Call your loved ones and tell them you love them, because the world is coming to an end…

AGAIN!!!

Moorhead High School in Minnesota REPEATS as state champions at the highest level (AA).

A 5-4 winner over Minnetonka IN DOUBLE OVERTIME.

They had lost in the champion game EIGHT TIMES since 1991, but to win TWO IN A ROW?!??

**WE.  ARE.  BONED.**

I expect the world to explode at any moment…

If Moorhead winning twice in a row isn’t unlocking the seventh seal to hell, I don’t know what is…

If you wanna check out the game-winning gold, here's the link: https://youtu.be/0X2-GukYFMI?si=SIH7DmZdECwE8eKS

Thanks, that was fun

WAS fun...

The 2026 Winter Olympics are over.  And it ended exceptionally well.  For the first time in my lifetime, the United States of America won gold, scoring the game winning goal in overtime over Canada.

It was a great thing to see.  Until some lifesize assholes decided to politicize it.

The head of the FBI, who had no BUSINESSS being there, crashes the celebration in the locker room and helps himself to a beer.

Then the president calls to congratulate the team.  and complains about the women's team, WHO ALSO WON GOLD IN OVERTIME, wanting equal time.  Or any time really...

Never at any point was it about the athletes' accomplishments.  It was about the powers that be, what THEY wanted, what THEY thought THEY deserved...

Worse, some of the men accepted the orange one's invitation to the White House on their way back to play in the NHL.  Some as early as TOMORROW...

The women did not accept their invite, but Flavor Flav has them covered.  He'll hold a celebration with them once their season is done in...  May? (I assume that's when the PWHL is done for the year).  Some of them have to go back to school, as they are still playing in the NCAA.  Their season will be done in a few weeks, but they'll still be working for degrees at their various universities, and (I assume) will not be done until May (as well).

It's no skin off my ass.  I don't watch the NHL.  Haven't since they cancelled the 2004-05 season.  They don't need my money either.

I'd love to be in Vegas when Flav honors the women's team this summer.  Considering how he's celebrated the accomplishments of others, I'd love to see it go down.

If I end up dead after this is published, I'm also posting it on Discord and Tumblr.  Good luck trying to remove it from there...

Please, no

I really hope we're not headed to several years worth of Red Wings-Penguins Stanley Cup Finals. It might be great for the NHL, but I just have no interest in seeing it. Not the first time, not this time, not any future times.

Pulling the goalie while down 2 with only 3 minutes to go? Tying it up with 2 goals in the final minute of regulation? Winning it in overtime?

In the most bizarre season EVER, the Boston University Terriers are your 2008-09 NCAA Divison I Men's Hockey National Champions.

When you do what you did, I guess you certaintly deserve being the national champions. Congratulations.

At least, you weren't those numbnuts from Grand Forks...

Why I don't care anymore

Usually when I'm helping a customer at work for a prolonged period of time, they'll pop the following question on me:

"Where did you go to school at?"

And I answer. Which leads to a long-winded explanation about how I dislike my alma mater, North Dakota State University.

Two things led me to choosing to go there nearly 10 years ago:
1. Being a North Dakota resident, I got in-state tuition. Not that it was much of a discount. Maybe a couple hundred per semester.
2. This was the clincher. The Bison. My mom also went to NDSU, so I took this side in the near-daily debates in junior high about which team was better, the Bison or the Sioux (in-state rival University of North Dakota).

Unfortunately, after I gradumatated, they made many changes that I disagreed with. The forced resignation of the head of the Computer Science department and subsequent installation of a puppet leader. Turning Churchill Field into a parking lot for heavy machinery while the Memorial Union was expanded. The reorganization of ITS (which lead to the termination of a good acquaintence of mine). Announcing an addition to the Wellness Center 10 minutes after it opened. It just isn't the same school that I was excited to start at in the fall of 1999. Maybe growing up took a little shine off the apple. I could concede that.

The killer though? NDSU deciding to move to Division I athletics.

