Throughout the history of North America, lacrosse has been a constant. The Native Americans believed that lacrosse had a spiritual significance, as shown by the beginning face-off when the players would hold their sticks in the air and shout out to get the gods’ attention. Sometimes the games were played to appeal to the gods for healing or for settling disputes between tribes.
After years of preparation, this spring will mark the inaugural season of the Mines Club Baseball Team. Efforts from Connor Meining, the club’s president and a junior in biochemical engineering, have made the team a reality.
Eight weeks into the football season, the endgame is taking shape. As expected, LSU, Alabama, and Oregon are cruising near the top of the rankings. They have been joined by some unexpected competition, however. Kansas State and Florida emphatically proved their worth with one-sided victories over highly-ranked foes. Florida humiliated South Carolina in the Swamp, taking advantage of Gamecock mistakes to roll to a 44-11 victory. The Gators took total command of the SEC East race and they can clinch the division next week with a win against struggling Georgia. Kansas State, meanwhile, rolled into West Virginia and hammered the Mountaineers on their home turf, scoring on their first eight possessions. Granted, West Virginia’s defense is porous, but the Wildcats now have convincing road victories over the other two best teams in the Big 12, and with Texas and Texas Tech both traveling to Manhattan, KS, the Wildcats should be in excellent shape to win the conference.
After a summer of reality shows and reruns, TV networks are finally returning to their signature shows. This means new episodes of old favorites, as well as brand new ideas. This week, Minds at Mines asks, “What is your favorite new or returning TV show for the fall and why?”
You know what really grinds my gears?
The Denver International Airport
The first problem with the place is that it is so far away. Why, when you can get to downtown Denver in about 20 minutes, does it take the better part of 50 to get to the airport? Also, why could they not build it directly off of I-70? Instead, when you think you’re there, there is another 15 minute drive ahead of you, which is essentially a speed trap to raise money for the airport. It is rumored that some dishonest business and political deals went down to determine the location of DIA, inconveniencing millions of Coloradans in the process. There are numerous other open space locations where an airport could have been built (between Golden and Boulder, on top of North Table Mountain, etc.), but they just had to add an hour to everybody’s travel time by putting an airport halfway to Kansas.
President Barack Obama and former Governor of Massachusetts Mitt Romney opened the presidential debate season last Wednesday at the University of Denver in Denver, Colorado in a matchup that saw neither side come out ahead. The consensus among students and social media is that Romney finished slightly ahead of Obama. He was more aggressive although neither candidate scored dramatic blows.
You know what really grinds my gears?
Where are all the auto-flush toilets in the new buildings? Now, I can only speak for the men’s bathrooms, but still, I would imagine that the women’s are similar in technology. Both the new section of the Brown Building and Marquez Hall require us students to manually facilitate the flushing process. Not only is this an inconvenience for everyone using the facilities, but it also contributes to the spread of germs and disease. I understand that the school spends what likely amounts to thousands of dollars on the flu vaccine for all the students. Wouldn’t a good supplement to flu prevention be installing auto-flush facilities? I recognize that these electronics are not cheap. According to Google, the auto-flush sensor itself can cost $200, but for a building being built in the 21st century, it should be made standard. Luckily, these contraptions can be fitted to the pipes after the manual flush has been installed, so there’s still hope for our lazy race.
Being incredibly awkward, the Investigator of Excuses found herself tripping over her own feet and disrupting a nearby friend. She apologized, but added the excuse, “I go to Mines. Clumsy is normal.”
This week in college football was tumultuous, unpredictable, and thrilling—in other words, it was all of the reasons why the sport is great. Contenders were validated, pretenders revealed, and the national title picture is becoming clearer. Florida State’s expected collapse came in spectacular fashion, as the Seminoles inexplicably blew a 16-0 halftime lead, getting shut out in the second half against North Carolina State in a one-point loss that should end FSU’s title hopes. On the other hand, South Carolina used a spectacular first quarter to lay waste to fifth-ranked Georgia, validating the Gamecocks’ national title campaign. After six weeks, we have finally seen enough football to reasonably select the best teams in football. With much ado, here is the inaugural 2012 Football Informant Top Five:
The Colorado School of Mines men’s soccer team took on No. 3 Regis University looking to slow down the high-powered Ranger offense that leads all of Division II in scoring. Mines did just that, holding a Regis team that is avergaing nearly four goals per game to just one score on the night. But it was not enough as Regis held on for the 1-0 win in dreary weather Friday at the CSM Soccer Stadium.