A Wild Weekend

The view from the upper deck in the Devaney Sports Center.
Mom snapped this great picture of UNO's winning goal.
What promised to be a busy weekend lived up to its billing, with no fewer than three basketball games and a hockey game that stretched long into the night.

First, to basketball. We drove to Lincoln Friday after Emily and Dad's basketball team practice. This marked the family's first trip to the state basketball tournament. Dad knew the drill, having covered the event from 1987 to about 2000 for several newspapers. Bellevue East, with cousin Ryan, was playing in the semifinals against Lincoln High. The Chieftains came through with their second straight upset of the tourney to advance to Saturday's final.

Saturday, though, we couldn't make it back since Emily and Dad's basketball team had a pair of games. In the first, they won 18-2. About eight hours later (at 9 p.m.), they played - and beat - Sts. Peter & Paul 23-15, to avenge a regular season loss. The result moves them into a semifinal game Thursday against St. Bernadette.

Meanwhile, in Lincoln, Bellevue East lost by a point in the championship game to Omaha Central and the UNO hockey team lost in the second game of its playoff series with Alaska.

That loss for UNO meant there would be a third game of the series Sunday night. So there we were, back at the Qwest Center, for the final home hockey game of the season. Fortunately, the Mavericks won. Unfortunately for us, it took them three overtime periods to do it. By the time the goal was scored, it was after 11 p.m. (but only Olivia - pictured at right - had nodded off). The girls didn't get to bed until midnight.