MLB Ballpark Tour Video Slideshow
I know this blog can look neglected from time to time, but I'm not giving up on it. I will have more material on Bemidji-related sports when the fall sports season starts swinging again in just over a month.
In the meantime, you can follow me and my updates on Twitter at www.twitter.com/estromgren. It's a quicker way for me to give you information and breaking news without taking too much time away from my required duties at the Pioneer.
I'm posting today because I have a unique video to share. I recently went on an MLB Ballpark Tour: six stadiums in seven days. I brought my camera along and took some photos- you can see the video above.
I'll have a story in the Pioneer sometime this week to tell you a little bit more about the trip. Here's your sneak peek for now. I'd love to hear your feedback.
-Eric
Posted by: Eric on 7/12/2010 at 4:08 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
This minor league journalist gets the call up to the big leagues - at Target Field
Last weekend I had the opportunity to write stories, take pictures and produce some video reports from Target Field for Forum Communications Co., which owns the Bemidji Pioneer.
The genesis of the project came from our headquarters in Fargo. The regional editors wanted to have a nice multimedia package for our papers who do not subscribe to Associated Press wire content. The Twins are a hot item this spring and our company wanted to make sure our smaller operations could deliver content to as many of our readers as possible.
That was where I fit in. In these times of leaner budgets in the industry, someone who can write, photograph and produce video are valuable. I was happy to accept.
Doing my job was the easy and the fun part. It was great to talk to the people behind the scenes at Target Field and bring a glimpse of gameday life to Forum's readers. As a fan, I couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed by Target Field.
That’s not a negative - far from it.
The cliche in baseball describes Major League Baseball as ‘The Show.’ Minor leaguers toil away in remote locations around America hoping to get a call up and show their skills in The Show.
Those two exhibition games felt like The Show to me in a way that couldn't come close to a Metrodome experience. Even the players were overwhelmed with the new digs- just watch this press conference.
Being I work in outstate Minnesota, I felt like a minor leaguer called up to the big leagues last weekend. It was my first chance at working a MLB game. I respect the relationship between baseball and newspapers through history, so the weekend had some extra special value to me.
Like Moonlight Graham's call up popularized in Field of Dreams, this was my call up. For all I know, last weekend could have been my own Moonlight Graham moment and my only chance to be connected with Major League Baseball as a professional.
Walking into the Herb Carneal press box at Target Field wasn’t like going to the press box at John Glas Fieldhouse (or any other in Minnesota for that matter). I was so stunned by it, I shot a short video of what that initial walk into the press box looked like.
Then I was at field level taking photos of the players along with Twins greats Harmon Killebrew, Tony Oliva, Kent Hrbek and Rod Carew. It an outstanding professional experience I'll never forget.
The storyline before the Twins embarked on the opening week road trip was not so much the spectacle of the new stadium. The questions for the Twins related to how it would adapt to the inaugural year at Target Field.
No longer do the outfielders need to be skilled in locating a baseball that blends in with the ceiling. That’s the obvious.
The not so obvious will be the reaction from other teams. Manager Ron Gardenhire said in opening game press conference that much of the Twins home field advantage came in other team’s disdain for the Dome. He said teams ‘hated coming here’ and wanted to leave town. That, along with better lineups, could have played a role in the Twins resurgence from the awful late 1990s and Central Divison pennants over the last decade.
Target Field will be loud when the fans are in the game. But I don't think it will as deafaning as the wall of sound the Metrodome produced in playoff games from the roar thousands of Homer Hanky waving fans. Metrodome mystique anyone?
If you ask me, opposing teams will be more motivated to play at Target Field. They won’t be in a rush to leave for the next series. They’ll be comfortable. Are the Twins up for the challenge? That’s going to be one of the great storylines in Minneapolis this summer.
I walked down the outfield seats adjacent to the first baseline. I felt closer to the game there than I ever did in similar seats at the Metrodome. The game feels close and you don’t need binoculars to follow the game.
When I was in college, I worked as a concession employee for the first NHL game at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul when the Minnesota Wild took on the Philadelphia Flyers. I was at that game hours before it started in 2000, much like my experience at Target Field in 2010. My feelings of both days were similar as I sit here and reflect.
Both stadiums provide the best fan experience for sports in Minnesota - and maybe the country. There’s no better place to watch a hockey game than the X and I’m anticipating that Target Field, albeit new, will challenge some of the great ballparks in America for a top of the line fan experience.
