Badger! Badger! Badger! Badger!

Mahshroom! Mahshroom!

I watched the Badgers tonight--not the above ones but the ones that roam the rolling hills and cheesing gullies of Wisconsin.

Yes, the type that glares and struts. I'd glare too if I had to play an entire game plus two and half full-length overtime periods--for the uninitiated n00bz, that's 110 minutes of hockey. That's intense in ten cities. That's not just sudden-death overtime; overdeath doesn't even cut it; that's über overdeath. At least they won.

I fell in love with three men tonight--you know, in that man-crush sort of way:

One) Robbie Earl. Sixth-round pick for the Toronto Maple Leafs (187th overall). He played so hard that by the third overdeath period, his legs would cramp up to the point that he'd have to crawl back to the bench. Once he was helped over the boards by his teammates, he'd sit behind the bench, kneeling on his haunches in order to stretch out the cramps until his next shift. Out he'd hobble; play 'til he once again left everything on the ice; hobble back; repeat. That's heart. I wonder how many of the fallen Toronto Maple Leafs were watching this game tonight, watching their future Leaf, Robbie Earl. How did this guy get overlooked for five rounds in the draft?

Two) Brian Elliot - Ninth-round pick for the Ottawa Senators (291st overall). Not only was Elliot the winning goalie tonight, he posted a shutout. Not only that, he played over eleven perfect periods of playoff hockey spanning over the 5+ periods of tonight's game and the two previous games. Drafting this guy in the ninth round is like finding a first edition of LotR at Half-Priced Books.

Three) Jack Skille - Seventh overall pick in 2005 for the Chicago Blackhawks. Scouting got this one right. Skille's 5th overdeath period goal released the tension tonight--literally: A replay shot from the Cornell bench showed several Cornell Big Red players quite literally deflate. It looked like the Cornell jerseys faded a few hues of red. Exhausted and defeated, a couple collapsed to the floor of the bench, on which the entire team had been sweating, spitting, and snot-rocketing for 110 game-minutes.

Since there will be no Gophers in the Final Four this year, I think it's safe to cheer on another member of Rodenia.

Go Badgers! Badgers! Badgers! Badgers! Badgers! Badgers! Badgers! Badgers! Mahshroom! Mahshroom!