAA, and a .926 save percentage.

The two winners of Friday’s games will meet Saturday at 5:30 in Bridgeport, 8:00 in St. Louis. Victors of games slated for Saturday (Note: Check back tomorrow!) meet on Sunday. Three of tomorrow’s contests will air on ESPNU HD, and on ESPN3.com, save the Michigan/UNO match, which will air in the Omaha market on Cox Communications.
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Historically Speaking: 8-19-09

It might look like we've been lounging, but behind the scenes, we're working pretty hard. At being lazy. Anyway, study some stuff, post-jump.

* It was today in 1962 when Homero Blancas, Jr. shot an all-time low score in the game of golf, a 55. His college game that day in Longview, Texas consisted of 13 birdies and an eagle. Blancas tallied 18 holes-in-one in his career.

* On this date in 1988, the New York Rangers signed Guy (pronounced Ghee) Lafleur to a contract with some letters and numbers typed on it. The former Montreal right-winger flanked his lone year in New York with 14 consecutive in the 'Treal, and back-to-back seasons as a Nordique du Quebec before hanging up the skates. All said, Lafleur lit the lamp 560 times, dished scoring passes off on nearly 800 occasions, won five Stanley Cups, played in six All-Star games, led the league in assists in 1976-77, then goals the following season, a campaign in which he also led the league in game-winning tallies and plus-minus ratio. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1988.

* The year was 1992 when the Boone family made Major League Baseball history by becoming the first three-generation family to log time in the Bigs: Ray Boone from 1948-60; son Bob, 1972-90, and on this day 17 years ago, Bob's son Bret. Each generation representative would log at least 13 seasons in the Majors.

* In 1995, Bruce Seldon and Joe Hipp stepped into the squared circle for a World Boxing Association title bout in Las Vegas. Seldon, by way of technical knockout, emerged victorious after 10 rounds. Seldon had acquired the belt four months earlier when he and Tony Tucker fought for the title vacated by George Foreman, when Foreman refused to fight Tucker in '94. Seldon hung onto the WBA belt for a couple of months, got knocked the fuggout (in a non-title fight) in the first round against Mike Tyson in September 1996, and eventually surrendered the title to one Evander Holyfield, who had it awarded to him in June of '97 when Tyson, uh, bit both of Holyfield's ears.

* The following year, a guy by the name of Paul Molitor, suited up as a Minnesota Twin, hit his 534th career double, which tied Lou Gehrig's record, which is awesome, but noteworthy in that this might be the first and the last time in HoGstory in which we reference Paul Molitor on consecutive days.

And since we mentioned holes in one earlier, your Sports Illustrated quote of the day came from the mouth of...



...PGA Senior golfer Bob Brue, who, circa 1991, said, "I used to play golf with a guy who cheated so badly that he once had a hole in one and wrote down zero on the scorecard."
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Tradition Tuesday: Why I Hate the Homer Pick, Version Denver

The rough focus of this blog is the rivalry between the Denver Broncos and the Kansas City Chiefs, but you hopefully already knew that. Tradition Tuesday is our weekly state-of-the-rivalry address, and you might've already known that, too, but since we overlooked the feature last week, I thought I'd throw out a friendly reminder.

With the draft a few weeks behind us, it occurred to me that we might have a look at the local drafting tendencies of our two clubs over the years, and after the jump, we'll look at Denver's.

What follow is a list of players that have been on the Denver roster that attended a Colorado college. The list does not imply that the Broncos drafted these guys, but in some cases, it might. Those italicized appear so because they logged at least three seasons in a Denver uniform, somehow deeming their contribution(s) to the franchise meaningful. I've stated my opinion on drafting locally in the past, so we'll open up the comments to our large audiences. But just this once.

Anderson, Robert, Colorado University: played for Denver from 1970-73, wore #11, HB

Bernardi, Frank, CU: played for Denver in 1960, wore #63, DB

Bradford, Ronnie, CU: played for Denver from 1993-95, wore #23, DB

Brunelli, Sam, Colorado State University: played for Denver from 1966-71, wore #s 64,68, 72, G

Brunson, Larry, CU: played for Denver in 1980, wore # 82, WR

Campbell, Jeff, CU: played for Denver in 1994, wore #86, WR

Dennison, Rick, CSU: played for Denver from 1982-90, wore #55, LB

Denvir, John, CU: played for Denver in 1962, wore #65, G

Elfrid, Jim, CSU: played for Denver in 1961, wore #62, LB

Goodman, Harvey, CU: played for Denver in 1976, wore #64, G

Haggerty, Steve, CU: played for Denver in 1975, wore #22, DB

Haynes, Mark, CU: played for Denver from 1986-89, wore #36, CB

Henson, Gary, CU: played for Denver in 1964, wore #89, TE

Holland, Darius, CU: played for Denver in 2003, wore #90, DT

Keyworth, Jon, CU: played for Denver from 1974-80, wore #32, RB

Knapple, Jeff, University of Northern Colorado: played for Denver in 1980, wore #16, QB

