Promises, or just speech-making?

or, You Be The Judge...

"I opposed this war in 2002. I will bring this war to an end in 2009. It is time to bring our troops home," he declared.

In other news...
It's time for our annual prep hockey roundup here on Subsumed; just one more game until we know who's all going to state. We caught the Monona Grove-Middleton game tonight at Capitol Ice Arena: Middleton advances 2-1 in overtime to face Edgewood, who beat Oregon convincingly 6-1.

Superior beat New Richmond 2-0 in Superior tonight, and will face River Falls, who shut down Hudson convincingly, 6-1.

The upset of the evening had to be Sparta 3-2 over Onalaska, who had been ranked fourth in the state. They'll face Wisconsin Rapids, who knocked out Black River Falls 3-2.

Number 7 ranked Arrowhead also saw their season come to an end, losing 2-0 tonight to the Germantown Ice Bears. (Talk about coming in under the radar -- I never heard of the co-op team either.) To make it to state though, they'll have to get past University School-Milwaukee, who edged Brookfield 4-3.

My personal favorite still alive now has to be Stoughton, who beat Catholic Memorial tonight 6-1. They'll take on #3 ranked Janesville on Saturday, who beat Kettle Moraine/Mukwanago tonight, also by a 6-1 score.

Who have I left out... ? Ah, sectional number 5 -- always mighty mighty. Only one of the two can advance: will it be Fond du Lac, who beat Neenah 6-0, or Appleton, who beat Green Bay United, 7-4? Smart money says Fondy again, last year's state champ, currently sitting at number 9 in the state rankings. (number 9... number 9...)

Number one ranked Eau Claire Memorial, sitting pretty with a season record of 20-0-0, will see Lakeland next, who took out Chippewa Falls 3-1. (Memorial beat Rice Lake 10-1 tonight.) And finally, Wausau West ended Antigo's season 4-1, and will play always scrappy Mosinee next, who beat Northland Pines 9-3.

So there you go. Sixteen teams still alive, cut down to 8 by late Saturday night. At this level, anything goes.

The website hasn't fully updated the girls' scores from tonight yet, so I can't tell you what 8 teams are still standing there. The St. Croix Valley co-op team is top-ranked this year with a 19-0-1 record, and faced New Richmond tonight, but no score called in just yet.

University School-Milwaukee co-op ended Appleton United's season 2-1. And Badger Thunder got beat bad by (Stevens)Point-(Wisconsin)Rapids, 7-1, as did Rhinelander who lost to Northland Pines 6-1. No scores yet on Superior-Hayward, Menomonie-Chippewa Falls or Onalaska-Central Wisconsin Storm.

Only 4 girls' teams will advance to state, whose play begins -- I think -- a week from Friday morning. The first round of the boys' tournament begins next Thursday at 1p.m. (I always figured, heck, even if you're not a hockey fan, those high school kids have to be cheering on the team, as if they advance, usually the school gets the day off to send a bus or two to support the team.)

And on a personal note... if you happen to attend the state tournament this year at the Dane County Coliseum/Alliant Energy Center, for any part of seven boys' games, or three girls' games -- or even catch the televised championships on Saturday -- be sure to check out the Zamboni driver. (They always have two on the ice for state; I was going to say, the one with the obvious case of alopecia, but he'll probably be wearing a knit hat, come to think of it...)

Yes, Mal will be driving this year, going in at 7am tomorrow to start making the ice. He's been working at the arena next to the Coliseum (aka, "the Barn") this season, shaving the ice for the Badgers' practices, and a variety of local teams who also rent icetime there. Still, working state at the Coliseum is big-time, and not just for the athletes. So, GO MAL! Give 'em the most beautiful sheet you can so the players can really turn it on as some of them end their high school careers.

Nevermind politics right now; I've found following hockey in the winters up here really does make the season speed by. For the price of admission (and seeing that fabulous Zamboni driving between periods/games), consider coming out for a session next weekend? (The Birkebeiner is this weekend; state hockey championships the next.)