When you were in elementary school, you probably learned the tall tale of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox - you know, the larger-than-life lumberjack who created the Grand Canyon in Arizona and Mount Hood in Oregon?

Paul Bunyan and Babe, as well as the rest of northern Minnesota, are now watching what's going on in Washington this weekend, as Bemidji State faces Miami of Ohio in a national semifinal on Thursday.

Pat Borzi (a former PPHer) writes a primer on Bemidji State, and even offers a locator map with the story, as well as proper pronunciation of the town's name: Be-MIDGE-ee.

Bemidji State, however, is bringing everything but the funk. Via D.C. Sports Bog, George Mason's pep band, "The Green Machine," will fill in for BSU's "Red Line Swingers," who were unable to get out of a previous commitment.

I guess some didn't have high hopes of Bemidji going to Washington ...

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Carey Wilson stole a line from Broadway hit "Avenue Q" - "It sucks to be me."

That's what Wilson, the father of Boston University forward Colin Wilson, told the Winnipeg (Manitoba) Free Press. Carey Wilson won't be able to go to the Frozen Four in Washington because he has been delegated to river watch.

The Wilsons live on the banks of the Red River in Winnipeg, and the river is expected to crest today, according to the Free Press.

"Somebody's got to guard the house," Colin Wilson told the Free Press. "I'll call after every game to let him know what's going on and, obviously, he'll let me know how the house is doing."

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Wild E. Cat, New Hampshire's mascot, isn't going to the Frozen Four. But his services were necessary elsewhere - at a New Hampshire wedding, in honor of a couple who first met at a UNH hockey game. Wild E. Cat attended the wedding as the date of the maid of honor.

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