Larson, Bill, CSU: played for Denver in 1980, wore #87, TE

Lepsis, Matt, CU, played for Denver from 1997-2007, wore #78, T

Logan, Dave, CU: played for Denver in 1984, wore #89, WR

McCullough, Robert V., CU: played for Denver from 1962-65, wore #67, G

McCutcheon, Lawrence, CSU: played for Denver in 1980, wore #33, RB

McGreger, Keli, CSU: played for Denver in 1985, wore #89, TE

McMillin, James R., CSU: played for Denver from 1960-62, '64-65, wore #45, DB

Montler, Mike, CU: played for Denver in 1977, wore #52, C

Moorehead, Emery, CU: played for Denver in 1980, wore #86, WR/RB

Norman, Ben, CSU: played for Denver in 1980, wore #38, RB

Perkins, James W., CU: played for Denver from 1962-64, wore #71, T

Pickens, Lyle, CU: played for Denver in 1987, wore #26, DB

Pritchard, Mike, CU: played for Denver from 1994-95, wore #81, WR

Reed, Leo T., CSU: played for Denver in 1961, apparently didn't have a #, T

Reed, Tony, CU: played for Denver in 1981, wore #32, RB

Rouen, Tom, CU: played for Denver from 1993-2001, wore #16, P

Sapp, Cecil, CSU: played for Denver from 2003-07, wore #37, RB

Schnitker, Mike, CU: played for Denver from 1969-74, wore #64, G

Short, Laval, CU: played for Denver in 1980, wore #63, DT

Smith, Ed, Colorado College: played for Denver from 1973-75, wore #75, DE

Smith, Perry, CSU: played for Denver from 1980-81, wore #45, DDB

Stransky, Robert J., CU: played for Denver in 1960, wore #22, HB

Stuber, Tim, CSU: played (?) for Denver in 2004, wore #63, G

Sykes, Jashon, CU: played for Denver from 2003-04, wore # 57, LB

White, Jim, CSU: played for Denver in 1976, wore #78, DE

Williams, Alfred, CU: played for Denver from 1996-99, wore #91, DE

Work, Jack, Denver University: played for Denver in 1960, wore #58, DB

Wright, Lonnie, CSU: played for Denver from 1966-67, wore #42, DB

**miscellaneous debris**

Graham, Daniel, CU: played for Denver for the past two seasons, but drafted by New England, wears #89, TE

McChesney, Matt, CU: is currently on the Denver roster, but drafted by the Jets, wears #60, DT

Polumbus, Tyler, CU: is currently on the Denver roster wearing #76, T

Pears, Erik, CSU: played for Denver from 2006-07, wore #64, T

Oldenburg, Clint, CSU: is currently on the Denver roster wearing #71, T

Save, Bryan, CSU: maybe was on the Denver roster in 2006 wearing #79, DT

Van Pelt, Bradlee, CSU: was apparently only on the Denver roster in 2005, wore #11, QB

Ultimately, there are 51 past and present Denver Bronco players that attended a Colorado institution of higher learning. Thirteen logged significant time with the club, and, in my humble opinion, the important ones total four: Sam Brunelli, Rick Dennison, Matt Lepsis, and Tom Rouen. The argument could be made for Robert Anderson, and I know that Cecil Sapp is sort of a favorite, and a few labii swolled over the BVP, but going with my 4/51 suggestion -- and yes, that's all that it is, a suggestion -- a seven percent success ratio isn't doing anyone any favors.
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The Moment You've All Been Waiting For; or The Frozen Four Championship

Precious little time before the puck drops, so jump ahead for the skinny.

Boston University wasted little time Thursday night against Vermont getting out to a 2-0 lead. Vermont rallied with three goals in the second, only to see BU tie it before the second intermission. Both teams would score again in the third, but BU did so twice, giving them the go-ahead to the championship game in Washington, D.C.

On the other end of the brackets, Miami of Ohio ran Cinderella-story Bemidji State out of town with a 4-1 victory, and while I'm pulling for Miami of Ohio in this one, BU is the number-one seed, and how nutty would that be if BU won, and then the Bruins took the Stanley Cup just before the Celtics repeated, leading up to another Red Sox World Series title and a Patriots Super Bowl championship. It's quite possible.

Catch the action right now on the four-letter. Barry Melrose and Gary Thorne, the best commentating duo in sports history, are calling the game.
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Your Obligatory 2009 Frozen Four Feature

Like so many years before, American sports fans are consumed with college hoops, March Madness, the Final Four, etc., while a little-known secret known as the Frozen Four continues to plod along in but a mere fragment of the limelight. And the House of Georges ace reporting staff is, of course, on duty to broaden the beam shining on this little tourney. That's just what we'll do after the jump.