Sure, ticket prices are high and the costs associated with attending a game at Target Field are unreasonable right now for the average fan. It’s the hot ticket. It’s the place to be seen. It’s expected. But when the honeymoon between the bandwagoners and outdoor baseball wear off in the coming years, it will become more affordable, will still be just a gem of a ballpark for the true fans and a great place to watch a game.
Earlier this week I sent out a credential request to the Twins in hopes of landing a credential for the home opener. It would be a strictly a professional opportunity to do some more work for our readers at The Pioneer, though the Little Leaguer in me would be excited (As a lefty I pitched and played first base).
Sadly, the Twins didn't return my e-mails. It's back to the way things are. Without my company behind me, I'm just a nobody from outstate Minnesota in their eyes. Twins Territory doesn't extend my corner of the world in Bemidji today.
That's okay with me for now. I had a great experience and soaked it all in for what it was worth.
It took me five years in the business to get a little taste of The Show and I'll be working hard to get back.
Below are a few of my favorite shots from the weekend.
Posted by: Eric on 4/10/2010 at 8:00 PM | Comments (2) | Permalink
Tags: sports twins baseball target field photography video
Bemidji State women's hockey players enjoying success after tough years, some new found respect
Here's the article I wrote on the BSU women's hockey team that was published in the Pioneer today. (Above from left: Franny Dorr, Nicole Rawlings and Jackie Robertson)
Franny Dorr, Nicole Rawlings and Jackie Robertson have endured the pain of perpetual losing during their time playing for the Bemidji State women’s hockey team.
Until this year.
Bemidji State is playing playoff hockey into March for the first time in school history and continue postseason play Saturday at the WCHA Final Face-Off tournament in Minneapolis as one of the four semifinal teams left standing in the WCHA playoffs.
“Surprised to see us here, aren’t you?” Robertson said with a wide smile while taking a short break from Thursday’s afternoon practice. “Maybe other people out there would be surprised where we are but not us. Our goal has to always get to where we are at now.”
No doubt the Beavers surprised the league this season after the team was unanimously picked to finish last in the WCHA preseason coaches poll.
Now, they head to Ridder Arena to face nationally No. 2-ranked Minnesota-Duluth at 12:07 p.m. Saturday for the right to face the Minnesota-Ohio State semifinal winner in the championship. The Final Face-Off champion earns an automatic bid to the NCAA Women’s Tournament.
Bemidji State goes to the tournament with awards in tow after head coach Steve Sertich was named the WCHA Coach of the Year and goalie Zuzana Tomcikova was named WCHA Co-Player of the Year on Thursday.
The three BSU seniors have endured losing winters through the rebuilding process under Sertich, including last year’s six-win season under the team’s motto ‘one step at a time.’
But the trio has remained committed to the program and the game for the chance to taste success this season.
“What’s different for us is that we’re just a big family,” Rawlings said of this year’s team.
The Beavers are 12-18-7 overall and 9-12-7-3 in the WCHA this season under the team’s new motto: ‘one more step.’ The win total is the most by BSU since 2006 when the Beavers finished 11-20-5 overall.
In the junior and sophomore seasons for the current seniors, the Beavers were a combined 15-49 overall. Last season the Beavers had a mere three wins in the ultra-competitve WCHA, where Olympians are scattered across the league’s rosters.
Bemidji State overcame playoff adversity last weekend to keep the season alive. After an opening loss to St. Cloud State in the first game of the best-of-three series last Friday, the Beavers rallied to win the second game 2-1 and the third game 4-1 to advance to the Final Face-Off.
It was only the second time in the history of the women’s WCHA that a team has overcome a 1-0 deficit in the first round of the playoffs.
“We just found an energy,” Dorr said. “It was like an energy we’ve never had before and we just played well every single period on Friday and Saturday.”
Robertson credits BSU’s resurgent season to an influx of new players over the last few seasons.
There were eight freshmen that joined the team last season, including the Slovakian star in Tomcikova.
She rejoined BSU last weekend after starting in the Vancouver Olympics. Tomcikova faced 199 shots in five losses at Vancouver, but was graceful in defeat under the media spotlight as a steadfast supporter of the developing women’s game outside North America.
There are nine freshmen on the team this season, so the future looks bright.
