We feel your pain

There's a lot of crestfallen folks in these parts with the Minnesota Vikings falling in overtime to the New Orleans Saints in the NFC championship game Sunday.  And it's not just because we're in Minnesota and the fact that the Vikings have their summer camp in Mankato on our campus every summer. 

The connections run much deeper then that with several of the Vikings front office staff members sharing ties with Maverick Athletics.  Assistant equipment manager Aaron Neumann attended MSU before transferring to Concordia where he was a three-year letterwinner with the Golden Bear football team.   Director of Operations - Team  Travel Luther Hippe was a graduate assistant in the MSU department of athletics in the early 1990s where he earned a graduate degree in 1994.  Tom West, the Vikings' Assistant Director of Public Relations, served as a graduate assistant in MSU Athletic Communications in 1994-95.  And Chad Lundeen, the Vikings' Director of Operations - Stadium and Team Logistics, was a member of the Maverick men's hockey team from 1994-98 where he tallied four goals and nine assists for 13 points in 55 career games.

As the post is entitled....."we feel your pain."   And not that losing is ever acceptable, but it's times like these that makes the world that we work in so captivating.  See you next summer.

Rolling Along.......Clinchoc Featured on msumavericks.com

Over the course of the 2009-10 campaign, Minnesota State's 12th-rated women's bowling team has posted wins over #1 Nebraska (Oct. 24) and #2 Vanderbilt (Nov. 5) en route to a 29-21 record.  Playing an integral role in MSU's success has been senior Ashley Clinchoc and the senior from Chesterfield, Mo., is featured here.  And, yes, her favorite bowling-related movie is Kingpin.

Home Sweet Home

Of the eight Minnesota State teams in action this weekend, six play at home, which leads to a fun and exciting weekend in the Maverick Athletic Communications Office.

The weekend kicked off last night with a 41-3 home victory for the Minnesota State wrestling team, ranked #12 in the nation, over UW-Eau Claire.  Minnesota State used a myriad of bonus points in the dual and won 9 of the 10 matches.   You can view the recap of the match here or see the play-by-play here.  Also, Tyler Buckentine was on hand for the match and gives this report on the new-look mankatofreepress.com.  The wrestling squad is off until Jan. 22 when it hosts MSU Moorhead.

The Maverick men's hockey team is in action this weekend as it hosts 10th-ranked Minnesota Duluth tonight at 7:37 and tomorrow at 7:07.  Tonight (Friday) the first 500-fans receive a MSU touque courtesy of McDonald's.  Game notes for the weekend series can be found here. Shane Frederick of the Mankato Free Press penned an article about this weekend's series, which can be found here.  Be sure to check out his blog for more information on this series and all other WCHA series this weekend.

Kevin Pates of the Duluth Tribune had this story in today's paper previewing the series.

The Maverick women's hockey team is also at home this weekend against Ohio State.  Game notes for the two-game series which begins tonight at 7:07 and ends tomorrow at 3:07 can be found here.  In other Maverick women's hockey news, Nina Tikkinen has been named to Finland's Olympic Hockey team.  Click here to view that story.  Tikkinen is the second Maverick women's player to be named to the Olympics this year, joining Sweden's Emilia Andersson (story here).

The Minnesota State men's and women's basketball teams return to the Taylor Center this weekend for a brief two-game stint.  The women's games are slated to begin at 6 p.m., with the men's to follow.  To view the game notes for the women, click here while the men's game notes are available here.  Pick up today's Mankato Free Press to read the College Basketball Notebook by Chad Courrier, which is not available on the Free Press website can be found here.

The Minnesota State women's swimming and diving team is in action this evening as it hosts Nebraska-Omaha at 6:30 p.m., in the Highland Pool.  Tomorrow, the men's and women's indoor track and field teams take to the road as they travel to Minnesota to participate in the Minnesota Open.

On a sad note, thoughts and prayers go out to the University of Southern Indiana men's basketball team as it suffered the loss of a student-athlete in last night's game. That story can be found here.

Interesting Take on Backes Fracus

Former Maverick men's hockey forward David Backes is slated to suit up for the United States at the 2010 Olympic Games, which starts next month in Vancouver.  Lately, though, the Blaine, Minn., native has been stirring the pot in his last three games with the St. Louis Blues.  STLToday.com has an interesting read about it right here.

