ESPN, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post were among the big-time media outlets which made calls to Bemidji State early this week, trying to learn more about the Beavers.

The Wall Street Journal ran a story rating the major upsets in college sports. Right now WSJ has Bemidji State’s regional triumph at No. 3. Of course, it can climb if the Beavers do well at the Frozen Four.

Ahead of the Beavers is the Fresno State baseball team at No. 1. The Bulldogs were not among the top 48 teams when in June 2008 it won the College World Series.

No. 2 is Appalachian State, which beat Michigan 34-32 in football in 2007. 

Brad Folkestad, the BSU director of athletic communications, has been busy.

“It was great,” Folkestad said when asked about the Midwest Regional in Grand Rapids, Mich. “The fun part was, people latched on to Bemidji State. Once they saw the way the Beavers played, the fan base grew.

“By the end of the first day, the apparel store was all out of Bemidji State stuff. The next day there was a lot of green and white.”

The airport scene when the team returned home was also memorable. The Beavers landed early in the morning.

“When we got here, we pulled up and there was a bunch of people,” Folkestad said. “All we saw were silouettes. And then when we got off, there were flash bulbs. When we opened the door, people were screaming and whistling. Once we got in, people were banging on the glass, holding up signs. The players were mobbed, there was a couple hundred people there.”

Coach Tom Serratore gave his team Monday and Tuesday off. They were going to resume practices on Wednesday at the Neilsen-Reise Arena, a curling hotbed.

Classes on Tuesday evening were canceled because of a winter storm.

I’m going up to Bemidji on Thursday and Friday to work on a couple stories for next week. I’m told it’s 230 miles from the cities and a four-hour drive. I hope the snow is gone by the time I get up there.

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