Classic Implosion.

Sioux fans you have to check out this blog post over at UAA Hockey Fan Blog while I get what Donald was trying to say and he is entitled to this under the 1st ammendment, the comments that come after are down right funny.

This is a funny picture

I found this picture over on waiting for Stanley. While this picture is funny it really does a good job illustrating the kind of hockey player the Pens star Crosby become a diver, the queen of embellishment.

I called it.

I was right on in my prediction over on Siouxsports.com: on December 2nd 2007. I was pretty close to be spot on.

(The The Sicatoka said:) What do you bet it's Lil' Shep in GF next weekend. My Response was: You can bet on that one. Also, you can bank on Greg Sheppard being there. You can also count on this being one series where there will be four officials. Mark it down, you heard it here first. Also if the Sioux win big you can expect night number two to be a barrage of penalties for the Sioux.

Anyone want to bet? I know Redwing_77 isn't going to.

While I was wrong on my prediction about being a barrage of penalties. There were 4 officials one being Lil Sheppard and known Fighting Sioux hater Jon Campion.

Finally...a judge that makes sense

I got this joke from a friend of mine.

Unprecedented, finally

Minneapolis, MN(AP) - A seven-year-old Bloomington, Minnesota boy was at the center of a Hennipen County courtroom drama yesterday when he challenged a court ruling over who should have custody of him. The boy has a history of being beaten by his parents and the judge initially awarded custody to his aunt, in keeping with child custody law and regulations requiring that family unity be maintained to the degree possible. The boy surprised the court when he proclaimed that his aunt beat him more than his parents and he adamantly refused to live with her. When the judge then suggested that he live with his grandparents, the boy cried out they also beat him. After considering the remainder of the immediate family and learning that domestic violence was apparently a way of life among them, the judge took the unprecedented step of allowing the boy to propose who should have custody of him. After two recesses to check legal references and confer with child welfare re officials, the judge granted temporary custody to the Minnesota Golden Gopher Mens Hockey Team, whom the boy firmly believes are not capable of beating anyone.

What?

I am not sure what prompted this post: but here is Donna's post after Friday's game on Running with the Dogs I guess she is saying that Sioux fans are a bunch of halo's who complain about the refs. That's ok, I am fine with that. I actually thought it was funny. Also, Goon's world is a huge fan of Donna's work and would never let an article stand in the way.

UMD 3, Ref Complainers 8

What kind of a fanbase whines about officiating when their team wins by 5 goals? UND Blogger Goon should be ashamed of himself. Evidently, Sioux fans are only satisfied when zero penalties are called on the Sioux and their opponent is down 2 men for the entire game. Plus, since the UND PP was pretty much crap last night, I would think they wouldn't want to showcase that too much. Not that they'd ever give our PK any credit.

Yeah, I know, I sound like a sore loser right now. It's not that. I just hate playing this series. I resent the implication by many of the UND fans that we don't even deserve to play their team, that we should just roll over and die because our team is worthless and the only team worth their time is UMTC, with whom they are obsessed. I really wish that tDogs could have shown that we were better than that, and for moments during the game, they did. I felt like I developed acute bipolar disorder during the course of the game.

I went to the game on Friday and this is what I had to say on Sioux sports about the Refs:

I am thinking tomorrow night we are going to see a tight checking trap feast/game. Anything can happen with that buffoon reffing the games. The 3-0 lead then came the reffing by the score board calls

First off I don't nor do I claim to speak for Sioux fans. I speak for the Goon and the Goon only. First off, I am never going to give props to the officials because I believe the officials in this league suck, period, I will not sugar coat my feelings towards the refs, nor will I ever hide my disdain for them.

On the post. OK I admit; that is my work and I spelled Buffoon wrong originally in my post on Sioux sports, however, I don't think what I posted was that far off the mark, in my perspective it was true. There is no doubt that UND came out pretty strong and took the game to UMD. The Sioux got a 2 quick goals and it looked as if the Sioux were going to be off to the races. It would be an accurate assessment to say that they were clicking on all eight cylinders. Realistically speaking I also know that the last Sioux goal was a fluke. Call it what you want it was a weak goal or a bag goal. The funny part is that it was scored by a player that was sitting on the bench by the time it puck crossed the goal line. So what? It is better to be lucky than good.

