All Entries in the "Sports" Category
Sports Notes: The View from Fargo
I’ve been asked by more than a few people how life’s been in Fargo as we near the six-month residency benchmark. What they’re really asking is, “How’s your sports habit working out up there?” Just fine, thank you. Here’s the view from Fargo… or as 1940′s WDAY radio broadcasts used to call us, “The Northwest.” As [...]
Give Kiffin Time, He’ll Give Tennessee Fans Six
Legendary Tennessee broadcaster John Ward used to say “Give… Him… Six” on Vols touchdowns. New head football coach Lane Kiffin will have this program scoring points, wins and more for years to come if he’s given the time he needs to change what has become a culture of average. Go to any city in the nation and talk [...]
The WDAY NFL “Experts” Competition Getting Nasty
It started out as fun. I called us the WDAY Cast of Characters (this includes Jeff Kolpack from the Forum…he’s also on WDAY and he’s definitely a character). We’d pick three or four NFL games every week with the winner getting dinner bought at the Fargo-Moorhead restaurant of his/her choosing. Now, just three weeks into the [...]
The Favre Factor on WDAY (video)
I was on the air this morning when the biggest announcement in the history of the world came through our newsroom. It aired on ESPN, the BBC…even a baby yak that speaks English helped Sherpas in Nepal understand the significance of the moment: Brett Favre is back and he signed with the Minnesota Vikings. After [...]
Brett Favre Feeling Minnesota?
And so The Favre Dance begins again. Back on August 1, 2008 I wrote a piece about Brett Favre and the Packers. Namely, that I believed the Packers and Favre were better off together. The flurry of talk at the time was the idea Favre and Green Bay might work out a deal for him to join the Minnesota Vikings. [...]
The Batting Cage
As spring is settling in here in Minnesota, summer is in the on-deck circle. And with summer around the corner, this means many things to different people: Going to the beach house at the Jersey Shore every weekend, heading up to the Maine coast, traveling “up north to the cabin” here in our state and [...]
Eye on Monday: Baseball 2009
Baseball is back. From Fenway Park and new Yankee Stadium on the east coast to Safeco Field and PETCO Park on the west coast, the scent of brats, dogs, barbecue and beer begins filling stadiums in earnest today. Some of my fondest memories growing up were the many nights I spent with my family in [...]
A Trophy for Everyone: The Seeds of Entitlement
When I was growing up, I played sports. Basketball was what I eventually settled on by high school but prior to that I also played baseball and ran track. When there was a tournament during the year or the playoffs at the end of the season, there were winners and there were losers. The winners got [...]
Why Not Play the BCS Championship Game in June
By Christopher Gabriel, CGabriel.com Another college football season has come to an end. The Florida Gators are your BCS National Champions after defeating the Oklahoma Sooners, 24-14. Two things stick out about this win. This is Florida’s third national championship, the second under head coach Urban Meyer in the past three years. And this ties the latest [...]
Blackhawks Win and Lose in Winter Classic
By Christopher Gabriel, CGabriel.com I spent New Year’s Eve at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul watching the Minnesota Wild defeat the San Jose Sharks in overtime. On a brutally cold night outside, it was a warm, festive atmosphere inside. Watching the game with a dear friend I had reconnected with after not seeing each other [...]
The Winter Classic at Wrigley: Do We Throw Back the Pucks?
By Christopher Gabriel, CGabriel.com It’s said that a boy (or girl) roots for the teams his dad follows. That was true for me when I was growing up in the 1960′s and it remains in play today. As a native of Chicago and having a father who came from the South Side, I naturally threw my allegiance [...]
Same Time Next Year for BCS
By Christopher Gabriel, CGabriel.com A little over one year ago, back on Dececmber 2, 2007, I wrote a piece called BCS a Mess After Another Wild Saturday. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Sure it’s an overused, rather tired old phrase. And so is the discussion of whether or not college football [...]
For Tennessee, Progress is in the Risk
By Christopher Gabriel, CGabriel.com The Phillip Fulmer Era at the University of Tennessee has ended. The final statement in his long tenure on the Vols sideline was a 28-10 win over Kentucky. After several Gatorade showers, a brief interview on ESPN and lots of hugs, smiles and a few tears, he was carried off the field by his players while clutching [...]
Giving Thanks Shouldn’t Be So Hard
By Christopher Gabriel, CGabriel.com Every year in late November families and friends gather to eat, watch football, eat a little more and watch even more football. It happens on a Thursday, usually early in the afternoon. Sometimes there’s wine and other assorted alcoholic beverages to go with the food. Other times it’s simply water and [...]
Phillip Fulmer: A Man for Too Many Seasons
By Christopher Gabriel, CGabriel.com It’s deer hunting season here in Minnesota. The first shot was fired sometime around dawn on Saturday, November 8. More than 500,000 hunters go after deer annually throughout the Land of 10,000 Lakes. Similarly, the first shots already have been fired in the annual college football coach hunting season. The major heads on the [...]
Sugar and Spice Not Always So Nice
By Christopher Gabriel, CGabriel.com My wife and I live in a lovely suburb of Minneapolis. Good schools, lots of parks and lakes, plenty of restaurants . . . nice. The other day, I went to a nice coffee shop in our nice suburb and saw a picture on the wall that wasn’t so nice. The photo showed approximately 20 young women in [...]
When the Team Goes South, Don’t Blame the Boo-Birds
By Christopher Gabriel, CGabriel.com When I go to sporting events, I don’t boo. It doesn’t matter if my team is playing like a bunch of sheep wearing cleats and helmets, I just don’t boo. I simply turn to my wife and berate the team . . . to her. Thankfully, after 19 years she still indulges me. [...]
Will We Survive Without the Yankees in October?
By Christopher Gabriel, CGabriel.com The New York Yankees have been put on alert: Win, and win now. The fate of the world is in your hands. While that may not be completely true, sports pundits will have you believe the very foundation of baseball is crumbling and the blame rests at the gates of Yankee Stadium. Maybe [...]
College Football Should Do Away with Preseason Rankings
By Christopher Gabriel, CGabriel.com I love college football. It is unlike any other sport on the planet. The pageantry, traditions and unbridled emotion from its fans allow it to walk alone in its uniqueness. College football also walks alone when it comes time to crown a champion. Rather than have an actual playoff, there is an Olympic figure skating-like system combining [...]
Olympic Pressure: Could You Handle It?
By Christopher Gabriel, CGabriel.com During the Olympic Games, a curious phrase that seems as old as the Olympics themselves keeps turning up. A phrase that consistently finds its way out of the mouths of broadcasters. You’ve heard it right after a team, let’s say the U.S. women’s gymnastics team, has failed to win a gold medal: “. . . [...]
Beijing’s Moment of Spectacle Marred by Reality
This wasn’t supposed to happen. Not here. Not during China’s moment. This would be more than just a nation’s 15 minutes of fame. That’s what we’ve been told since Beijing was awarded these Olympic Games. This was going to be a country playing show and tell with the world, and the world would be dutifully impressed. [...]