“There has just been a big attitude shift for us this year,” Dorr said. “It’s almost like before this season, we were just trying to get through the games and it was tough. We haven’t had much respect here at BSU. Now I think we’ve got some.”
BSU has earned that respect the hard way and there were signs of improvement this year before last weekend’s series win.
In the opening weekend of WCHA play last October, BSU defeated defending national champion Wisconsin for the second time in program history.
In December, BSU defeated Minnesota-Duluth in the shootout to end a 34-game losing streak against the Bulldogs and it marked the second time in school history the Beavers were able to get a point out of the perennial national power.
Last month, the Beavers took the Gophers to back-to-back shootouts in a series at John Glas Fieldhouse.
Bemidji State will be tested against Minnesota-Duluth, a team the Beavers have never defeated in regulation and a team that has won 16 of its last 17 games.
“What’s good for us is that it is just one game. One game. Anything can happen,” Rawlings said.
Robertson said BSU’s defense must play well and the team must bring the same 60-minute effort given last weekend to defeat the Bulldogs.
“I think this year we just believe in ourselves a lot more,” Robertson said. “We’re having a blast right now.”
Posted by: Eric on 3/05/2010 at 12:45 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Tags: sports beavers hockey wcha final face off
Bemidji State hockey weekly video update
I talked with the Bemidji State men's hockey team Wednesday for the weekly video report I produce for the Pioneer. It's the last week of the season and BSU heads to Huntsville. They will be staying on the road through the CHA Tournament next week at Niagara. Hard to believe the season is already coming to a close.
Happy Thursday.
Posted by: Eric on 3/04/2010 at 12:25 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Tags: sports beavers hockey
A Great WCHA Rivalry: Minnesota-Duluth and Minnesota (or UMTC?)
I grew up watching Minnesota-Duluth hockey and have attended countless games with my family over the last 25 years or so.
It’s part of the reason why I’m here in Bemidji today covering sports and UMD hockey is where my love for the game grew.
Last weekend, I snuck away from work for one night to get back home to watch UMD take on Minnesota. It’s always a great atmosphere and the Bulldogs took a 3-0 win out of the game after losing 3-2 the previous night.
I didn’t watch the game as much as a fan. The DECC was sold out and if I used my father’s extra ticket, my brother would not be able to go. He’s a huge UMD fan still, so I used my perk of being a member of the media to swing a credential and that way he could attend.
I didn’t get to sit with my Dad for the lone DECC game I would get to this year and my first in over a year. But it didn’t matter. I brought my camera along and turned it into a work day (Don’t worry boss, I didn’t add it to my timecard. This was for fun).
With the new DECC opening next winter, I only have a possible few times yet to watch the college game in that arena before it closes.
I’ve lost a lot of the fan in me since becoming a journalist, but I enjoy covering hockey and the WCHA whenever I can. The WCHA games are just special games to be around, the atmospheres are great and it’s really a unique tradition to the towns/fans in the league.
Bemidji, you’ll find out starting next year what I’m talking about. It will be like a BSU-Alabama-Huntsville game at The Glas, every weekend, on the ice and in the stands.
Rivalries make the WCHA great and UMD-Minnesota is a classic. They’ve been going at it a long time.
The DECC arena scoreboard reads Bulldogs and UMTC. Why UMTC? Well, the University of Minnesota system is spread out to Duluth, Crookston, Morris and Rochester. They all have the acronyms except the University of 
Minnesota, so at some point the UMD people decided to give Minnesota its own on the scoreboard. Bulldog fan finds it amusing, Gopher fan not so much.
I’m not sure how it got started, but someone in the business told me that Herb Brooks once threatened to not put his team on the ice until UMTC was changed back to Minnesota. UMD people countered with a threat of forfeiture, so the Gophers eventually went out and played the game. The stories I’ve heard say Brooks wasn’t much of a fan of Duluth (the Gophers would bus out immediately following Saturday games) so I find that story pretty credible. It’s amazing UMTC still exists in the DECC today...one of those unique WCHA traditions.
I could go on and on about the great UMD-Minnesota games I’ve watched – the 2004 WCHA Final Five semifinal the Gophers won in a battle between Junior Lessard and Thomas Vanek.
Then there's my all time favorite hockey game.
It was the decisive third game of a first-round WCHA playoff series at the DECC in 1998. I was a junior in high school at the time.
