Snowed In

As it turns out, I appear to be looking forward to 48 hours straight stuck in my house, as Victoria is about to be buried under a metric ton of snow this weekend. I think that’s the worst part of the winter. We’re trapped indoors all weekend, and what are we left with? Some college basketball games, a NASCAR race, probably, and one or two hockey games. In order to help my fellow, stranded Victorians, here’s a look at what you could watch this weekend, when you aren’t checking Victoria-Weather for updates.

AUTO RACING: I’m going to be honest. I’m just going alphabetically here, so don’t pay any mind that this came first. In any case, you can look forward to something called the Slater Brothers 300 tomorrow and the Auto Club 500 Sunday. I’m not sure if the Slater Brothers are members of the Auto Club.

BASKETBALL: There are exactly 26 basketball games on Victoria TV this weekend, which is good, because flipping channels may be the only excersize you get that doesn’t involve a shovel this weekend. There are 5 womens games, so if that’s your thing, go ahead and watch all of them. That seems easy enough. They don’t ever overlap. Victoria gets 2 NBA matchups, Miami vs Cleveland on ABC and Sacramento at Indiana on ESPN, so if you haven’t seen enough Stuart Scott lately, you can catch that. Otherwise, we’re left in the college ranks. If you aren’t in the market for channel flipping, and need some guidance, well, here’s what I would watch at the specific times.
Things start at 10AM on Saturday, with Siena facing Marist, which, no doubt, you will want to switch away from quickly. At 11, three games will start, with your best choice being Oklahoma St. at Texas Tech on CBS. While Purdue IS playing, they are at Northwestern, which, well, I would rather watch an intramural game. Pittsburgh at Georgetown should be a great game, starting at noon on ESPN, which you could ride until 3, when Florida takes on LSU. I know the temptation is to watch Big Ten games, which there are aplenty, but don’t. For the love of all that is good, don’t. You’re already stuck indoors, don’t torture yourself too. I mean, until the evening, when your only choice is Indiana at Michigan State. Or the COPS drinking game. Actually, play the COPS drinking game. E-mail me at [email protected] for instructions.
Sunday is a pretty solid triple header on CBS, with little interference (aside from the race) on other networks. First, you get Louisville at Connecticut (historic rivals) at 11. Interestingly, UCONN doesn’t appear to be making the Big Dance this year. Next up, Duke is at St. John’s in a very odd non conference game that I don’t anticipate being any good at all. In what could be a great game at 3, Wisconsin is playing at Ohio State. A bunch of lunky white guys playing against some freshmen not on the same page? Sign me up! Actually, though, this game pretty much demonstrates what is wrong with the Big Ten this year (read: no competition), but it will be a close, low scoring affair. Later, North Carolina is at Maryland (good) and Arizona is at Arizona St. (very, very bad) on FSN.

GOLF: I’m not entirely sure why you would want to watch golf when you were snowed in. It would just send me into a fit of rage, I think. In any case, if you feel the need to raise your blood pressure, the Accenture Match Play tournament is on NBC all weekend.

HOCKEY: On Saturday, it’s hockey amateur hour, with the state girls championships on 45 (or 7, in Victoria). With any luck, my alma mater, Benilde St. Margaret’s, will make an appearance. Also, on FSN at 7, St. Cloud State (with the state’s largest percentage of alcohology majors) will be visiting Minnesota, which should be a solid college event.
Sunday, the pros come out to play. Because of the golf, NBC isn’t showing us another NHL game (stupid golf), but at 1 on Channels 5 and 45, the Wild will be taking on the Edmonton Oilers. The Oilers are struggling this season after making it to the Stanley Cup Finals last year. Additionally, this could be the last outing with the team as it is, with the trade deadline fast approaching.

First and foremost, I want to say good luck and be safe out there. Secondly, can we start baseball in February?