Folks, that was badly needed. A good old-fashioned American sports weekend, up to and including a lot of football, plenty of gluttony and a few questionable decisions. Let’s get right to this five-pointed star:

Friday: Our job carried us to Becker, where the hometown football atmosphere is fantastic. The Bulldogs were taking on Totino-Grace, a private school and the cream of the crop in Class 4A in recent times. At Becker, they serve pork chops (which you eat right off the bone while holding them in a napkin) for $3, and we had two of them. A retired teacher passes around treats in the stands every time Becker scores. And with three TDs in the first quarter of an eventual 20-7 victory, everyone in the crowd had elevated spirits and blood-sugar levels. All in all: one of the more enjoyable nights of work we have had in quite some time.

Saturday: Local Quipster has been trying to get us down to Collegeville to witness the cult-like following of St. John’s football for quite some time (top picture). Saturday was finally that day. But first: delicious and necessarily greasy lunch with LQ and Stu at the St. Cloud-area Burger Time (Stu and daughter Piper pictured, the latter wondering perhaps why her grown father is wearing a “Ginger Man” shirt). Then, the game: Collegeville is as idyllic as advertised; that said, coach John Gagliardi has won a lot of games in his time, but he has never won a game in which we have attended. The Johnnies fell to Concordia 9-6.

Sunday: This is where we get to the shared experience. Vikings win. Twins win. Packers lose. The sweet and rare September triple play. (Last time it happened was Sept. 17, 2006). More on the Vikings in the Meltdown. More on the Twins this week. More on the Packers, we’re sure, in the comments.

So: Tell us about your favorite sports weekend.

Fasola-link! Really expensive hotel rooms (like, nicer than even the Radisson).

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