The Gophers were crushing UMD 4-0 and as a fan I was really disappointed. Season over. It just didn't feel right because we were not sitting in my dad's normal season ticket seats. I remember looking at the clock with 15:06 minutes left in the third period (yes, I remember the time on the scoreboard) and my Dad telling me, “That’s enough, let’s get out of here.”
I asked him to wait for just a few more minutes then watched a good portion of the DECC empty out. I’m a glutton for punishment like that.
Then something extraordinary happened: the Bulldogs rallied and scored four goals in the final 14 minutes of the game to force overtime, some of the fans raced back from their cars and Mike Peluso won it in overtime to send UMD to the Final Five.
To date, that was the most surreal game I’ve ever watched. I was there. A lot of UMD fans claimed to have been there that day and a there are alot of 2004 bandwagoners out there who are full of it. The ones who were there still don’t believe it actually happened – including me.
Bonus shots
Posted by: Eric on 3/03/2010 at 2:49 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Tags: sports hockey wcha minnesota duluth gophers bulldogs
BREC progress photos, Tomcikova Olympic update on a busy Bemidji week in sports
Greetings from the Pioneer newsroom on a late Wednesday night/early Thursday morning.
It’s been a busy week here and it is going to continue through the end of the week with the much anticipated final weekend of regular season hockey at John Glas Fieldhouse for the men’s and women’s teams. Also, we’re monitoring what’s going on in the Vancouver Olympics with curler Natalie Nicholson and BSU women’s goalie Zuzana Tomcikova with sentimental fan favorite Slovakia. Oh, and the Bemidji High School girls hockey team is playing Roseau for a section title and a state berth in Thief River Falls Thursday night(I’ll be there for that one).
The Pioneer staff was given a construction tour at the Bemidji Regional Event Center Wednesday afternoon and it appears to be progressing well. Much has changed since I last stepped foot on site in November.
I have some video of the tour and I’ll produce a video that will accompany Pioneer city reporter Bethany Wesley’s story on Saturday. She's producing excellent coverage on the BREC and has a story on the BREC scoreboard in today's paper.
For now, here’s a few photos of the inside that you’ll enjoy. The photo at the top of the blog is a panoramic view of 27 photos stitched together from the upper corner/suite level of the rink. Since I can’t enlarge that shot on this blog because of technical constraints, here it's divided in half. Cool huh? The sunlight casted on the dirt in the middle of the photo is where center ice will be.
Below another panoramic, this one of 12 photos, from the other end of the rink. This one unfortunately came out a little distored and skewed, but it still is an interesting shot.
This is Project Superintendent Gregg Judge of Kraus-Anderson Construction
A shot of the tour group in what will be the main lobby area.
Curling apology
To all the copy editors out there who caught my massive headline error in Wednesday's print edition of the Pioneer, your voices were heard loud and clear.
I apologize for the printed headline on the sports page that said Natalie Nicholson and the Team USA women's curling team won their first match against Japan. It is most certainly a regrettable error.
It was a busy night Tuesday. I had to take photos at two events in two different places, take phone calls and write short stories from area basketball coaches. Then there was the job of editing copy, gathering national sports copy and other photos. And when I finished all of that and returned to my desk to layout three pages of breaking sports news and Olympic coverage with one hour until press deadline ... Well, unfortunate and regrettable things happen where the obvious meets occasional overwhelming demands.
That's my explanation but it isn't an excuse. It is my job to be perfect with words. We all make mistakes. It's just mine can be seen and pointed out by nearly 10,000 readers.
Hopefully that headline will stay out of Jay Leno's show.
So, please accept my apologies Bemidji curling fans. I may not totally understand your sport but I enjoy watching it and I try my best to take care of you in our pages.
Tomcikova Olympic Update
The Slovakian women’s hockey team gave Switzerland all it could handle in the final game of pool play Wednesday night, but the Swiss pulled away from a 2-2 tie the third period to win 5-2 to keep the Slovaks winless.
Tomcikova was especially hard on herself in talking with the Associated Press.
"I don't know what happened, but we stopped playing 10 minutes before the end of the game," said Tomcikova. "I take a lot of the blame. Maybe if I would have caught some of the pucks, we wouldn't have blown it. I let us down."
