Ask him to buy you a lottery
ticket,
for example. Or take him
to the nearest casino and have him pump some of your quarters into a slot
machine. Or take him fishing.
Are you getting the theme here? Can you see where we’re going with this? If you need something done that requires luck, ask Christopherson to do it for you.
That’s because Christopherson and his football team have had more good fortune in the past couple of weeks than any one team should be allowed to have in two seasons.
"It’s been unbelievable," Christopherson admitted.
Let’s review.
When the second-to-last NCAA Division III Midwest Region poll came out Nov. 4, the Cobbers were rated sixth behind Central College of Iowa (fifth), Augsburg (fourth) and Wisconsin-La Crosse (third). Considering only four teams from each region make the playoffs, this was not good.
Christopherson figured his team’s playoff hopes dangled by a thin thread going into the last week of MIAC play. The Cobbers needed to beat Carleton and hope that Augsburg lost to Bethel.
Concordia took care of its half of the equation, winning 39-10. But Augsburg didn’t cooperate, hammering Bethel 56-22 for its first conference title since 1928.
The headline in the next day’s Forum summed up the situation, as it apparently stood at the time: "Cobbers claim big win but no playoffs." The first words of the story below it read, "Concordia’s football season came to an end ...."
Said Christopherson: "Jerry Pyle, our sports information director, was telling everybody that we were finished because Augsburg won. We figured it was all over."
Then things started happening. One day after Concordia played Carleton, Wisconsin-La Crosse lost at home to the region’s No. 1-rated team, Wisconsin-Whitewater.
Still, since Concordia was rated behind Central Iowa, Christopherson didn’t figure his team had a chance to sneak into the fourth spot.
Imagine his surprise, then, when the final poll came out Nov. 11 and the Cobbers were ranked No. 4 – ahead of both Central and La Crosse.
"From what I understand, the region committee figured they had ranked Central Iowa too high the previous week and that’s why we leap-frogged over them," Christopherson said.
But the Cobbers’ good luck didn’t end there. Since it was the fourth-seeded team to make the playoffs, logic would dictate Concordia would play the No. 1 seed in the first round.
Wrong.
Instead, because of travel rules, the NCAA paired the Cobbers against third-seeded Augsburg. No. 2 Simpson College of Iowa will play at top seed Whitewater.
"I’m sure those two schools are not too happy about that, and maybe they have a right to gripe," Christopherson said.
OK, so now you’d have to figure that since Augsburg is the third seed, certainly the Cobbers would have to hit the road to Minneapolis to play the Auggies.
Wrong again.
Because Augsburg already covered its football field with a bubble for the winter and because the Metrodome is being used for the Minnesota Prep Bowl, the Cobbers will host the game at the Fargodome Saturday at noon.
So Concordia went from not making the playoffs, to playing the No. 3 seed instead of the No. 1 seed, to playing the game at home instead of on the road. Can anything else good happen for the Cobbers this week?
If you are a betting person and have some extra dough to wager, put it on the boys in maroon and gold.
Just make sure you have Christopherson place the bet for you.