Cue the soundtrack from “Vacation” and press play on the Blu-ray from the Chevy Chase classic movie.
The Mess took to the road for the weekend and had this simple quote as our mantra: “This is no longer a vacation. It’s a quest. It’s a quest for fun. I’m gonna have fun and you’re gonna have fun. We’re all gonna have so much fun we’ll need plastic surgery to remove our smiles. You’ll be whistling ‘Zip-A-Dee Doo-Dah’…”
That’s right Mess fans – this weekend was the annual fall road trip. Every year we try to get away for one Saturday and visit one of the schools in the MIAC for a football game. This year it was Northfield for the Cobbers’ game at Carleton. And once again we were reminded of all the great cities and places in the state and all the unique campuses in the MIAC.
If you have never taken a road trip in the fall to see some of the great schools, cities and scenery in the MIAC – you owe it to yourself to take a drive before the snow flies and see some of the conference sites.
The Mess had never seen a football game at Carleton (despite visiting the school several times during the soccer coaching days) and we were impressed with the setting and the natural grass field (one of only three left in the MIAC). The unusually warm weather contributed to the great Saturday in Northfield but so did the people and the game itself. (Special thanks to carleton SID David Pape for rolling out the red carpet and letting The Mess use his office after the game on Saturday – as always, The Mess is blessed to be associated with a great group of SID’s)
Another great part of taking a road trip is that it makes you realize how special home can be. And since this week is Homecoming Week – it was a nice way to remind the Mess how special a place Concordia really is. It is one of the great campuses in the state and the facilities are some of the best, most unique and well kept in the area. The other thing The Mess realized is how special Cobber fans really are. After peering across the field at the mostly empty stands in Northfield, we were reminded of the great following Cobber teams have throughout the year. Every week the stands are full for Concordia games and CC is THE best traveling school in the MIAC when it comes to every sport. Saturday was no exception as Cobber fans almost outnumbered Carleton fans.
Thanks to all the fans that make the road a great place to play for the Cobber teams and a special thank you to the Cobber Nation which makes Moorhead one of the toughest places to play in the MIAC!
The Monday Mess Video of the Week
The Mess returns to using a motivational/emotional video as our video of the week. This week’s Monday Mess Video of the Week celebrates Homecoming and all the great traditions that surround college athletics. The Mess often hears all the negative stories about college athletes and how they are pampered, self- absorbed, ego maniacs who don’t care about anyone but themselves. It’s too bad these same people who think that way don’t get to see all the great things college athletes do for the community. From the Cobber swimming and diving team volunteering at the Food Bank to the Middlebury athletes “Picking Up Butch” – athletes usually give back the most.
The video is also a story about the hope that a sports season can bring and the joy of being a part of college athletic community. The Mess gets to see this every time we walk through the stands on game day.
We hope you enjoy this week’s video which also features great fall scenes from the road!
Unfortunately we can’t embed this week’s video directly into The Mess but you only have to click on the link to go to the ESPN site to see the feature. It is definitely worth the extra click:
“Picking Up Butch ” – ESPN Video
The Rest of the Mess
Like The Mess, the Cobber teams hit the road this weekend. There have been several outstanding road trips in the movies – from Animal House’s trip to Emily Dickinson College to Chevy Chase in Vacation to the crew from The Hangover heading to Vegas. However, none might have been as succesful as the “road trip” weekend for CC sports. Although The Mess thinks the three road trips mentioned above might have been more entertaining. We don’t know that for a fact as we weren’t on the bus rides or in the hotels.
The football team pushed their away record to 3-0 with a dominating 26-7 win at Carleton. Rumor has it that head coach Terry Horan is going to drive the team to Fergus Falls on Friday night so they can stay in a hotel and simulate the road atmosphere for this weekend’s Homecoming game!
The volleyball team had their annual MIAC road trip weekend and came away with a pair of 3-0 sweeps. The Friday-Saturday conference doubleheader usually trips up the Cobbers, but this year Tim Mosser’s crew made sure there would be no letdown. Concordia has now won nine straight matches by 3-0 sweeps!