Interestingly, Tomcikova and Swiss goalie Florence Schelling played against eachother in the fall of 2008 in Bemidji. Schelling plays for Northeastern. BSU won both games in classic shootouts, the first shootouts BSU ever played in. The games went down as ties because of NCAA rules.
Tomcikova has become a media darling of sorts for Slovakia, which appears to become sentimental favorites for Olympic hockey fans.
She’s also helped the visibility of the university as Bemidji State is attached to her name in most media reports.
Tomcikova in the Washington Post
Tomcikova in the New York Times
Here’s the good news for Bemidji State. I talked with BSU assistant coach Shane Veenker at Tuesday night’s BHS-Moorhead section semifinal and he said Tomcikova will be back for the first round of the WCHA playoffs, which begin in two weeks.
BSU hosts Minnesota-Duluth this week, which is not eliminated from catching Minnesota for the WCHA regular season title. There is real potential that, if BSU can gain points out of this final weekend of WCHA play, it will be home for that first round for the first time in program history.
What a homecoming that would make for Tomcikova.
Men’s hockey preview
I’ve just uploaded the BSU men’s hockey preview for the week. See what the captains have to say about the final weekend at home against Niagara and check out some of the old-school Glas Fieldhouse photos I included.
One last thing: Grandma, I got your message and thanks for reading. It’s been busy here and I’ll catch up with you soon :)
Remember everyone: Even when professional life keeps you busy- remember your family!
Posted by: Eric on 2/18/2010 at 2:48 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Tags: sports bemidji state olympics tomcikova video brec curling hockey
Tomcikova shines again, Slovaks show resolve against Sweden at Olympics
Bemidji State goalie Zuzana Tomcikova and the Slovakian women's hockey team picked themselves up off the ice following Sunday's record loss to Canada and turned in a nice game against Sweden.
The Swedes won the game by a 6-2 scores, but the Slovakians played tough early and scored a pair of nice goals in the first period.
Here's what Tomcikova had to say about the game to the Associated Press:
"Maybe if anybody would have told us 6-2 before the game, we would have been happy," said Tomcikova, who plays at Bemidji State in Minnesota. "But too many of their goals were scored on our penalty kill. We've really got to work on staying out of the box and playing 5-on-5."
The star of the game, again, was Tomcikova. She wasn't tested as much as she was against Canada, though she still made some equally impressive saves.
As Bemidji State men's assistant basketball coach Jeremy Tiers noted through a tweet, Tomcikova has faced 115 shots in two games. She finished with 42 saves against Sweden.
I watched the game through an Internet feed last night and thought, again, she had a number of above-average saves. The only way the Swedes were able to generate effective scoring chances was by directing traffic in front of her and going for tip-ins.
Here's what I thought of the Sweden goals:
1: This first goal came on a third rebound after Tomcikova made an incredible leg pad save on the second attempt. It was also a power play goal.
2: This was a highlight reel goal for Sweden as the puck was knocked out of midair at the crease with a baseball bat-swinging motion. The goal was allowed to stand on review.
3: This was a 1-on-1 goal and Zuzana was beat with a hard shot under the blocker and close to her body. I'm sure this is one she wanted back.
4. The fourth goal was a scorer's goal on a 1-on-1. Pernilla Winberg scored the only goal of the second period by skating in and slapping a shot over Tomcikova's shoulder. She didn't have a chance on that one, a perfectly placed shot.
5. The Swedes scored another one on the power play, this time passing through the crease to the far side of the net. Minnesota-Duluth's Erin Holmov had an easy redirect for the goal. Again, another one that Tomcikova didn't have a chance at.
6. By the time Sweden scored its sixth goal of the game midway though the third period, you could tell the Slovakian skaters were tired. Tomcikova made an outstanding leg save, but the puck couldn't be cleared. A shot from the blue line was stopped by Tomcikova again. The closest Slovak player next to Tomcikova didn't see the puck, didn't clear it and Winberg tapped in the easy rebound.
I thought the most impressive moment in the game came in the second period when Sweden had a 5-on-3 power play for about 1 minute, 30 seconds. Tomcikova didn't allow them to score.
Family Support
Tomcikova had some support at the game as noted by the Associated Press story:
Tomcikova had her own vocal cheering section in UBC Thunderbird Arena consisting of her mother, father, brother and a Canadian family who hosted her in high school. They wore Slovak jerseys, rattled noisemakers and held up a hand-painted sheet reading: "Go Zuzka Go."
