Few are the weeks where NDSU won't top the roundup but today, this week, is just such a time. When a team wins a championship and for the first time, it deserves the most attention of any of the teams in the region! Great job Force!!
Force
As the intro says, the Fargo Force won the franchise's first championship this week over Youngstown. The best of five series came within one loss of a game five opportunity to raise up the cup at home but the Force took care of it in Ohio. They returned home this afternoon to a small fan fare but deserve all the attention they will get over the ensuing hours and days!
Marathon
Top finishers in the 10K, 1/2 marathon and full marathon are noteworthy accomplishments but those are available elsewhere. I opted to get to as many of the cool areas along the courses as I could to take pictures of the runners. Check those out and photos from the earlier races as well in a couple other posts!
Bison
Third place for the Bison? That's an unusual spot for them to be in but they won't always be the main sports story in the area and summer is coming so the break is dawning. The men's Golf and Softball team's each got into their post season action this week. The duffer's went to work in California early in the week while the ball players travelled to Tucson for their regional. The results for each many not have been as sterling as some would like but each made good history for themselves and the school so it was successful by each, in my estimation.
The third spoke of the wheel this week was the Baseball team. Coming into the weekend they had managed to secure a spot in the Summit League tournament and could have finished second, third or fourth. In came the Jackrabbits. In great Bison fashion, the Baseball team busted out the brooms while simultaneously securing the three seed in the tournament. Not having to face Oral Roberts is maybe the best part of it but it was an all around great way for the diamond miners to close out the regular season! Next up for them is a showdown with Western Illinois on Wednesday night.
They will be followed by both the men's and women's Track & Field teams taking part in NCAA regional preliminary competitions. With the season that so many of the competitors have had, I would suggest staying locked in on the news that they will be making late in the week!
Twins
More early season ups and downs from the Twinks but that has been the story of the division so none of the failures have sunk them for the season. It's tough to not treat it like Football, valuing every win and loss as monumental but it's such a different game that that sort of approach is ill advised. With the pitching staff performing well more often than not, and likely to get even stronger in the near future, and the offense still capable the outlook is still bright for the team. Once some of the key position players return it will get even better. So that doesn't say much about any of the recent play but I don't think any singular result is more important than those other couple of facts.
Timberwolves
Many nuggets came out about the Wolves activities at the NBA Combine. I'm full out for them to make a move to get Jevon Carter. If that means they have to buy 1, 2 or 3 second round picks. FINE! Do it! I think that getting more guys later is the best way to increase the depth of the roster while helping to keep the salary cap of the team in some level of good health.
But those nuggets and that idea pale in comparison with the fact that KAT may be getting alienated by the ops. The leaks in the dam have been showing themselves over the last few weeks and I'm really starting to wonder how long it can hold before we have another KG situation on our hands. If it's a choice between the first all star that the team has drafted since Garnett or a coach who seems to have no interpersonal skills & doesn't seem to be liked by too many people in the organization, the choice should be obvious! Come on Mr. Taylor!
Invaders
Game three didn't go the way they wanted but five of the next seven are at home in south Fargo so all should be good once they pad up again in early June. It'll get hot eventually but maybe, just maybe, they will be blessed with some temps the likes of yesterday and today so that it can be enjoyed by the players and the fans as much as possible!
Redhawks
Red Birds for the sweep? As NDSU finished up at Newman, the Redhawks played out a three game series in Texas. They fell just short of the sweep but 2 out of 3 ain't bad! Should make for a fun summer at the ball park!!