I took my two durables and my better 7/8ths to "The Cities" (as Minneapolis-St. Paul are called in Minnesota) to see the Purdue-Minnesota football game. Purdue was ranked 11th and Minnesota had racked up a 3-0 record, but against less-than-stellar competition. After trailing the entire game, Purdue scored two quick touchdowns in the 4th quarter to take a 28-20 lead, the second coming on an interception of a Bryan Cupito pass by Purdue's Dan Bick which Bick returned for a touchdown. Fans started heading for the gate. I muttered "that's a killer."
But Cupito regained his composure and led the Gophers to a touchdown. Then the Gopher coaching staff made a gutsy call - they ran the option and Cupito kept the ball for the two-point conversion. The Gophers won the game in double overtime. Here is the Gopher side of the story. Here is the Boilermaker side of the story.
From a father's perspective, I was happy to see that my 5-year old durable seemed to be into the game. He watched a lot of it and asked a lot of questions. After the game, he even said he wanted to be a football player for Halloween. My 3-year old durable was pretty well-behaved, but wasn't as into the game as his brother. He started acting up while the Gophers were marching late in the 4th, down by 8. My better 7/8ths said "Let's go" and I gave her the look of "you've got to be kidding me."
My wife took my youngest down to the concourse to run around. My eldest and I stayed and watched the game. He and I are glad we did.