84-70. Eighty-Four to Seventy. In Oxford. Donna Is Three and Oh.
Cleveland State84
Miami (OH)70
- Game
- 2028 Week 11
- Site
- Away
- Result
- Win
- Record
- 10-1
VIKINGS 84, MIAMI (OH) 70.
I’ll write it again because I still don’t believe it. Eighty-four to seventy. One hundred and fifty-four points. In Oxford. Folks, I’ve seen basketball games with less scoring. I’ve seen bowling with less scoring.
Donna came. Of course she came. She’s now three and oh in Oxford, all shootouts, and she wore the green felt cape the Reyes kids made, and at one point in the fourth quarter, with the score in the seventies, she turned to me and said, very calmly, “Michael, is defense illegal now?” I said, “In Oxford, it’s frowned upon.” She nodded and went back to her popcorn.
And give Joe Snyderwine’s RedHawks their flowers, because they’re a great team this year. They scored seventy points and lost. You know how good you have to be to score seventy and lose? You have to be playing us. Five straight over the RedHawks, my people.
Ten and one. One regular-season game left.
Five pierogi, and Donna gets the cape permanently. It’s hers now. I’ve been told.
One hundred and fifty-four points. I’ve recalculated it four times. I’ve checked whether the scoreboard was malfunctioning. I’ve considered whether this was, in fact, a football game. All signs point to yes, and I’m unsettled by all of them.
Nadia has lost the Miami (OH) bet five straight years. On Tuesday, she poured my beer, set it down and said, “Your team is better than mine.” Then she paused and said, “But mine scored seventy, Ken. Seventy.” I said, “And lost.” She said, “And lost,” and laughed, and took down the black ribbon she’d draped on her “WE’LL SEE” trophy last January and replaced it with a tiny green one. “For you,” she said. “Don’t get used to it.” Five years of this bet and it’s become the nicest thing anyone at a bar has ever done for me.
On football: the Vikings won a game in which they allowed seventy points. I’m not going to analyze the defense. The defense has asked for privacy during this difficult time.
Teresa watched with me. Around the sixty-point mark she asked, “Is this normal?” I said no. She said, “Then I like it.” I didn’t have a counterargument.
Back and forth
Eighty-four, Kenny! EIGHTY-FOUR!
And seventy. Seventy points allowed. I’m a numbers man; I read both columns.
Five straight over the RedHawks!
And Nadia gave us a green ribbon. That’s the real trophy.
A hundred and fifty-four points in Oxford, Donna’s cape made official, and a tiny green ribbon on a bar trophy that means more than it should.
Split Decision is fiction. Mickey Bridges, Ken Hogmanes and The Lakefront Ledger are invented; the games and scores are not.