Actually, let's be honest. You probably don't want to read about college hockey and are actually right this very moment saying to yourself "words, words, words" in secret anticipation of their being a boob shot at the end of this post. Well, pal, I hate to tell you that that's just not going to happen. What is going to happen is an in-depth look at this year's Frozen Four Cinderella story, Bemidji State. And by in-depth, I mean the following:

* Bemidji State is a 5000-student school in Northern Minnesota.

* Their mascot is the Beavers.

* They've won 13 national titles at lower levels, but this is their best run since moving up to Division I in 1999.

* They knocked off number-two seed Notre Dame and Cornell to get this far.

* The term "bemidji" is a Native American word meaning river crossing lake.

Bemidji State will face Miami of Ohio on Thursday, April 9, gametime T.B.A. The other side of the bracket pits Boston University against Vermont. The Four, taking place in our nation's capital for the first time, has now sold out for nine consecutive years. The winners of each semi-final game will meet for the championship on Saturday the 11th. The handy bracket below will show you who all made it, and how each of the teams have fared.






















There. You happy, jerks?
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Bush League

There's a lot of college football coaching news floating around, and high-profile job openings at schools like Michigan, Nebraska and Texas A&M are making headlines. But here in Colorado we're about to lose one of the greatest coaches ever to call this state home, and it bums me out.

Terry Frei wrote an excellent piece in the Post today, where he detailed the Sonny Lubick situation with more insight and dignity than you'll typically find at houses named George. I've had my share of gripes with Frei over the years, given that he's one of these old-media stalwarts that think blogs are the devil (and he covers hockey). But Terry hit on the very delicate conundrum faced by myself and other CSU fans and alumni when it comes to Coach Lubick.

I absolutely love that man, and if I had a kid who played football I would send him off to matriculate under the guidance of Coach Lubick. But let's be honest, CSU football blows ram balls right now. Sonny is 70 and no longer recruits even the fringe big-time players, the Cecil Sapps and Bradlee Van Pelts and Joey Porters, that he once did. This season was a downright disaster at 3-9. A logical, impartial observer might conclude, as Frei did, that it's time for some new blood under the headset.

I am neither impartial nor logical, and I say forcing Sonny Lubick out of this job is an unforgivable offense. One of the rules of life should be that if you name a field after a man he gets to work as long as he damn well pleases. I could really care less if he goes 1-11 every year, so long as that one win is against Screamin' Dan Hawkins. We'll happily go play intramurals, brother.

It would be a different story if CSU were actually a part of big-time college football, a member of a BCS conference. They're not, and the power structure that exists in this sport will probably never let them in. If my alma mater is to exist in this perpetual state of football purgatory, they should at least do so with the grace and humor of a man like Sonny Lubick, rather than the shitbag judgement displayed by oh, I don't know, some coaches. Or other coaches. Or other coaches. Or other coaches.

What's the alternative? Find some hotshot I-AA, FCS, FBS, D-2 or high school coach or coordinator to take the CSU job, make some strides and then bolt for the first available BCS opportunity? A la Screamin' Dan or Urban Meyer? Even if you can sustain mid-major success, as Boise and a couple other programs have, what's the payoff? A pity birth in a lower-tier BCS bowl if and only if you have a perfect record?

Fuck that. That's the bullshit arms race of college football I choose not to chase. I'd rather CSU go back to thorn-in-the-side status than play that game.

That being said, CSU ought to go hire Ed Orgeron, who just got canned by Ole Miss. That fucker is bat shit crazy.
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Designated Recognition of College Football

I know it's hard for our readers in isolated locales like Kansas City and the Yukon Territory to care about college football. The Irish are busy becoming Bowling Green with a minimum admission grade level. But the Iron Triangle's third leg knows the weight of the Saturday, yes indeedy. If only enough to realize, "shit, my favorite team blows."


Yes, the Colorado State Rams are now 0-3, having lost their tenth game in succession.

The worst part? The worst fucking part? They lost to the motherscratchin' Houston Cougars, a team that hasn't been relevant since the invention of the sideline reporter. And they blew a 14 point lead in the final quarter. Final score, 38-27. Houston went crazy. (Aat least, the 15,000 fans at the game did. The rest of the city never even realized the contest occurred.)

10 losses in a row. Once upon a merry time, prognosticators and respected internet d-bags wondered if this was the year the Rams made the big jump into the Top 10. Once, we had players like Joey Porter and Clark Haggans and Sean Moran and Matt Newton and Dexter Wynn and Bradlee Van Pelt. Once we played ferocious defense and ran the ball like yeomen hod-carriers. So what if we went against WAC/Mountain West competition? BYU and Utah and now TCU, even Wyoming--nothing to be ashamed of. Plus we'd throw in the occasional beatdown of a big school, like when Moses Moreno beat Michigan State at their place, or the famous upset of then #4 Arizona in 1994.

