Looking at the glass half full

Posted 2/7/01

Looking at the glass half full

Drew's Views
By Andrew Vitalis

I still can't believe it. 41-0! Itís been three weeks and I canít get my mind off of that embarrassing performance. I know what I said before.

ìVikings overachieved, be happy with what they did because it was better than anyone of us expected.î Well, that is true unless of course your team loses 41-0 in the NFC Championship game. So I decided to get my mind off of Vikings and think happier thoughts and there were lots of them. What follows is a list that all Minnesota sports fans can use to drown away the sorrows, at least until next year.

The first great sports story that is going on is the success of the Minnesota Wild. They have already accomplished so much. Currently they are only four games under .500. They have made the Xcel Energy Center one of the hardest places to play in the NHL, especially over the past 15 games in which they have gone 7-4-4.

Four of those recent seven home victories have come against some of the best teams in the league (Dallas, Detroit, Ottawa, and L.A). They have not only enjoyed success at home but have also been recent road warriors.

Their victory over the Los Angeles Kings a week ago Saturday gave them another franchise first, back to back road victories (5-0 over Anaheim three nights before). The team that we most identify our success with, the Columbus Blue Jackets, has 43 points compared to the Wild's 47. Currently the Wild have more points than eight NHL teams including the New York Rangers, Anaheim Mighty Ducks, and the Florida Panthers.

And if all that isn't enough, it is almost guaranteed that the Wild will break the best record ever by a NHL expansion team, 33-34-17 held by the Florida Panthers in the 93-94 season. Not too shabby.

Sticking with the hockey theme, how about the play of the St. Cloud State Huskies this season. Two weeks ago they reached their highest national ranking in school history at #3. After a sweep over Michigan Tech three weeks ago, they jumped into first place in the WCHA, the first time it happened this late in the season since 99.

Their top goalie, Scott Meyer, ranks fourth in Hobey Baker balloting which is the award given to the best player in college hockey.

Currently, they rank third in the nation in power play percentage and fourth in goals allowed, ahead of hockey powers Michigan, Boston College, and New Hampshire in both.

More impressive than all of the stats is that this Husky team is doing all of it with the second youngest roster in the league (9 freshmen). Finally, we have another college hockey team to cheer for besides the Gophers.

Speaking of the Gophers, they are my third good news story of this ìForget about the Vikingsî period. I think it is safe to say that the U of M menís basketball team has surprised us all. How is a team that only has 9 scholarships have a record of 15-7 going into February? I wish I knew.

Granted the Gophers are currently tied for 10th in the Big Ten, but with games against Northwestern, Indiana, Michigan and Penn State coming up, the Gophers could finish with a 7-9 record in the conference.

More important than that however is with another four to five wins, they will to be considered as an NCAA tournament team. No matter what happens from here, the chances are pretty good that they will at least make it to the NIT.

I donít think I am alone when I say that I didnít think that they would have been good enough to make it to the high school basketball tourney. Good coaching, a lot of heart, and a work ethic like no other has made myself and many others forget about Clem ìThe Gemî Haskins and start thinking about Dan ìThe Manî Monson.

So you see, even though we were all so disgusted after the Vikings game that we didnít want to associate ourselves with the state of Minnesota, there are great things going on right now with other sports. I had much more to choose from but these were the three that I chose to help us move on.

I realize that it doesn't fully erase the pain, but if it can dull it a bit, my job is done. Of course there is one thing to remember. When training camp starts back up again in June for the Vikings, the pain is going to come back and come back hard. Getting rid of it is impossible. After all, I am a doctor, not a miracle worker.