Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Wednesday Night Hot Toddy: Warmer in Fairbanks

It's flippin' cold out there tonight. Right now, it's -5 here in Omaha. But hey, I thought...at least I'm not on the UNO hockey team getting ready to head to Fairbanks for a series with Alaska t his weekend. Uh scratch that. Currently it's 31 in Fairbanks, and the forecast for the next three days is for high temperatures in the low thirties. That's right...the weather in Fairbanks is better than in Omaha.

This weekend's UNO/Alaska series is another critical matchup. The two teams tied twice in Omaha in December, and UNO has lost three of their last four games. UNO has fallen to #20 in the ratings, right behind #19 Yale, who the Mavs pasted just after Christmas. The Mavs really need to come away with two or three points at least. Last weekend's series was rather painful to watch, as Northern Michigan really took it to the Mavs on Saturday night. The Wildcats are a better team than their record indicates, but UNO really needed the sweep.

Nothing like a cold snap to make you think of summertime sports...but that's the big news of the day in Omaha. USA Swimming and the NCAA have made an agreement to end the 2012 College World Series on June 25th or 26th in order to allow the Olympic Swimming Trials to begin on June 27th. All the details are still being finalized, but things are really looking promising for three unbelievable weeks of action in downtown Omaha.

Recruitniks can breathe a sigh of relief. Cody Green is enrolled in class in Lincoln. Now rather than worry about whether he'll actually follow through, now the worry is whether he'll live up to the hype. My suggestion: quit talking about it, and we'll eventually find out how he adapts to the college game. With an added spring practice for him, there's plenty of time for him to develop. Hopefully fans will allow him that time.

Former Husker linebacker Barrett Ruud missed out on making the Pro Bowl this season. So rather than planning a trip to Honolulu, he instead headed to a cabin in north-central Nebraska. I have this feeling that he'll eventually get that Pro Bowl honor, though the loss of Monte Kiffin as his defensive coordinator won't help his career.

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