Badgers beat hometown Gophers 6-2 in the NCAA Women’s Frozen Four semi to advance to the championship game against Ohio State.

Univ. of MN Gophers mascot Goldy

Sonny, Papa and Gopher fans.

Papa’s sign for Kelly Gorbatenko. Her aunt came up to me right after this photo was taken to ask if she could take a picture. I gave her the sign instead. Kelly reached out to me later that evening to say how much she appreciated the support.

I made another sign for the championship game.

The Badgers won the most exciting championship ever! Down 2-3 as a penalty shot was called with 18.9 seconds left in regulation. On the bench, Johnson asked his team, “Who wants it?” Kirsten Simms raised her hand. Approaching slowly from her right, Simms performed a series of dekes before burying the game-tying shot as the goalie slide the opposite way. Three minutes into overtime, Simms scored the winning goal to defeat Ohio State 4-3. Unlikely and epic comeback for the win!

Photo by Molly Sheehan | The Daily Cardinal

VIDEO: Simms Penalty Shot

Simms Penalty Shot 23-MAR-2025
Launch video Size 51.536 MB, Format MP4 Length 27 secs.

Vivian Jungels came over to take a photo with my sign! Then her father introduced himself to me.

Another Miracle on Ice Mark Johnson fan! Mark Johnson was one of my two sports idols growing up. I saw him win a NCAA championship in Detroit in 1977 as a Badgers hockey player. He went to win a gold medal in the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics, including scoring two goals against the vaunted Soviet squad in the semi! He has coached the women's team to a whopping 8 NCAA championships.

Joel Maturi was the dean of students at my high school. Not a fan. Imagine my annoyance to see a building named after him. He left my high school to be an assistant athletic director at Wisconsin before becoming the Athletic Director at Minnesota.

The first time I have seen the new Minnesota state flag in person. It was adopted in 2024. It represents the North Star and its many lakes and rivers.

We ate lunch at Annie’s Parlour in Dinkytown, the university’s neighborhood. Another surprise! This time seeing Plaza Burger on the menu, which is inspired from the original at the Plaza Tavern in Madison, WI.

I stayed with my high school friend Sonny who lives in the suburb Eagan. I gifted him a Sounders cap.

Paisley Park, Prince, Chanhassen, MN, 22-MAR-2025.

Motorcycle from the 1984 movie Purple Rain.

Prince’s first house in Chanhassen, MN, was here, but it’s now a subdivision.

Mary Tyler Moore House, 2104 Kenwood Parkway, MSP.