What the hell were they thinking? Did they have such a hard-on for the increased revenues that they just had to pop that cherry as soon as humanly possible?

I think the Sports Guy, Bill Simmons, proved my point with his October 11th mailbag. He had gotten an e-mail from a friend, describing what a Colorado/Arizona NLCS meant. I quote, "I'm convinced that sports is all about history. If there's history, it's interesting. If not, who cares?"

This is EXACTLY why I don't care any more.

In 1999, the North Central Conference consisted of Northern Colorado, Nebraska-Omaha, South Dakota, South Dakota State, St. Cloud State, Minnesota State Mankato, Augustana, Morningside, North Dakota State, and North Dakota. A very strong conference, capable of generating two to three teams every year to seriously compete for the Division II Football Championship. And no school in that conference had generated more D-II football champions (8) than the Bison. Every year, there were three things you wanted to see as a Bison fan: undefeated season, national championship, and a win against the Sioux.

Heck, even a 1-10 season could have been considered a partial success if that one and only win would have been against UND. As I am fond of saying, "Without villians, there'd be no heroes." NDSU moving to Division I meant that there would be no more Bison/Sioux matchups for the Nickel Trophy (mostly because UND pussed out, but NDSU could have stayed D-II). After more than 100 contests, both regular season and playoffs, there'd be nothing to look forward to every fall (since NDSU could not qualify for the I-AA playoffs due to reclassification).

And North Dakota State at Minnesota IS NOT an acceptable substitute. Why? Again, the history. This week's matchup in the Twin Cities is only the second ever meeting between these two teams. The only people who truly care about the outcome of this game (that won't actually be playing it) are the gomers in North Dakota who are looking for a big upset and the national spotlight. Not going to happen. The Gophers are not on par with the Wolverines. Not now, maybe not ever. ESPN will not sit up and take notice if the Bison knock off the Gophers in the Metrodome.

And it's just not football either. The women's basketball team, which would draw more fans per night then the men's team, was a national D2 powerhouse. 5 titles in 6 years in the early-to-mid 90's. Now? You really think they have a chance against Tennessee? Connecticut? I thought so.

Other teams were on the rise too. The men's basketball was just getting their act together. Now they just have to settle for a lifetime of upsets over teams like Wisconsin and Marquette. Track and field was always strong. I think there are a few individual national champions in there. Women's soccer and men's baseball were also starting to gather steam. Now none of them will ever bring home gold.

The last real tie I had with the school was the NDSU Hockey Club. There had always been talk of starting a hockey program at NDSU. I always thought it could work. They wanted to top-down the effort. A vote to build a stadium for a team that didn't exist. Then someone realized it would have to be bottom-up effort. Start with a competitive club team. Play other club teams. Gradually build up the interest. Problem is, for some reason, people in Fargo don't care about hockey players over the age of 14 (and in some cases, 18). There's a reason one Junior team has left and another one might be on the way out. Title IX didn't help either. Appearently, you have to add both a mens team and womens team, or neither.

Unfortunately, after a couple of seasons, someone dropped the ball. I don't know what happened last year, but no one called me to help out. No one updated the web site. If you don't care, then we don't care.

So, what now? Nothing. It's over. We're through. I just don't care anymore.

Go team!

If you're an NDSU student or alumnus, visit NDSU Bison Hockey. Support the developing hockey program. Go to a game, or 12. Tell all your friends. Shout it from the rooftops. Stand outside someone's house with a boombox over your head.

If you have no affiliation with North Dakota State, you may ignore this post.

If you're a UND supporter, FUCK OFF!!

A million and one comments

Well, it's been a while since I've done this, so let's get started...

The NHL is back. And I really don't care. It doesn't look like Dallas is going to have much of a chance this year. And since I don't get OLN in Fargo, I won't see a televised hockey game until January. It's almost like hockey is non-existent.

The Who are freakin' awesome. A great classic rock band. I have to delve deeper into that genre of music someday.

