Tournament time is the perfect diversion
Around most of the United States, a mention of “tournament time” makes people think of the NCAA’s vast basketball tournament. But of course, there’s more. There is the NCAA men’s hockey tournament, and there is the Minnesota state boys basketball tournament.
The beauty of the late-March tournament time this year is that it provides all the benefits of a psychologist’s couch as an escape from the daily new and political hassles that have dominated our lives since November. We can suffer great anguish all day from listening to news reports and analytical pieces by news outlets that are vital to all in our society with the exception of those sleight-of-hand artists in the administration. And then at night, ahhhhhhh...we can relax in our favorite chair and lose ourselves in a tournament game of some sport or another.
This weekend, while the NCAA basketball battles boil down from the Sweet 16, the 16 selections for the NCAA hockey tournament will gather in four regionals. In the East, at Providence, Harvard is top-seeded and will face Providence at 3 p.m.; Air Force, coached by Minnesota’s own Frank Serratore, will take on Western Michigan at 6:30. Winners play Saturday.
The other Friday-Saturday bracket is the West, at Fargo, N.D., where North Dakota will face Boston University at 2 p.m., followed at 5:30 by UMD taking on Ohio State in the second semifinal.
In the Northeast, at Manchester on Saturday, Massachusetts-Lowell takes on Cornell at 11 a.m., and Minnesota faces Notre Dame at 2:30, with the winners colliding Sunday.
In the Midwest Regional at Cincinnati, the Saturday pairings have top-seeded Denver facing Michigan Tech at noon, and Union meeting Big Ten upstart Penn State at 3:30. Penn State is the story of the tournament so far, rising from being out of contention at the Big Ten tournament in Detroit to knock off Michigan 4-1 Thursday, beat Minnesota 4-3 in two overtimes Friday, and then beat Wisconsin 2-1 in two overtimes Saturday -- three victories in three days, and two of them double overtime. Freshman goaltender Peyton Jones, who made 51 saves and allowed only one goal in the title game, had absorbed two losses at Michigan to end the regular season, but rose up to eliminate the Wolverines, before becoming impenetrable against Minnesota and Wisconsin.
But while Big Ten fans of Michigan and Wisconsin can suffer with the losses of their hockey teams, both can rejoice and switch channels to watch some basketball. When Minnesota drew a No. 5 seed, I was among those who wondered how the basketball selection committee could rank the Gophers ahead of a Wisconsin team that had been consistently strong all season, and a Michigan team that came on with a rousing finish to capture the Big Ten tournament. After the Gophers fell apart in an ugly loss to Middle Tennessee State, we learn that not only did Wisconsin and Michigan prove their abilities, they became the main story in the entire NCAA basketball tournament.
To recap the first two rounds, a wise analyst might say that Villanova, Louisville, and Duke were among the favorites to go all the way. But Louisville, coached by Richard Pitino’s dad, Rick, was beaten 73-69 by upstart Michigan, which had opened by upsetting Oklahoma State. Wisconsin, getting solid clutch scoring despite foul trouble, shocked Villanova, rallying from a 7-point deficit to eliminate the defending NCAA champs and No. 1 seed 65-62.
So the two Big Ten teams I thought deserved higher seedings, went out on the court and took down the higher seeded foes to join Purdue among Sweet 16 teams. Michigan is playing like a team of destiny, and Wisconsin is being Wisconsin, reaching the Sweet 16 for an amazing fourth straight season. That means senior like Bronson Koenig, who is from LaCrosse, and forward Nigel Hayes are finishing their fourth years with their fourth straight Sweet 16.
The second round ended with South Carolina, playing an awful first half where they trailed Duke 30-23 at halftime, put on a masterful display in the second half, hitting 20 of 28 shots to stun Duke 88-81. The lads at Duke, Villanova and Louisville must be in shock.
To try and get into the basketball frame of mind, I went out and watched Esko topple Proctor 48-43 in a Section 7AA game at Romano Gym. It was a neighborhood battle, not always pretty, and after Esko moved out to a 32-22 lead early in the second half, the Rails turned to a half-court press and closed up to 41-38.
Brett Bower, a sophomore guard for Proctor, hit a jump shot near the end to close the gap to 46-43, but the Rails ran a desperation drive-and-try-to-get-fouled play that backfired. Not only did the shot miss, but junior Esko guard Quinn Fischer, who was knocked flat on the play, recovered and sank both free throws with 12 seconds remaining and the Eskomos won 48-43.
But alas, Esko lost a couple players to injuries, including Fischer, and fell 52-46 to Crosby-Ironton in the 7AA final.
This weekend, and for the next two, relax and enjoy the best that sports has to offer. And then we can go back to wondering what Trump’s guys and those Russians were up to.