The women’s soccer team had a tough road task on Sunday. After beating league-leading Macalester on Saturday at home, CC hopped on the bus and traveled to Menomonie, Wis. where they stayed over on Saturday night. On Sunday morning they got up and traveled to Eau Claire for their match-up with regional rival UW-Eau Claire. A pair of second-half goals gave the Cobbers a huge regional victory. It also made for a very enjoyable ride home!
The men’s golf team won the Twin Cities Classic on the road at three different locations around the North Metro and the men’s and women’s cross country teams also turned in solid performances in Duluth at the UMD Pine Hill Invite.
The Cobber teams are now resting up from the weekend, sharing all the memories and pictures and looking forward to the annual Homecoming Week!
The Mess is also resting up. Now – if only we can remember what we did with our phone from Friday night!
The Mess Weekend Media Rewind
- It was a slow week for the Cobbers in the media. With no home games or matches, the only coverage came from short game recaps.
The Mess Picture of the Weekend
Yes, The Mess is once again honoring a soccer picture as Picture of the Week. This time it is out of necessity as the only home games of the week/weekend was the men’s and women’s soccer doubleheader on Saturday. This week’s winner comes from the women’s game and tells the story of the game in just one picture. The reason this pic earns the honor is because of the amount of action involved in just one picture. You have the initial play on the field where CC sophomore Killashandra Link is beating her defender down the line. Then you have the entire Cobber coaching staff watching intently on the sideline and finally you have the scoreboard in the background – which shows the Cobbers on top (can you say winner, winner chicken dinner!).
(You can click on the picture to see the larger version to get the full effect)
The Mess Photo Galleries of the Weekend
Check out the award-winning picture galleries from the weekend.
- Football at Carleton
- Volleyball at St. Olaf & St. Mary’s
- Men’s Soccer vs. Macalester
- Women’s Soccer vs. St. Mary’s
- Men’s & Women’s Cross Country at UMD Pine Hill Invite
* Special thanks goes out to Ryan McCaughtry and Tim Bye who took the awesome pictures from soccer and football, Nathan Lodermeier who continues to excel with the cross country pictures and SID’s Mike Ludwig and Donny Nadeau who shot the pics from the volleyball road matches.
Click here to view all the galleries from the Cobber SID Flickr Page
“Now That’s A Big Mess” Stat Line of the Weekend
The Cobber football “Black Shirt” defense earns this week’s Big Mess Stat Line of the Week award. The CC defense did not allow a point against Carleton on Saturday and gave up only 128 yards of total offense. That total is the fewest given up by a CC defense since the 2002 season. Concordia also forced four turnovers in the game and continues to lead the league in turnovers forced (15) and turnover margin (+8). For the game the Black Shirts gave up 31 rushing yards, 97 passing yards, forced 4 turnovers, recorded 7.0 sacks and did not give up a point. Now that’s a Big Mess of a stat line!
Social Media Mess of the Week
Each week we will honor the best Cobber Twitter Tweet or Cobber Facebook post that we come across with our Twitter account or Facebook account
This week’s Social Media Mess of the Week winner was a back-and-forth post on Facebook between Cobber wrestlers Lex Lunde and Mike Holman. Since the winter sports seasons are just around the corner, it’s always great to start with some motivational material.
“Lex Lunde: Life is a game in which we all want to win. The losers all frown and the winners all grin. And since losing is my greatest fear. I’m always cheesing from ear to ear.
Michael T. Holman: ive lost a lot. but im still here smiling like i found a gold pot, i keep perspective, calm collective, life isnt all rainbows, hard times come i cant change those
Lex Lunde: And I can’t change my past cuz those are the things that I chose. Life sometimes stings, call it thorns from a rose. But I will never fall down, I’m forever on my feet. Until the day the Lord takes me and my steady heart beat.”
Queen of the Mess
This week’s Queen of the Mess is Cobber junior women’s soccer forward Sarah Rounds. Rounds scored a goal in each of Concordia’s wins over regionally ranked opponents over the weekend. She kick-started the weekend by netting her first goal just 4:35 into the opening half against Macalester. Her goal gave CC the momentum for the entire contest in the 2-1 victory. The Cobbers have now beaten the Scots six straight times. Rounds struck for the game-winner against UW-Eau Claire on Sunday. She broke open a 0-0 contest in the second half as Concordia went on to beat the Blugolds 2-0. Rounds now leads the MIAC in points (22) and goals (10).
