March First.

In an effort to get us back to normal,
here's the high school hockey brackets* for this Thursday's State Tournament games at the Dane County Alliant Energy Center**, annually announced here on Subsumed... resumed:

#1 ranked Marquette v. #8 Notre Dame Academy at Noon.
#4 Middleton v. #5 Cedarburg at appr. 2:30p.

#3 Eau Claire Memorial v. #6 Reedsburg/Wisc. Dells @6p.
#2 New Richmond Tigers v. #7 Wausau West at 8:30p.

(Remember, rankings rarely matter all that much.)

It's $8 for the first two games, and another $8 for the evening round, plus appr. $5 to park. Winners of the first two games will play each other Friday night at 6pm, with the second game winners facing off at 8:30pm. It's a good show, and because of the continued cold this year, the ice is reportedly fine ... and fast. We'll see, eh?

Saturday's championship starts at 3pm, but the best games in years past, imho, have often proven to be on Thursday or Friday. It's all in the seedings sometimes...
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*Mal is giving me 5-1 odds, he's so convinced that Wausau West will win it all this year (runners-up to University School Milwaukee last year). But my pick is Eau Claire Memorial, who I've seen skate several times this season. Who do you like?

**aka, Veterans' Memorial Coliseum.

ADDED:
And here's a repeat worth running -- "Thanks for Giving Me Your Love...", dedicated to the men who drive Zamboni: Ice Man extraordinaire.

Make it a great mid-week; that Sun is finally out...