"Everything is new for us at this level, but we've got to learn," Tomcikova said.
Notes
- If you look closely on the right side of Tomcikova's goalie mask, you can see the Bemidji State Unversity beaver logo under Vancouver 2010 stickers. After some research, I found out that Olympic Athletes cannot have anything other than a nation or Olympic logo on uniform. (Photo credit: Associated Press)
- Bemidji State women's hockey radio announcer Kelly Schultz, who calls the game through 92.1 WMIS-FM and listentothebeavers.com, reported yesterday that Tomcikova was invited to a workout with Ziggy Palffy and Richard Zednik. Those two will be playing for the Slovakian men's team at the Olympics and had successful NHL careers.
Tweets on Tomcikova:
-@macnlos Hats off to Zuzana Tomcikova (Slovakia). Forget the 18-0 loss to Canada, you are an Olympian and should be proud!
-@prillalar Tomcikova, marry me! #olympics #womenshockey
-@Candidate007 Can someone get the puck outta here, Let's hear a big round of applause for Goalie Tomcikova, Peppered with 67 shots n only let in 18 goals
-@eugeneson Reason #1851 why I dig women's hockey. Slovakia goalie Tomcikova has cutesy cartoon animals on her mask. She's the anti-Nabokov, Kiprusoff!
-@solace82 Olympic womens hockey: canada def. Slovakia 18 freeekin 0. Zuzana tomcikova (slovakia goalie) you held on till the end. I love you! :X
@HockeyCanada: Hat trick for Meghan Agosta, 10-0 Canada, but Zuzana Tomcikova is standing on her head for the Slovaks!
@sroarke_nhl: Wow 7-0 canada after one period and Slovakian goalie Zuzana Tomcikova might have been the best player on the ice. She was under seige
Video
Highlights from the Slovakia-Sweden game via NBC Olympics.
Tomcikova talks to the media after the Canada-Slovakia game
Posted by: Eric on 2/16/2010 at 4:48 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Tags: bemidji state beavers, hockey, olympics, slovakia, sports, sweden
Bemidji hockey fans should feel pride in Tomcikova's gutsy Olympic performance
"Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game"
-Slogan printed on the helmet of Slovakian goalie Zuzana Tomcikova.
At first I was disgusted by Canada's 18-0 victory over the Slovaks. I'm not so much anymore..jpg)
Bemidji State's own Zuzana Tomcikova played an unbelievable game in net and it's tough to prove that to anyone looking at the score alone. She faced 67 shots and stopped 49. That's an insane amount of pucks to face in little over a two hour period.
Canada is being accused of running up the score. They were just playing at the level they need to play to contend for the Gold Medal. Both teams gave an honest effort. It would have been far more humiliating if Canada just skated circles around the Slovaks like road cones to avoid scoring.
Forgotten in this rout is the fact that during Olympic qualifying, before the Slovak upset of Kazakhstan and Germany, the Slovaks defeated Belarus 82-0.
I saw a Canadian newspaper report call the loss karma for the Slovaks. Such arrogance misses the point and spirit of hockey.
The Slovaks, like the Canadians, are simply trying to improve their team. Criticizing parity is for NFL junkies, not international women's hockey where world participation rates makes the talent gap much harder to close (There are only 250 registered women's players in Slovakia). Mercy doesn't exist when you have precious few games to come together as a team and goal differential matters in the games that count. Practices get you somewhere, but nothing is better than games. You can bet the Slovaks learned a lot about themselves Saturday night -- probably much more than the Canadians found out about themselves.
More is learned in the valleys and failures of life than the highest peaks of success. The loss was probably tough to take, but in the end it's just a game and another challenge faced.
Many of Tomcikova's saves were acrobatic as she flopped around from one side of the net to the other. I've seen similar saves inside the John Glas Fieldhouse the last two seasons and she convinced me quickly that she's one of the best goalies in the world. I wonder what she would do if she played on a winning team. Bemidji State is lucky to have her as head coach Steve Sertich continues the process of bringing the Beavers to consistent competitive respectability. The way I see it, international hockey has the same disparities I've seen in the WCHA. Closing those kinds of gaps takes time and those gaps aren't closed by quitting.
You can read more about Tomcikova's amazing backstory here, which I wrote earlier this week.
