USA Broomball Nationals (PT2) - The Journey from Birth to Curse
Updated: Aug 13, 2020
Part Two – The Curse!
In 2016 after hosting seventeen straight relatively drama-free National Championships, the brain wizards at USA Broomball (i.e. St. Aubin and Denesen) pissed off the broomball gods and decided to change the historical start date of the tourney. They had dodged flood potential in Fargo at the 2015 event, and the chance of a late March Minnesota blizzard always posed a risk. “Let’s move it to later in April, we’ll never have to worry about the weather again!”
Idiots.
2016 – The Curse Begins
54 teams at a two-sheet complex in Richfield MN, no big deal right? Boom! The rinks major tenant pulled rank and snared a bunch of prime-time hours on Saturday. A last-minute scramble ensues to find a new home for a plethora of games (including the marquee main event, the Men’s A Final).
2017 – Cinderella Story Leads the Pack at Augusta
How the hell do tornados at The Master’s affect Nationals in Pittsburgh? Weather in Georgia delays all Delta flight crews heading to Mpls/St. Paul International. Members of no less than seven teams, as well as the Tournament Director, RIC, and three other Ref’s spend eight hours watching all flights into Pittsburgh go from delayed to cancelled. The only flight crew left not timed-out in the entire Eastern United States arrives for a miracle midnight flight into PA. Teams and officials arrive at the rink minutes before the 8am start time after pulling an all-night planes, trains and automobiles extravaganza. It’s in the hole!
2018 – April showers bring… The Thunder Blizzard!
Move it back for better weather you say? How does twenty plus inches of snow and 40 mph winds sound to our out of town guests? You seriously could not see more than six feet out the door at the Super Rink in Blaine. The Editor heard something he never thought possible in April. “We are closing the rink at 6pm due to the conditions” WTF? Ice rinks in MN don’t close for weather, ever!!!
2019 – Fun in Fargo
It couldn’t possibly happen again, could it? Well… more than a foot of the white and 50 mph winds prove that it can. Throw in a little Red River flooding and you might as well have been tuna fishing on the Flemish Cap with Georg Clooney. Brave souls who made the drive Thursday night are still suffering from PTSD. Friday wasn’t much better, but incredibly only two teams had to bail.
2020 – No Hope in New Hope
Perfect weather, you know the rest.