Um, those days are gone. It doesn't appear to be getting better anytime soon. I make fun of Notre Dame's potential 0-8 start knowing we might not be much better.

The difference, of course, besides TV contracts and awoken echoes and Gods that care about football, is that CSU sucked for generations. It was practically a Fort Collins birthright--our team can out-suck yours. Lose by 30? Screw you, pretty boy. We'll lose by 56. We piled up decades of suck that could hardly be matched in I-A.

And it looks, sadly, like Sonny's team will be revisiting that bad past. Otherwise known as our present and future. Fight on, you stalwart Ram team. Fight, fight. Fight.

But I think we could still beat Notre Dame.
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The HoG's Semi-Informed College Football Preview

Tonight the collegiate gridiron season kicks off, as Louisiana State University visits the hostile environs of Starkville, Mississippi to battle the MSU Bulldogs. I'm glad to have the games back, and I'm ready to watch and gamble my little heart out. I can't quite shake the feeling, though, that the sport of college football really stinks right now, and it may get a lot worse before it gets better.

Don't get me wrong, the games themselves are great. There is absolutely nothing better than a close, well-played college football game. Due to the fact that there is no preseason and no playoff system, each contest is incredibly important to everyone: the players, the coaches, the students, the alumni, the media wags, and dopes like me sitting at home on the couch.

I mean, I hate Notre Dame, but for some reason the Irish have played an incredible number of fabulously entertaining games since Charlie Weis got to South Bend. Be it against USC, who's always better, or Michigan State, who's always worse, Notre Dame has played in at least half of the truly great games that I've seen in the past two years.

But Notre Dame is indicative of everything that's wrong with this sport. They set their own rules and have a preposterously easy path paved straight to the BCS. The deck is clearly stacked in their favor, and they make no apologies for this fact.

Take Major League Baseball, which most would argue is the least equitable of the major professional team sports (plus hockey). The main argument that casual fans have against MLB being a truly great game is that the New York Yankees can spend way more money than the Minnesota Twins. This is very true. But the Yankees still have to play a balanced schedule set by a governing body, and that schedule contains an equal number of home and road games. They have to earn a spot in the playoffs or the World Series by wining more games than their opponents, not because they have more fans or history and tradition on their side.

Now I'm not arguing for some giant sports welfare program to come in and make everything "fair" and "right." I'm a capitalist, a proud one, and I've never had any problem with smart people making good business decisions and succeeding because of them. If the University of Florida has a bigger football fan base and places more emphasis on football on an institutional level than does Vanderbilt, than they should kick Vandy's ass in football. You can't legislate Vanderbilt into being good at football if they don't want to be.

Vanderbilt doesn't have to play in the SEC or even Division I, just like Minneapolis doesn't have to have a Major League Baseball team. It's a choice. If Vanderbilt wants to kick ass, they can either invest the resources it takes to play big-time football or it can drop down to D-II.

But this is all getting very political and abstract, and it doesn't get to the reasons I don't care as much about college football. Everyone knows how fucked up the polls are, and how difficult it is for a truly underrated or underappreciated team to make any kind of meaningful advancement in one season. If you're not in, say, the top 12 to start the season you have no shot at winning it all. How many champs in other sports have defied preseason expectations to come together and make a run? Try most, lately. In the BCS the Cardinals, White Sox, Marlins and Angels would have never won rings, because the pundits never would have put them in the title round.

To me the most ridiculous aspect of the polls, specifically the preseason ones, is the impact of the perceived strength of schedule. A team like Rutgers or Boise or Louisville is downgraded because they don't play a tough enough schedule, and yet USC is No. 1 in part because their schedule isn't as hard as LSU's (or Texas' or Michigan's...or West Fuckin Virginia's). The Trojans are the most likely elite team to go undefeated, so they're tops. The voters allegedly love ballsy scheduling decisions like Texas and Ohio State playing early games the last few years, but the incentive of scheduling such risky matchups is far outweighed by the benefit of lining up tomato cans.

So we the fans get screwed, in dozens of different ways. We don't get true champions. We don't get good early games (I'm supposed to be excited about Tennessee and Cal this weekend). What we get is an endless series of bullshit political debates, about the relative merit of an SEC loss versus a Big East win and blah blah blah. I watch sports to escape the shenanigans going on in D.C., yet it seems as though modern-day fandom is all about salary structure, court documents and lobbying by Oklahoma State patrons.

