Tonight I watched the UMD Bulldogs defeat Michigan for the NCAA Division I Hockey Championship. Hockey is UMD's only Division I sport and this was their first ever men's national title. The 3-2 game was won in overtime and the Bulldogs played extremely well.
I was the Sports Editor for the UMD Statesman during my senior year, and I personally covered the hockey team, including travelling to some road games. (I also had a sports column, called On The Line, which was a lot of fun.) While I was there, the team's star player got drunk one night, drove his car onto someone's front lawn and was pounding on their door at 2:00 a.m. Turns out he had the wrong house. The police were called, but because of his star status it was all hushed up.
Well, we got wind of it and decided to break the story, scooping the Duluth News Tribune (which later, grudgingly, picked it up). I recall our meeting to discuss whether to publish or not. There were many factors, and it felt like something out of the movies. Even the university administration weighed in, but they weren't about to quash our freedom of the press, however slight in the vast scheme of things.
As you might expect, the article didn't sit well with the hockey team. Their coach wouldn't talk to me all season long, and some players threatened me. Occasionally I'd get obscene calls at home at night. It was an interesting experience and a little unsettling.
The hockey team wasn't very good back then anyway. But it was still the best game in town, by far. And it's personally very exciting for me to see them win on a national stage, despite the potholes in my memory lane. Go Bulldogs!
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