Kings of the Mess
Once again The Mess honors a men’s golfer. This time The Mess gives the award to the whole team. The Cobber men’s golf team pulled off the biggest win in program history when they captured the championship at the Twin Cities Classic over the weekend. Concordia overcame a seven-shot deficit heading into the final round and went on to beat nationally ranked teams #3 St. John’s, #14 Gustavus and #19 UW-Eau Claire. It is the first time that the Cobbers have ever won a top regional team event. The victory was the third of the season for CC and puts them in a position to earn an at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament in the spring.
The Tom Burnett Unsung Hero of the Week
The Mess dares you to name one Cobber men’s cross country runner not named Tom Sederquist. Go ahead – we’ll wait. Nope, didn’t think so. That’s why this week’s Tom Burnett Unsung Hero of the Week goes to Cobber men’s cross country runner Tanner Sakrismo. Sakrismo has come out of nowhere in his senior season to give the Cobbers a legitimate 1-2 punch. He started the year slowly but has stepped it up in the last two meets. Without Sederquist running at the Roy Griak Invite, Sakrismo led CC and raced to a career-best time of 27:19. On Saturday he proved that result wasn’t a fluke as he finished second overall at the UMD Pine Hill Invite. Sakrismo ran a 26:48 which marks another 30-second plus drop in his PR. The Mess hopes he can continue this trend and post a Top 25 finish at the MIAC Meet on Oct. 29.
The Mess Fan of the Week
This week’s Fan of the Week also comes from the cross country team. Tom and Ryan Sederquist’s Grandpa never misses a race and can always be seen out on the course encouraging the Sederquist boys and the Cobbers. Not only does he make it to the meets in the area, he also cheers and gets fired up at most of the meets on the schedule.
The picture was taken at the UMD Pine Hill Invite and shows Mark Sederquist cheering on Tom in another winning race. 
Once again we ask our 10′s of readers to submit Cobber fan pics! Please send your Cobber fan pictures to: cobbersportsinformation@gmail.com. Remember – the winning entry receives a special Cobber prize!
Fresh Mess of the Week – “Just Win Baby”
In honor of the passing of Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis, we give the Fresh Mess honor to freshman men’s golfer Coy Papachek. Papachek was tied for sixth place, six shots back after the second round at the Twin Cities Classic. He then proceeded to go out and fire a 1-over-par 73 in the final round and win the individual championship by a single shot. Papachek finished off the fall season by posting three top 10 finishes in the team’s seven events and had a 76.7 stroke average in his 15 rounds.
Upcoming Mess Game of the Week
- Football at home vs. Augsburg – Homecoming – Sat., Oct. 15 at 1 p.m.
The Mess doesn’t like to spend time blowing its own horn but we are 2-for-2 in the last two Upcoming Mess Games of the Week. Hopefully we will push that mark to 3-for-3 after this week.
This week’s Game of the Week could have HUGE ramifications for the end of the season and for a possible run at the NCAA playoffs. The Cobber football team has won two straight and is now 2-2 in the MIAC. Concordia will host the “surprise” team of the conference when Augsburg invades on Saturday. The Auggies were unbeaten on the season before losing on Saturday to St. Thomas. The teams are two, of the potential five, schools which could finish in the top 2 at season’s end and earn an NCAA playoff spot.
However, a loss on Saturday would severely damage playoff hopes and also turn the final three games into a streak to get into the top 5 in the MIAC standings.
It’s time for The Mess to unpack and stay at home for a week or two.
Try and take our advice and hit the road. Before the winter sports season starts check out any of the great action around the MIAC at some of the tremendous campuses. Make sure the first stop on your MIAC road trip is at Concordia on Saturday. Then, simply turn the car south and enjoy the remainder of the fall!
Complete list and schedule of all the Cobber Homecoming activities
Safe travels to all!
Feel free to tell your friends about the Mess and don’t forget to check us out on Twitter and Facebook
thanks for sharing the Picking Up Butch video link – a truely heartwarming story.