I've sure you've all seen the signs (#1 and #2). The apocalypse approaches. Beg for your god(s) forgiveness. The end is coming.

PHP is an amazing language.

Sometimes I wonder why I should ever be on-call at work. No one ever calls me.

I think I've become so bored with the original CSI, I might start watching the Miami spin-off. And yes, that might make me a hypocrite.

For a few days there, I was thinking of taking my blog in a more personal direction and talking more about my day-to-day experiences. Then I realized that I don't do anything.

I'm so glad the baseball season is over. It was one of the most painful ever. Totally sucked. A complete write up in the coming weeks. Or months. Or years. Whatever.

These should be "In the game"

Top Ten Easter Eggs/Features Needed To Be Added To EA Sports Series Games:

1. (NHL Series) The Mighty Ducks. Charlie Conway and the whole bunch. Use their current vital stats (height, weight, age, etc.). Give them a few jerseys (Original District 5, Green Ducks, Anaheim home and away, USA). Put them on the ice. Three problems, however. One: only 19 kids between the 3 movies, not enough for a full roster of 20. Two: Greg Goldburg. Do you add him twice? Definitely add him as a goalie. But he got moved to Defenseman in the 3rd movie. Three: Fulton Reed. Elden Henson is a big guy now. And blond.

2. (MVP Baseball Series) Rick "Wild Thing" Vaughn. Pedro Cerrano. Jake Taylor. Willie "Mays" Hays. Roger Dorn. Rube Baker. I could go on and on. Add some of the screwballs from the Major League movies. However, you have to choose where to draw the line. I don't think the purists would like the Buzz players or Carlos Liston. Oh, and you HAVE to put Harry Doyle/Bob Uecker in the broadcast booth!!

3. (MVP Baseball Series) The Sandlot kids. Along the same lines as the Mighty Ducks.

4. (NHL Series) The Hanson Brothers from Slap Shot. Anyone familiar with the series knows about the "EA Blades" uniforms for the custom teams in the games from the late 90's and early 00's. I wonder where they got the color scheme and logo from... If you're going to blanatly rip someone off, go all the way or don't bother.

5. (All Series) Classic and All-Time Teams. Early Madden games were great about this. You could unlock as use the '75 Pittsburgh Steelers or '85 Chicago Bears. And the arcade version of RBI Baseball used all-tme greats to make up their teams. Put Terrell Owens, Jerry Rice, and Dwight Clark in Joe Montana's receiving corps, and watch the points pile up.

6. (All Series) More uniforms!! Yes, even those hideous powder blue uniforms MLB teams wore on the road in the late 70's to early 90's. Side note: I don't actually think they're that bad, I just like making fun of them.

7. (All Series) Limits on points you can use to create custom players. It's too tempting to make a team full of 100's. But still make unlimited points an unlockable feature. I always have to be the best player on the team. :)

8. (All Series) Pre-loaded classic players. I want a REALISTIC Kirby Puckett roaming the outfield at the Metrodome. Just type in a player's name when creating him, and if that player exists, auto load and set his ability levels.

9. (All Series) More control creating uniforms for custom teams. I hate borrowing from Pittsburgh and Boston when creating my "The Cheats" hockey uniforms. Give us the basic shapes from the existing teams and some additional ones, and let us set the colors. And more logo choices. Give us some fonts, single letters, shapes of the sports equipment, and let us go nuts.

10. (All Series) More control over the music. The NHL Dittie Importer is nice, but I want more control over WHEN the music is played. Like NHL 2002, I can't set the songs for the game introduction sequence.

Honorable Mention: Put game soundtracks out!! I so wanted to buy the MVP Baseball 2003 soundtrack instead of hunting for the individual songs on the iTunes Music Store.

The Paul Fritz Invitational (insert sport here) Tournament

When I get rich, I'd like to host 6 celebrity sports tournaments a year. I'd have hockey in January, basketball in March, softball in May, golf in July, soccer in September, and flag football in November. Each would consist of 8 teams. With the obvious exception of golf, the teams would be split into 2 pools of 4, then seeded for a single elimination bracket to determine the winner.