If you live in Bemidji or anywhere else in Minnesota, you should be proud of Tomcikova's drive. Even as the goals piled on, she didn't give up or make lazy save efforts.
Announcer Mike Emrick - the man who calls the Stanley Cup Finals for NBC - frequently mentioned Bemidji and Bemidji State in the telecast. The words "mental strength," "impressive" and "heroic" were words used to describe Zuzana in the third period when the game was out of hand. Oh, and Bemidji State is back in the New York Times and not it's not about the men this time (read below). And she was mentioned as a player for Bemidji State in nearly every media report of the game I've read.
You could see the Bemidji State green breaking through the Slovakian blue shell attached to her breezers as she braced the Canadian attack. Tomcikova represented her homeland with heart, but she also gave our community pride in the way she carried herself on the Olympic stage in the face of certain defeat. She played the way every honorable hockey player in Bemidji should play: With an honest effort, without fear and head held high.
Tomcikova showed her true love of the game in the way she played.
Tomcikova quotes from around the web:
“The fans were great,” Tomcikova told canoe.ca. “They supported us, too, not just Canada. I didn’t think we could win since they are a great team and so far ahead of us...The score was what it should have been.”
"I felt for the goalie a bit," said Canadian captain Hayley Wickenheiser to the Canadian Press. "She had a gritty performance, but this is the Olympic Games and we prepare to be the best we can and we expect other countries to do the same. We can't let up when we're here. We have to play hard and execute every shift."
"It was a great game and Canada is just a great hockey team,' Tomcikova told the Canadian Press. "I don't even know how many shots there were but ... it was a lot ... Seeing so many shots from such great players helps every goalie so I hope I can forget about tonight and just take the experience and use it for my own benefit.'
"We can learn a lot,' Tomcikova told the Canadian Press. Women's hockey in our country doesn't have so much experience. It just started 10 years ago or so. We're still a building program. I hope people at home liked our game and how we fought and they're going to support us more. Maybe we can't compete against Canada or the U.S. but the other teams, we're going to try our hardest."
Excerpt from the New York Times:
The Canadians outshot the Slovaks by 67-9, and the Slovakia goalie, Zuzana Tomcikova, was on her own all night. She made some excellent saves, showing why she has logged a superb .941 save percentage with Bemidji State this season.
At the end of the game the fans gave the Canadians, and Tomcikova, a standing ovation.
“I tried my hardest, but maybe I didn’t help as much as I wanted to,” said Tomcikova, her eyes brimming with tears but her voice steady. “I enjoyed it a lot. The fans were amazing, and we want to thank them for that. I’m really proud of how our team played.”
(Canadian player Meghan) Agosta said: “Their goalie played really well. In the end, she had tears in her eyes, but she’s going to be really proud of how she did.”
Posted by: Eric on 2/14/2010 at 5:23 AM | Comments (5) | Permalink
Tags: sports olympics bemidji state beavers slovakia canada hockey
Video bonus: Big days for Bemidji State football and Bemidji State women's hockey
Wednesday was a big day at BSU as the football team announced its 2010 recruiting class on national signing day and the Bemidji State women's hockey team was practicing for this weekend's series at Wisconsin. The BSU women will play the Badgers Saturday afternoon at Camp Randall Stadium.
I gathered some video while I was out there today: Two of the videos make up BSU head coach Jeff Tesch's press conference and the other is the BSU women's hockey captains talking about the weekend. Enjoy!
Posted by: Eric on 2/04/2010 at 2:21 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Tags: badgers, beavers, bemidji state, football, hockey, national signing day, sports, wcha, wisconsin
Tony Hawk's support rockets Bemidji Skate Park into running for $25,000 grant
Tony Hawk's support has put the Bemidji Skate Park project in the running for the $25,000 grant through the Pepsi Refresh Project contest.
Hawk tweeted Monday night and asked his two million followers to vote for the Bemidji Skate Park at http://www.refresheverything.com/BemidjiSkatePark
Hawk tweeted this Tuesday afternoon:
"behold the power of Twitter: Bemidji skatepark went from 74th to 8th overnight & is now in the running for 25k! VOTE: http://bit.ly/cyPU4b"
As of Tuesday, there are 729 projects competing for the cash. When voting ends at the end of the month. the top 10 projects will receive $25,000 each.
Posted by: Eric on 2/02/2010 at 3:41 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Tags: bemidji skate park, tony hawk
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