The weekend of March 16th-18th was supposed to be a romantic escape for Tara & I. As typically happens when you are married but extremely busy taking care of four kids, sometimes conflicts arise. We carefully selected this weekend because there was no dance, no hockey, no soccer, and no basketball on the schedule. Except... an opportunity arose for Tyler to try out for an AAU basketball team on Sunday morning. Tara & I decided that it would be best for us to forgo our hotel stay and afternoon at the Detroit Institute of Arts to make sure this happened for Tyler. Instead of those romantic plans, we chose the next logical alternative - going to the CCHA consolation and championship hockey games at Joe Louis Arena on Saturday evening. Despite our late ticket order, we were able to secure second row seats along the glass. The best part? The University of Michigan secured a spot in the championship game with a 3-2 double-overtime victory over Bowling Green the night before.

    The first game started at 3:30pm, and we arrived just after the first faceoff. Bowling Green was going against Miami (Ohio) in the consolation game. We didn't really have a rooting interest in this game, which was good as Miami won handily. The championship game pitted Michigan against Western Michigan at 7:30pm. Obviously we were cheering for the Maize & Blue in this game. The Wolverines looked a step slow through the first two periods, as if the overtime game had taken it's toll on their legs. They were trailing 3-0 after the second period. They came out on fire in the third period though, making a game out of it by netting two goals in the period before time ran out on them. Despite the 3-2 loss, they still managed to secure a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament.

    Oh, and Tyler made it to his tryouts on Sunday morning. While we don't know if he made the team or not (and who knows about the politics involved or the actual number of open spots on the team), I am convinced that he held his own at the tryouts. Regardless of the outcome, Tara & I are both extremely proud of him for taking this step and putting in the hard work that has brought him to this point!

2012 CCHA Championships
	A look at the action between Bowling Green and Miami (Ohio).
	Frieda, one of Bowling Green's mascots.
	Freddie, Bowling Green's other mascot.
	A man sharply dressed for game action on St. Patrick's Day.
	The Bowling Green band was in the house!
	Tara & Rodney enjoying themselves at the hockey games.
	Another look at the action on the ice between BG and Miami.
	The Championship game pitted Western Michigan against the University of Michigan. Go Blue!
	Game action between the Broncos and the Wolverines.
	Faceoff action!
	Game action taking place in front of the WMU goal.
	Another faceoff, this time at the U of M end.
	More game action.
	Michigan's goalie, Shawn Hunwick.
	A look at a line change at the Michigan bench.
	Another look at the Michigan bench.
	Cool masks!
	Time to get going Michigan!
	More on-ice action at the Western end.
	Michigan celebrating the last of their two goals. This made it a game, but unfortunately it wasn't enough to dig them out of the hole that they had dug, as they lost the game 3-2.