Friday Morning Reads

Top of the Morning everyone...  Here are some links of interest on this chilly Friday morning.

Maverick Hoops:
Chad Courrier of the Mankato Free Press discussed how key the next three weeks are to the Minnesota State men's basketball season.  The column can be found here.

Courrier also inked a College basketball notebook which can be found here

The Minnesota State men's and women's teams hit the road this weekend, traveling to Upper Iowa and Winona State.

Live video of all four games can be found here

Live audio of the men's games - with the Voice of the Mavericks, Casey Lloyd - can be found here

Live Stats for the Upper Iowa games can be found here

Live Stats for the Winona State women's game can be found here

Live Stats for the Winona State men's game can be found here

Maverick Hockey:
Shane Frederick of the Mankato Free Press broke down this weekend's men's hockey series at North Dakota, here.

The college hockey notebook - also penned by Freddy - can be found here

Don't forget to check out Freddy's blog here.  Today's blog has an in-depth look at what's happening all across the WCHA.

The Grand Forks Herald previewed this weekend's series here

Audio for the series with Mike Sullivan of AM 1420 KTOE can be found here

Video of the series can be found here

Livestats can be found here

Tweet Tweet:
Don't forget to follow us on Twitter at: here and here  ...

Have a great weekend everyone...Stay warm!

Mavericks Previewed on Northern Sun Baseball Blog

Bill Wallace blogs about Northern Sun Baseball and is currently providing previews of the teams in the NSIC.  After taking a look at Augustana, Concordia and Southwest Minnesota State, he recently penned this about the 2010 Minnesota Baseball team.  You can find additional preseason information about the Mavericks here.

Congrats To Ryan Jutting

Congratulations to Ryan Jutting (son of Minnesota State men's hockey coach Troy Jutting and wife Carol Ann) who was named Top Hook by the Fairmont Jr. BASS Club.  A great honor for a great kid who has positioned himself as one of the top junior bass anglers in the region.  The photo and brief above was published in Sunday's (1/3) Mankato Free Press.

Cowbell Guy

Inspired by a Saturday Night Live skit featuring Will Ferrell doing a parody of Blue Oyster Cult recording Don't Fear the Reaper, MSU's Cowbell Guy has been a recognizable character at Maverick men's hockey games for several years.

MavBlog took a few moments to find out more about this unique individual.

Name: Dan Schmidt    •    Hometown: Coon Rapids, Minn.

MSU Grad? (year, major): Yes, I graduated with a BS in Business Management in spring of 2006

How long have you been coming to MSU Hockey games?: I have been coming to games since my freshman year in 2002. I can think of only 3 games since then that I have missed. I missed my very first series against the Gophers because me and my roommates were unable to get tickets before they were all sold out, and then I missed one game in my senior year because I was in my sister's wedding.

How did the Cowbell thing start?: At the time the Cowbell thing began, I had already made myself known in the crowd with the various signs I would bring to games and just being as loud as I could with my voice...which as you know is VERY loud! But, I started doing the Cowbell thing in my Junior year. The sound people at home games started playing the famous SNL Cowbell skit over the speakers in an attempt to get the fans more into the games. Back then, to be honest & fair, our team was pretty terrible and our fans for the most part didn't get into the game because there was very little reason to. The first couple of times I heard the skit, I would stand up and scream some of the words along with it (the same words I do now... "Guess what? I got a fever! And the only prescription, is MORE COWBELL!") to try to help pump up the crowd. It helped a little bit but not a whole lot. Then I thought to myself, 'Ya know, I'm an actual drummer and I have an actual drum set cowbell that I could bring in and play along with the skit and act just like Will Ferrel does in the skit.' Basically, I just said to myself I was gonna make an a$$ of myself in front of thousands of people and if it helped get them into the game, GREAT! And if not, oh well, I'm still having fun at a hockey game even though my team sucks. So no matter what happens, I'm having fun. I wasn't going to let a bad team/season or lackluster fans ruin my time. The rest, as they say, is history!