That being said, it also doesn't take a rocket scientist to say that the calls made after that third goal by referee Todd Anderson were based on the scoreboard. I dare anyone to tell me differently. In fact I turned to my buddy that I was sitting next and said just that. I will stand by my comments that Todd Anderson is a clown or buffoon and that he is one of the worst refs in Division one hockey, almost as bad as Don "I make shit up as I go" Adam.

Lastly, I don't think Sioux fans believe that no-one is worthy of playing the Sioux except the Golden Chokers. First off; I believe that most of the Sioux fans that I know appreciate most if not all of the WCHA teams and love watching whoever they are playing. This is the WCHA not the EZAC. Teams must bring it every night and there are no nights off...

Linkorama: Twelve to Four the Difference#links

UAA Hockey Fan Blog: Twelve to Four the Difference#links

I found this post over on Donald's UAA fan Blog. I found the exchange on the comments to be rather amusing. I wondering how long before the Gopher fans will be calling Donald a Halo?

For some perspective

I was wondering if there was any differential in how the power plays are broken down with a couple of teams. So I decided to take a look: Minnesota has received 40 power plays while their opposition has received 35 power plays. Donald's team UAA has had 32 power plays while the opposition has had 44 power plays. Finally UND has had 35 power plays will their oppostion has had 34. Granted UND has only played two WCHA theories but so far it seems as if the Seawolves are getting the shaft if you will...

Sweet Throphy

SCSU's Only Throphy

I came across this page while I was on line. That is an awesome throphy in my opinion. It's a shame that UND couldn't play for the DQ cup since they owned all of the Minnesota teams last season. Someone even suggested that the Sioux should have been the rightfull owners of the DQ cups since the Sioux only lost one game to the four teams that competed for the DQ cup. Here is the break down UND went 3-1 against the Minnesota Gophers, 1-0-1 against UMD Bulldogs, 5-0-1 against the Minnesota State State University Mavericks and 3-0-1 against the champion Saint Cloud State University Huskies. Also add two wins against the Bemidji State Beavers and UND was 12-1-3 against the teams that have addresses in Minnesota.

Anyone see Mean Girl?

WCHA Blog Reviews of the Road Trip.

WCHA Road Trip Town No. 4 – Minneapolis
I was checking out this article on Cardinal's WCHA blog and I was wondering if anyone else has seen the humor in this article? Maybe it is just me? Ryan Cardinal is a gopher fan from Minneapolis and ranked his home town 4th. Actually for the Twin Cities I think that a grade of "B" is too low. I don't see any reason to act objective in this situation. Most of us would agree Minneapolis is a great city even with the Gophers and there are a lot of amenities that the small towns do not offer.

But I digress; I guess that 4th place is better than the 9th place ranking that my home town of Grand Forks, ND received, I guess I am not blaming him because there are times that I wonder why I decided to stay here after I graduated from college. There was a reason people let Grand Forks after they graduated. Don't get me wrong; Grand Forks is a nice college town with a great hockey progam to follow but there isn't much to do up here unless your a hunter, like to watch hockey and or are a dirt track racing fan, I happen to be a fan of all three. By the way did I say that I was also a big race fan as well. That can be solved by moving somewhere else and buying a satellite dish. Personally I would have just skipped reviewing my own town.

City Experience (Grand Forks, ND)

Grand Forks really suffers in this area in my opinion, since there isn’t a whole heck of a lot to do aside from watch hockey games. The one staple that I try to incorporate into the trip is a visit to the Columbia Mall, which makes for a good time-killer.


Summary on the Grand Forks Road Trip

I personally rank Grand Forks as one of my favorite roadtrips, but it’s not because of the city. It gives you everything you need to make the trip solid, but it really suffers in terms of other things to do aside from watching hockey and it’s long distance from most other WCHA cities.

Overall Grade: C+

Here is Ryan's review on the Twin Cities Road Trip and the UofMN.

This week, its city No. 4: Minneapolis, Minn., which is home to the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers.

Access

This review as a whole is a bit different for me since I’ve lived in the Twin Cities area my whole life and therefore have never had a chance to ‘visit’ the area. However, as I’ve stated before, I’ve been to all the other WCHA towns, so I feel that I can compare the Minneapolis area to these towns.

Minneapolis is probably the easiest city to get to in the WCHA. It’s about an hour away from St. Cloud and Mankato, two hours from Duluth, and a little over four hours from Madison and Grand Forks. The drive from most of these areas is pretty painless, although the Twin Cities area can certainly generate its share of traffic as you get closer to either downtown.