So that's that. I know, Earth-shaking revelations--college football has some issues. If you tuned in seeking an honest-to-goodness PREVIEW, go somewhere else--I hear ESPN, EDSBS and Scooter McDougle have good ones. The team I feel is going all the way? That's easy. West Fuckin Virgina.


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No Housekeeping, Just Towels

Editor's Note: There's been some confusion aired as to the delicious domestic help pictured at right. This is NOT this week's installment of We Are Hot Chicks Wednesday. That, I've been assured, is forthcoming. Feel free to ogle the maid, though, in the meantime...

Let's get caught up on some HoG business, shall we? While it's nice that you've taken the time to hang out here at the House, we want to make sure that you're fully exposed to the waves of excellence that spurt out of the various orifices of our porcine multimedia empire.

Bankmeister and I are engaged in a running dialogue concerning sports fandom that's gone on for over a decade now. We turned on the tape recorder last week and documented a slice of it, and that slice can be found at both Arrowhead Addict (for fat Midwesterners) or Predominantly Orange (for tanned, trim Rocky Mountaineers). Our subject was young Jack Elway, the high school junior that we've devoted many thousands of words to now, and that's not creepy at all. Banky's further AA work can be found here, here and here, and I've been banging the PO as often as my busy summer patio/beer schedule allows.

Showing that even beefy sportswriters who wear Hawaiian shirts read the HoG, Jim Armstrong mentioned Young No. 7 yesterday in his Notes. While I love the thought of the kid taking snaps as a Ram, so long as he stays out of Boulder we're OK. If Screamin' Dan Hawkins gets his crazy mitts on our beloved Jack it'll be four long years of Hell. Go play intramurals, brother. This is Division 1 football.

I've been critical of Cubs catcher Michael Barrett in these pages, and apparently whoever runs the Baby Bears hangs out here as well. Barrett got shipped to San Diego this morning. Take that, bitch. As if getting your ass kicked by Big Z wasn't humiliating enough, we're going to send you to MLB's most desirable city and a first-place team. Burn!

People that make signs and display them at sporting events are generally either tools or registered sex offenders. Try and pull that shit in front of me and you're likely to get mustard smeared across your seat (I'm very hostile, yet oddly non-confrontational and passive-aggressive). But these signs here are beyond precious. God bless college baseball fans. Read more

A Million Little Pieces, of Baseball

Other than the (admittedly quite excellent) Baseball In The Daytime feature that I assemble here at the HoG, it's been a while since I shot the shit about our National Pastime. Since there's nothing much else going on, other than various Argentines hoisting large shiny American trophies, let's ruminate around the diamond, shall we?

The Battle Of Orange County is taking place in Omaha as we speak, with the score currently (redacted) in the (redacted) inning. It's really a thrilling, awesome game, and I would tell you all about it if the NCAA weren't such pricks about us bloggers. You see, they consider live-blogging an event akin to violating the broadcast rights they sell to such outlets as ESPN, and that's totally logical. I'm sure most people would rather watch baseball via sentences on the HoG versus their nice big TVs if they have the choice.

Look. I was at work today and I would have loved to put the Fullerton-Irvine game on in the background. ESPN has a service called 360, which allegedly broadcasts their cable signal via their website. Only I was not eligible in my area. I fucking pay for ESPN, every single month. Why can I not receive their programming wherever I am? And if I can't what in the hell is wrong with me just finding the info elsewhere, such as from a newspaper reporter who's already at the game typing his observations? I'm really shocked that the NCAA is making such a pigheaded decision, that's odd.

But for real, if I were allowed to tell you about this College World Series game, it would blow your mind out of your skull. It's fantastic.

Elsewhere at Rosenblatt, Rice and North Carolina have thus far looked good, but I'd rather not give you any empirical evidence to that effect lest I get arrested. Mississippi State was the first team eliminated, which ended the college athletic careers of a few kids who are now woefully underprepared for the job market. The big game tonight is defending champ Oregon State vs. Arizona State, both of whom look very dangerous. I'd tell you starting pitchers but I'm afraid to.

Up in the big leagues, the surging Los Californaheim Angeles have pulled within a game of the Red Sox for the best record in baseball after thoroughly dominating their season series against Brooklyn. The "balanced" Halos are definitely coming together and look World Series-capable once again this season. I still say that they need another bat, not a superstar but a legitimately dangerous veteran (Todd Helton, anyone?) that could grind opposing pitchers a bit more. I think some prospect pitching is a small price to pay for the chance at another ring, but that's just me. Those things (rings, that is) don't grow on trees, and you have to make some sacrifices when you're in the mix, which the Angels certainly are.

As for those Red Sox, fits of inconsistency are the only thing really holding them back. The offense generates either a dozen or one run a game, and Francona has been throwing new leadoff hitters and lineup combinations at the wall daily, waiting for something to stick. The starting pitching has been a bit wobbly of late, with even Beckett throwing out a stinker in his last turn. But all in all the pieces are all there and this is still the team that looks most ready for October. Worried about the Yankees? Not yet I'm not, but they'll be there at the end.