The whole thing would be for charity. Every player and team would be playing for the cause of their choice. Each member of the winning team would get $5,000. Each captain would get $10,000. The winning team gets $25,000. Every participant gets $2,000, and every team gets $10,000. For the golf tournament, the overall individual winner would get $10,000.

Teams would consist of musicians, actors, former pro athletes, my friends, and me. No pro athlete can play in the tournament that he/she went pro in (example: Tom Glavine and Cal Ripken Jr. could play in the hockey and soccer tournaments respectively, but neither could play in the softball tournament).

Teams sizes are as follows: 11 for hockey (2 lines, 2 defensive pairings, 1 goalie), 8 for basketball (5v5, 3 bench players), 11 for softball (10 starters plus an extra), 4-man golf teams, 8 for soccer (1 goalie, and 7 players to be arranged in any manner desired by the captain), and 8 for football (7v7 and 1 extra). Players would be split into teams based on their individual ability. The idea is that every team has an equal chance as possible to win.

For each tournament, 2 areas of play would be needed. Again, golf is the exception, where half the teams would start at the 1st hole and the other half at the 10th. Of course, all tournaments would be held in Fargo.

After a winner has been crowned, festivities would commence. These would include a music concert, several video game stations (most likely with the same sport as the tournament), an awards ceremony.

Come over to the dark side...

The NBA playoffs have been WAY better than the NHL playoffs this year. And I'm a man who loves hockey and hates basketball. Why has the NBA put out a better product?

1. Minnesota Timberwolves made it all the way to the Western Conference Finals. This was the first year they won a playoff series. They beat Sacramento in 7. They forced Los Angeles to a Game 6, when most people expected the Wolves to lose in at most 5. But the best part about KG and the T-Wolves run? Someone else cared. I watched several playoff games with my buddies John, John, Brian, and Aaron. Going over to the Maxwell's place became almost ritualistic.

2. The Lakers. OK, most people don't like them, and I was rooting against them in the Minnesota series. But I would like to see Payton and Malone finally win. On one condition: they walk off into the sunset after the Finals.

3. Dallas, Colorado, Detroit, Toronto, and Philadelphia all lost in the NHL playoffs. I wanted to see at least one of these teams win it all. Dallas was one and done. Detroit, Colorado, and Toronto left after the second round. And Philly lost in the Eastern Conference Finals.

4. Calgary and Tampa Bay. I'm not Canadian and I'm not from Florida. I just don't care.

5. The commercials for the NBA playoffs. The Black Eyed Peas rewrote the lyrics to their song "Let's Get Retarded" to fit the basketball theme. The song has a great beat, the TV spots feature some of the NBA's greatest legends, and Fergie is a hottie. The other commercials feature the NBA trophy (I have no idea what it's called) as an object of affection. Gary Payton professing his love outside the window. Jermaine O'Neal waiting for her (it?) to get ready in Larry Bird's living room. Clever. I like it.

OK, I'm back. Finally. I tried to do this blog thing because I thought it would be fun, after less than 3 weeks, it's become a burden of work. Just like my web site. I want to work on it, but I'm not patient enough to sit down and type for a half hour every night. *SHRUG*

I've got so much to say, but I always forget. I should write these things down...

I saw "Miracle" last night. Wow. Sure, I knew the ending, but it really hit me emotionally. Even before the start of the game against the Russians, I was getting choked up; wanting, hoping the US to win. It was a great movie. About as good as you could get, but it probably didn't even carry 1/1000th of the emotion of the actual situation.

It rained today. YAY!! I don't have to wash my car.

The Twins are back in first. It's where they belong. Still 150 to go...

Oops, I just noticed my 4/10 post only has 9 movies listed, instead of the 10 I promised. "Kill Bill" takes up that last spot.

