The RedHawks Win the Big 12, and Nadia Gives the Ribbon Back
Cleveland State28
Miami (OH)34
- Game
- 2029 Big 12 Championship
- Site
- Neutral site
- Result
- Loss
- Record
- 10-3
Miami (OH) 34, Vikings 28. For the Big 12 championship.
Six points. We were closer this time, much closer than in October, and we still came up short. Joe Snyderwine’s RedHawks are Big 12 champions, and they earned it. They beat us twice. When a team beats you twice, folks, you don’t argue. You tip your cap, and you go home, and you eat whatever Donna made.
But here’s the thing I keep telling my Lakers, and I’ll tell you too: the season isn’t over. Because of the playoff. Ten and three still gets you in, and the committee put us in the first round, which means four more games if we want it, and no bye, and a road we’ve never walked. We’ve never played a first-round playoff game. Last year we had the bye. This year we have to earn every round.
And here’s the twist you’re not going to believe: if we win the first round, we probably play the RedHawks again. A third time. In the quarterfinals. Nobody plays the same team three times in one season. Nobody. Except us, this year, maybe.
Zero pierogi. A little hope, though.
Six points. In the Big 12 title game. To the only undefeated team on the schedule, for the second time this season.
I’ll be honest: the Vikings played better this time. Much better. That’s not a moral victory; I don’t believe in those. It’s a data point. It says the gap is closing.
At the Lantern Room, Nadia didn’t gloat. She came out from behind the bar, sat down next to me, and slid something across the table: the green ribbon. The one she gave me in October to “want back.” She said, “You might need this in a few weeks, Ken.” I said, “For what?” She said, “Look at the bracket.” I looked at the bracket. If the Vikings win their first-round game, they get Miami (OH) again, in the quarterfinals. A third meeting.
She said, “I’m not giving you the ribbon. I’m lending it. Bring it back either way.” That’s the most sportsmanlike thing that’s ever happened in a bar in Ohio City.
The Doom Model has a new tab: “Rubber Match.” It’s empty. It’s waiting, like the rest of us.
Back and forth
A third game against the RedHawks, Kenny!
If we win next week. Don’t skip a step. The Doom Model hates skipped steps.
Nadia lent you the ribbon?
Lent. With conditions. I’ve signed nothing, but I feel bound.
The RedHawks take the Big 12 title, the gap closes to six, and a green ribbon goes back across a bar table on loan, waiting for a rubber match.
Split Decision is fiction. Mickey Bridges, Ken Hogmanes and The Lakefront Ledger are invented; the games and scores are not.