To me, one of the most impressive teams going right now is the hometown Colorado Rockies. They've been standing up to the American League (except the mighty Royals) unlike any other NL club and the baseball talk-o-circle is starting to take notice. The bats, of course, have come alive, with Hawpe and (finally) Atkins joining Holliday and Helton awesomeness with the lumber. Taveras and Matsui are the pesky top of the order that the team hoped they would be, and the defense has been shockingly excellent.

Stop me if you've heard this before, but the questions lie with the pitching staff. On XM's Home Plate MLB channel this morning, some dude talked about how he thinks the Rockies are ready to be buyers when it comes to SPs at the deadline. I about drove off the road. I doubt this will mean that Jake Peavy will be donning purple, but if they can get another guy on the level of freaking Rodrigo Lopez (who was the shittiest AL pitcher you can imagine), they might make a run yet.

I'm telling you, this CWS game might be the best ever. There was just a play at (base redacted) to keep the score at (redacted). Incredible. I can't tell you what inning we're in but it's the square root of 169.

Update: UC Irvine won the game with a two-out single in the bottom of the 13th. The longest game (5 hours 43 minutes) in CWS history sends Fullerton back to the OC. Naturally, the team we highlight the most is two and done. If you want further highlights and stats, I suggest you go to the official CWS site or the four-letter network--since they, you know, own this information).

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Up In The Nosebleeds: The HoG's Mostly Uniformed College World Series Preview

Welcome back to Up In The Nosebleeds, the HoG's semi-regular, soon-to-be-forgotten feature in which we give some attention to obscure niche sports that get pushed aside by the mainstream. Like competitive bass fishing, cow tipping and ice hockey. Think Cheap Seats, only not on ESPN Classic and without the twin brothers who bone each other.


The College World Series starts today in Omaha, Nebraska. This has always been one of those events that some people are really, really into and most everybody else is completely unaware of. I have primarily fallen into the latter category, although the last half-decade has drawn me closer and closer to amateur baseball. Most of it is armchair scouting, seeing which top-flight college players may be lighting up big league diamonds in a few years. But I’ve come to appreciate the college game for its own merits, so long as I turn the sound on the TV down (PING!).

One fellow that truly follows the ins and outs of the college game is my cousin Brian. He graduated from Cal-State Fullerton, a school you may not be aware of unless you either live in Southern California or watch collegiate baseball. Fullerton has won four CWS titles, the last in 2004, and sent a slew of players to the pros (among them Phil Nevin, Chad Cordero, Mark Kotsay, Aaron Rowand, Brent Mayne and Jeremy Giambi). Brian grew up playing ball in the same Orange County neighborhood as the baseball Boones, including ex-Angel catcher Bob, second baseman Brett, Red Sox killer Aaron and Brian’s high school teammate Matt. He’s also a staunch Libertarian and would like to encourage you to vote for Ron Paul in the 2008 presidential election.

I asked Brian to assist me in breaking down the CWS, which he agreed to do. I was unable to extract actual predictions from him—I believe his exact phrase was “I’m no Nostradamus.” He did, however, fill me in on all manner of background of college baseball, albeit hopelessly slanted toward his antigovernment SoCal stance.

Virtually every last bit of good baseball in America is played in or directly sourced from California, I learned. The kids there play it year round and the ones that don’t make it at one of their colleges end up at second-tier institutions like Arizona State. The girls are prettier, the weather better, and the residents richer and more successful than where you live.

So, I don’t know what to tell ya. I’m going to watch, and I’ve got bandwagon seats in coach for both Fullerton and Arizona State (my father-in-law’s alma mater). I hear that Rice, North Carolina, ASU and defending champ Oregon State are pretty loaded, so keep an eye out for them. And pay attention to the Comments, where some dude from Arvada will no doubt dazzle you with his new favorite team (since Long Beach State, Arizona, Kansas, Southern Illinois, Colorado, Auburn, Slippery Rock and Lamar Community College failed to qualify).

I suppose, with a gun to my head, I’ll take ASU over Carolina in the final. Read more

Holy Fucking Shit

I don't know what you were watching last night, but there was a mind-blowing game on that you may have missed. It was a sport called basketball, and it is 100 per cent owned by this dude named LeBron. James. Man, he's really good. I'm not a stat guy but I think he scored over a thousand "points," as the announcers were calling them, many on moves called "dunks" and one "bat-shit crazy three-pointer."