OK, those Weezer lyrics. Let's start with the Blue Album. Here they are... (all lyrics by Rivers Cuomo)

---

-- "If you want to destroy my sweater/Hold this thread as I walk away" - Undone (The Sweater Song)
-- "Dear Daddy/I write you in spite of years of silence./You've cleaned up, found Jesus,/things are good or so I hear./This bottle of Steven's/awakens ancient feelings./Like father, stepfather, the son is drowning in the flood." - Say It Ain't So
-- "Oh no! What do I do?/Don't look now but I lost my shoe" - Buddy Holly

That's 3. 17 to go. Expect Pinkerton lyrics in the next post.

I'm not asking for much in life right now. Just a job after I graduate, someone to love, and a few thousand dollars to buy some neat toys. Um, that's not much, right?

Scotty, beam me out.

OK, here's a short list of about 10 movies I want to see and why (no particular order):

1. The Girl Next Door - Elisha Cuthbert is hot, and the movie looks pretty good. And Cuthbert is hot.
2. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - Let's face it. Jim Carrey is hilarious. He should have gotten an Oscar for "Man on the Moon". He should get one for this movie. Oh, and it has Kirsten Dunst, and she's hot.
3. Jersey Girl - Kevin Smith grows up and writes a more mature movie. Good for him. This movie KINDA stole my idea, but it did it really well. Affleck is good, Carlin has a sharp wit, and Liv Tyler takes a shower (while half-naked).
4. Walking Tall - The Rock beats people with a 4x4 piece of wood. Cool. And that part where he scares the guy into running into that support beam. I want to be able to do that.
5. Miracle - It has hockey. It has Americans beating the Russians. It has Kurt Russell doing a damn fine job of being Herb Brooks. U! S! A!
6. Starsky and Hutch - A buddy cop action comedy. With Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson. Need I say more?
7. Spider-Man 2 - The first one was amazing. The casting was perfect, the action intense, and the Kirsten Dunst. The second one looks to be more of the same, but better.
8. The Punisher - "You can't kill me, I'm already dead." One pissed-off guy with nothing else to lose brings punishment to the one who wronged him. Something I'd like to do very much. And was that Rebecca Romjin-Stamos? She looks good (which is rare).
9. Hellboy - Another movie based on a Marvel comic. It's kinda way out there, but the casting looks pretty good. Same goes for the action.

OK, so those aren't the best choices in the world. It's my money. I'll spend it however I wish, thank you very much.

Onto new business...

The Dallas Stars are screwed. They aren't getting past the first round. They can't win on the road, or get the offensive support they need. And Marty just can't cut it in goal during crunch time. I blame him for not winning the cup. Next season (whenever that will be) doesn't look too good either.

I really gotta get some homework done this weekend. Boo.

This is a test.

Damn, I've run out of things to say. Which angers me, cuz I got a lot to say. I just forgot all of it. Oh well. Save it for later.

Oh, what a night.

We had our last session of co-ed intramural hockey last night. After playing like crap the first half of the pick-up game, I came back to score four goals and get an assist. Each time I scored, I was standing in front of the net cleaning up the garbage. I don't know how I found the back of the net so many times. I guess I just got those lucky bounces.

When we were done playing, we went over to Mick's Office in Moorhead. And we sat there and drank. We all got drunk. I had about 6 beers. We told stories about drinking, hockey, drinking, bodily injury, drinking, and puking. Then, as the bar started to close for the night, we decide to get something to eat. We go the the Fry'n Pan and ordered breakfast (except me, I got a Turkey Club with fries). No one got home until 3:30 AM!!

Joe Mauer needs knee surgery. He's going to be out at least three weeks. That Pierzynski trade is looking more and more like a brilliant move...

I need a new alarm clock. And I'm really only looking for two features. I want one with a CD player and a digital radio tuner. Is that really too much to ask? It must be, 'cuz the cheapest one I could find was over $50. Maybe Target has cheaper ones.