Where did you get the cowbell from and how much did it cost?: Regardless of where I get them, my cowbells generally cost between $25-35 each. My very first cowbell I got from Mars Music store back when they were still in business. I bought that one before I was ever even in college and it was intended for use only on my drumset at home. Now I get them all at Guitar Center, although one cowbell I got at Scheitel's Music in Mankato. That one, I got in Mankato because my cowbell got cracked and damaged too much during the Friday game and needed a new one for the next night. At the end of that series I decided, because I rail on my cowbells so hard and so much during hockey games, I need to just buy a brand new one for each new season. Then, at the first game of every  new season, I give my cowbell from the previous season to a little boy in the stands named Jake. I noticed a couple seasons ago that anytime I broke a drumstick, he would pick it up, take it home, and start bringing them the following seasons. I thought it was so cool to have a little kid look up to me like that so I decided to make him happy and let him have my old cowbells too and I autograph each one before I give it to him. His parents tell me he uses them all the time when he plays hockey in his garage at home!

One more note about my cowbells; before this hockey season, I spent some time trying to find a place that could do a nice powder coating paint job on my cowbell so I could have a Purple & Gold cowbell and hopefully even get the Maverick logo on it but, by the time I found someone who could do it, it was too last minute and would wind up costing more money than I had to put towards it. I'll have to do some more digging in the off-season to see if I can find someone better & cheaper! I really want to have that done from now on!

Do you have a favorite MSU player and why?: Currently, my favorite Maverick player is Justin Jokinen. I really like following closest our players who are drafted into the NHL before they've even graduated high school, and Jokinen was drafted by the Buffalo Sabres before ever donning a Maverick uniform. I actually won Jokinen's jersey in this years jersey auction. His was the only one I even bid on! As far as favorite Maverick players ever, I would have to call it a tie between David Backes (who was also drafted into the NHL, by the St Louis Blues, before ever donning a Mavs jersey), and Travis Morin, who I actually went to high school with. We didn't really know each other at all in high school but because we were both Osseo Sr High graduates, I cheered extra hard for him too. 

How 'bout your favorite MSU hockey memory?: This is kind of a very tough question to answer because there have been so many amazing memories. So many great times had with great friends, amazing victories over tough teams, even a penalty shot in OT! But there is definitely one moment that stands out above all others for me and it came on the very last game of my senior year. As is every final home game of every year, it was senior night and I didn't think I would be coming back for very many games since I was graduating and moving back to the Cities. So I brought a sign that, on one side said "I'm a Senior too" and on the other side it said "Goodbye Maverick Fans." At the tail end of the game when they thanked the senior players over the loudspeakers, I stood up with that sign, and wound up getting a 5 minute standing ovation from the fans. We missed a lot of hockey because of that but it was worth it. A lot of fans even started a chant of "Go to Grad school!" It just really made me feel special and I loved it. I had such a hard time leaving the stadium at the end of that game. I just couldn't walk away. I was probably still in the arena at least 10-15 minutes after everyone else (excluding my friends I was there with) had exited. I was just too choked up and didn't want to believe it was over. So needless to say, it didn't take too many games the next season for me to decide that I couldn't give it up and that I had to get season tickets from there on out!

What's the best thing about being Cowbell Guy?: Well, as I said earlier, I certainly don't keep up the Cowbell Guy routine just for the attention or the fame or the perks (recognition wherever I go in Mankato and even one time getting recognized at a MN Wild game at the Xcel Energy Center, people buying me drinks at games or at the bars, opportunities like this), but I would also be lying if I said I didn't enjoy them! However, I think my favorite part about being who I am and doing what I do at Maverick hockey games, is simply that no matter whats happening on the ice, I'm still having a good night, and that it also extends to the other fans in the arena. I love to make people laugh and smile and I know I do that very well when I do my thing. It gets people more into the games and most people in the arena wind up having a great time no matter what else happens! Sure the nights we lose aren't as fun as the nights we win, but overall we still have a good time.

Anything you'd like to add?: One of my biggest collections I have at home is bobbleheads. There's a long story as to why I collect them but I love them to death and have a very big collection (nearing 70 and always climbing higher)! One of my biggest dreams/goals in life is to have my own Cowbell Guy bobblehead (and it'd be even greater if it were a promotional item one night at some Maverick Hockey game)! Stomper should also get his own bobblehead night! It seems only fair seeing as he is our mascot and unlike the Stomper of my first few years, the Stomper of the last few years has actually been entertaining! And of course, as always, GO MAVERICKS!!!!