Seriously, I might have to get back on board with the Association thanks to last night and young Mr. 23. Jesus. The Cleveland Cavaliers, outside of LeBron, might be the worst professional basketball team ever assembled. But last night King James could have taken the floor with the staff of the House of Georges and Urkel and won that game. He simply would not be denied. I loved the images of Tayshaun Prince, who's got a rep as a pretty damn good defender, repeatedly getting his forehead smothered by LeBron's balls on dominating dunks.

I've never been a LeBron guy until right now. He was overexposed in high school. He came into the league with Carmelo, who went to Syracuse (I'm from upstate NY) and ended up with the Nuggets (my NBA team), so I always wanted Melo to be better. He's not, but LeBron has struggled through a tough year. His attitude, commitment and desire have all been questioned this season, but he looks like someone on the brink of absolute dominating greatness. A ring would seal the deal.

I watched last night's game with extra interest due to our old buddy gambling. I have a friend who's in Vegas, and he called me yesterday asking how to bet the Pistons in the most profitable manner. We were both in agreeance that Detroit would not/could not lose. But the money line was something like minus-340, an absolutely preposterous number for a series that's been so closely contested. That got me thinking about the possibility of the Cavs pulling the upset, and I did a little reading on the subject. Simmons finally swayed me with his opinion (say what you will about the guy, but his playoff predictions have been pretty extraordinary). By the time I contacted my buddy again, he had already come to the same conclusion and laid two green benjamins on Cleveland at +170. So I felt personally invested in LeBron, even though it wasn't my money.

That wager took a roller-coaster ride through two epic overtime sessions, and for all I know my pal is dead in a gutter on the Strip. But if he survived, I'm going to have him investigate the odds on LeBron (and his sorry cast of extras) winning it all.

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Look down, young man (or woman!)

Thanks to the incredible smartness of computers and such, the blog I just blogged about the Denver Broncos' schedule (aka "March to Victory '07") is a few blogs down. So blog your little blogginess downstairs a tad, and stay tuned, because we're only halfway through... Read more

Farewell To A Warrior

Yet again the Denver Broncos have bucked conventional wisdom. Al Wilson is now a free agent linebacker, after the Dove Valley brass granted him his release.

It’s a little hard to break down Wilson’s impact on the franchise. He has been a captain for five seasons. He’s been to the Pro Bowl four times. Throughout his career he has played hurt and served as a vocal and emotional leader for the defense.

The first time I witnessed the greatness of Al Wilson was September 19, 1998. The University of Tennessee was playing Florida in the biggest game of the season to date. On a rainy night in Knoxville, in front of 107,653 fans, Wilson dominated the game. He forced three fumbles, recorded untold dozens of tackles, and engineered a goal line stand in the fourth quarter that cemented the game. A year after Peyton Manning, Marcus Nash and murderous Leonard Little left for the pros, Al Wilson led a team with Tee Martin and Peerless Price (?) to a national championship.

The Broncos picked last that spring, a result of their second straight Super Bowl win. At the time of the draft I felt satisfied yet nervous, what with the transition from Elway to Griese. When then-Commissioner Paul Tagliabue called Wilson’s name with the final pick in the first round, I was beyond stoked. I know why he fell to the bottom of the round—he was considered too short, too slow, and too often injured to dominate at the NFL level.

I suppose those same shortcomings are why he is not a Bronco today. He never truly dominated, and he was routinely inflicted with injuries. But for eight seasons he patrolled the middle of the field with pride and distinction. He was never given the large mammals up front, the beasts Ray Lewis and Brian Urlacher are blessed with, that would have occupied blockers and let him roam with reckless abandon. He had to work for his tackles, and nothing came cheap. Wilson was tremendously underrated in pass coverage, and often stayed glued to running backs, tight ends and even receivers far down the field.

Your contributions to society far outweigh those of most, and Mr. Wilson, you will be missed. Read more

Sched-you-well

Ed. Note: I started this post days ago. And up until a few minutes prior, didn't know we had released one of my all-time favorite Broncos. Al Wilson impressed us with his leadership and physical style but did not, despite what we orange glasses-wearers wished to the contrary, regularly dominate football games. Ol' No. 7 hit it strong on the nail.

Al had some amazing moments, like his game against the St. Louis Rams the year after they won the Super Bowl. He had, I think, three interceptions, one of which came covering Marshall Faulk on an out route in the end zone. He was stride-for-stride with that dude the whole way. Along with Rod Smith (whom I believe to be a HOFer-in-waiting and when the time comes I'll defend that opinion on this here interweb), Al was the face and football presence of the post-Elway Broncos, for better or worse. I think it was better. Way better. Thanks for everything, Al Wilson.

On to the silliness.

The NFL released schedules on Wednesday. Ol' No. 7 was vigorously texting me for my take, but alas, Wednesdays are about the only day of the week I can't waste company time on the internets.

But today! Today is Friday. And you know what that means.

