Dogs!

The Vikings, Timberwolves and Wild have given little to nothing to cheer about this year.  So far the Twins have also been a disappointment.  I hope that the Twins tickets we purchased for August will be worthwhile – maybe they can turn things around…maybe.  With all of the losing seasons at the professional level of sports, we’ve been fortunate to have some college athletics to cheer about.

The UMD Bulldogs football team won a national title this past fall.  Mike and Sebastian made a few of the games including a December playoff game.  The weather was terrible – bitter cold with gale force winds, but UMD pulled off the win.  Now the Bulldog men’s hockey team brought home their own national title.  This was the first year that we’ve had season tickets (for Friday nights).  As friends of ours told us, you need to embrace winter in Minnesota.  They have had their own set of season tickets for the past few years.  In addition to all the skiing and skating the kids do now, having hockey tickets has made winter much more bearable and perhaps, dare I say, enjoyable this year.  With a new hockey arena to play in, it’s been fun to learn who the players are and actually understand the game a little more.  Sebastian loves our seats – only three rows up from the ice and very close to the action.  Sometimes a little too close for me as the guys get checked into the boards.  We even had a hockey stick go through the seal between two sections of glass and break off during the Gopher game.  Sebastian brought home the broken stick as a souvenir.  Sophia enjoys watching the Bulldog mascot, Champ, and also the cheerleaders during the game.  Even more so, she enjoys the concession stand food.  Her favorite so far is the Cold Stone Creamery mint chocolate chip ice cream.

After a disappointing run in the WCHA playoffs, the Bulldogs hockey team made an amazing run in the NCAA playoffs.  When they won the championship game against Michigan last Saturday, we were all beyond excited.  A welcome home reception for the team was held this past Wednesday night at AMSOIL Arena.  The kids wanted to get autographs from the team and see the NCAA trophy.  Sebastian wore his UMD hockey jersey and we bought a UMD hockey t-shirt for Sophia to get autographed.  There was a big crowd and before the program was over, Sebastian and I got in line for autographs and Sophia and Mike joined us.  Two hours later and with a ketchup stain on Sophia’s new Bulldog t-shirt, the kids had their autographed apparel complete with each of the team member’s signatures.