With the 35W bridge disaster, it’s a little tougher to navigate the area around the Minnesota campus, but it’s still manageable, especially at night (when hockey games generally are) as opposed to rush hour.

The Twin Cities also features an international airport with several flights a day to the Denver / Colorado Springs area, among others.

Bars

As is the case with most big schools in major cities, there are plenty of options for having some fun before and after the games. There are obviously many bars in the Minneapolis / St. Paul area, but I think you’ll find that you won’t need to leave the U of M campus to find a good time.

Before the games, there are three places that most fans venture to that are all in the same general area. Sally’s Saloon and Eatery is the biggest hangout of the three. Like the others, it’s just a few blocks from Mariucci Arena and is a typical sports bar. It gets very busy before the games but is big enough to accommodate the hockey crowd. However, it can get very packed if the campus has another event going on that day. The menu is limited on gamedays but is still very solid. It’s a tad spendy, but the atmosphere is what keeps people coming back over the years.

Down the street a bit you’ll find Big Ten Restaurant & Bar. This place gets packed as well, but mainly because it’s very small compared to Sally’s. Big 10 is known for their subs, which are excellent. They have a much better selection of beet on tap, if that’s your thing.

Stub and Herbs is the other of the mainstays for pregaming. Featuring both an upper and lower level, there’s nothing overly special about it, but they have a lot of room and your traditional bar food.

If you’re looking to have some fun at night, The Library is the most popular bar on campus after dark. It gets very packed with the ‘hip and trendy’ crowd, but they have good specials on the weekend and the “scenery” is nice. And yes, it’s about two blocks away from the infamous Blarney Pub and Grill.

Finally, if you’re looking for a late-night snack after your do some bar-hopping, Burrito Loco, which is adjacent to The Library, is where you’ll want to go. They are open well past bar close and it is the place to go for after hours food.

City Experience

There are quite a few things to do in the Twin Cities area. In the fall, Viking and Gopher football games could kill some time on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon. The Wild start up in early October, which would make for a good time in St. Paul on a Thursday or Sunday. Out-of-towners like to frequent the Mall of America as well if they’ve never been to the Twin Cities area.

Hotels

There are not too many options near Mariucci Arena. The best bet for visitors is the Radisson that is right by the three bars / restaurants I mentioned earlier. It’s well over $100 a night though, which could be problematic.

There is a Days Inn down the street a bit that could be a more viable option for the money-conscience.

If readers have other suggestions here, please feel free to chime in via the comments section, since this is one area that I don’t deal with too often in Minneapolis.

Ticket Cost / Availability

As anyone who has visited the Twin Cities to watch a Gopher game, you know that this is a potential issue. Gopher games are all essentially sold out before tickets go on sale to the public. Scattered single seats and standing-room tickets can be had when tickets go on sale in mid-September each year.

However, buying tickets from scalpers out front has always been a popular route of attack, and now that scalping tickets is legal in Minnesota, this is likely to be an increased course of action for folks looking for seats. The standard ticket is $30, but unless the Gophers are playing someone like North Dakota or Wisconsin, you can likely pay under face-value from scalpers to get in if you play your cards right.

As with any roadtrip though, it’s nice to have tickets in-hand before leaving.

Summary

As I said before, I’ve never “visited” Minneapolis since I live here, but I think it has all the ingredients to be a great roadtrip town: the hockey will almost always be good because of the quality of Minnesota’s teams each year, it’s easy to get to the area and it’s centrally located, and there are plenty of places to hangout around Mariucci. Lodging could be a slight issue if you don’t want to have to drive at all, but finding a decent place isn’t an issue at all. And finally, tickets to Gopher games aren’t going to fall into your lap, but with some many resources online to find tickets, it really shouldn’t be too tough to have them with you before you depart.

Overall Grade: B

'

Again the first time that I read this article I thought it was hilarious. Ranking ones city that they live in, hence, making the title of Road trip even more funny to me. That's not to say that this isn't a good article because it was. I enjoyed the article. This is what I put for a response in the comments: -- am not sure how it can be a road trip if all your doing is getting in your car and drivin to the rink? :)--

Looking at the ranking I believe that 4th is a little low for the University of Minnesota and Minneapolis, MN. Just my HMO; when looking at Minneapolis one thing there is not a shortage of is bars; there are an enormous amount of great bars and eating facilities in the Minneapolis and St Paul area. In fact I would rank it as one of the best in the country.