You don't? Oh. Sorry. I guess you do live in Bombay...sorry, Mumbai. Or Canada. (Those two are near each other, right?) What it means is it's time to break down, game by game, the Denver Broncos' 2007 slate o' future wins.

1. Sept. 9, at Buffalo, 11 a.m.
I'm pissed. For the third year in a row, we start on the road, playing a morning contest. The only thing the Broncos are worse at--other than 1st round draft picks, playing at Arrowhead stadium and sucking--than morning games are dome games. So I suppose I should be happy we aren't playing the Rams...oh, yeah, we did that last year. And lost. Fuck this schedule maker anyway. Buffalo, with its octogenarian owner who didn't even vote to keep his team solvent in future years, can suck it. Still, I foresee my squad eking out a 17-14 too-close-for-comfort victory against J.P. and the Sunshine Band.

2. Sept. 16, Oakland, 2:15 p.m.
Like Everclear-laced hot cocoa after a snowball fight with convicts...never mind. This team isn't good enough for my tortured similes. I come in to each year fearing the Raider games despite how sucky Al Davis' team was the year previous. It's an AFC West thing. No matter how shitty any of our teams are in any given season, we always try and drink each others' blood. What happens if the Silver-n-Black, who most definitely don't kill anyone, draft JaMarcus Russell to throw mile-long bombs to a rejuvenated Moss and a moderately interested Jerry Porter? What happens if Lane Kiffin turns out to be, if not the next Shanahan, maybe the next Tom Flores? A non-Mexican version? I think what will happen is they will still lose no matter how good their D is, and it is. 21-14 Denver win. 2-0

3. Sept. 23, Jacksonville, 2:05 p.m.
Does any other team outside the AFC South play the Jaguars as much as we do? Seriously. It's an annual effin' event, like Christmas or the traditional Meast Pie during Flag Day. I hate this team. They're physical, coached by the kind of guy that players seem to like and suck regularly enough to keep drafting in the top 15. Which enables them to pick up glacial masses like Stroud and Henderson. Too bad that whoever their QB will be isn't going to be good enough to beat us at home. A late defensive touchdown makes this look like a bigger victory for us than it actually was, 38-23 Denver. 3-0

4. Sep. 30, at Indianapolis, 2:15 p.m.
Tough one. We haven't played well against this team in recent years, Manning kills us, their D always seems to make a play at the right time. We should have beaten them last year at Invesco--that was when the wheels started to get wobbly with Plummer. We ran the ball into their lower intestine that game. And had to settle for OT. Will things be different on the road? Now that they've won a Championship? Call me a hopeless optimist (or an idiot). Denver wins 35-32. 4-0

5. Oct. 7, San Diego, 2:15 p.m.
Who knows what San Diego will look like this year? The Chargers are clearly the most talented team in football. They can flay you. They'll play possum with the running game until LT finally just breaks your heart. But I'm going with the Norv Turner factor. We'll split the season series and get them at home, 24-20. Denver fans get excited because we're 5-0. And because we're Denver fans. We're easily excited.

6.

Oct. 14 BYE WEEK

6. Oct. 21, Pittsburgh, 6:15 p.m.
The bump in the road comes against this still-talented but rebuildy team. In addition to early games and dome games, recent years have seen us pretty shitty at night games. Pittsburgh knocks Cutler around, we lose, 28-10. Denver fans get worried because Cutler got knocked around. And because...see week 5. Six games in and we're 5-1.

7. Oct. 29, Green Bay, 6:30 p.m.
We're bad at Prime Time. Still. Brett Favre farewell tour or no, we're not losing at home to this team. Our first honest-to-Yahweh blowout of the season, Cutler rips Green Bay's aging secondary for 350 plus and Javon scores 2 TDs and afterward refuses to shake a chastened Favre's hand for betraying him to management up north. Talk show fodder for weeks as the media's corpulent defenders of the Favrian faith shake their jowls in anger. Denver fans laugh 'cause we won. Stay classy, Front Range.

8. Nov. 4, at Detroit, 11 a.m.
It's bound to happen every season, and we've only had one, so the let's get the goddamn morning games out of the way. This Lions team...seriously. How do they suck so thoroughly, so consistently? They could give the guys in charge of ESPN fantasy baseball tips. Every year they have a Top 10 pick, every year, same story. I knew a Lions fan once. I know! Crazy. I didn't think they were real either. Great guy, but about as disillusioned as they come--and that's tough. Sad, really. That's all we ask for as fans: the gift of at least a little hope. The Ford family, sitting on the pile of money they made off of American workers, can't even offer that much to the collective sporting consciousness in return. They don't traffic in hope. They traffic in Millen. Speaking for all of us here at HoG, Lions fans, we're sorry. The two of us who follow the Broncos also apologize for our team's 31-10 victory. 6-1

To be continued... Read more