Sheeesh, another tie! Enough already, Gophers

If you are old enough, like I am, you should remember this Laurel and Hardy black and white flick about an aversion to horn sounds.The two legendary comics are on a boat with an evil dude.

But Stan has this issue. Every time he hears horns, he goes crazy, beserk. Oliver knows this, somehow there is a horn sound and his malady saves them both.

My point? I have a mild form of the same problem. Every time someone talks about how wonderful ties are, my blood starts boiling. The more they talk, the more I need restraints.

Late Saturday, actually early Sunday morning, a colleague of mine started talking about how a tie between the Gophers and Seawolves was OK, how he disliked shootouts. That they were a poor way to decide games. And ties are a good way to end games?

Shootouts, certainly, are not the best way to decide games, but they are preferable to ties.

If a fortune-teller told you the game you were going to see -- pick almost any sport -- was going to end in a tie, would you go? I probably wouldn't. You go to games, partly to escape. To feel emotion. Joy or sadness.

College players I have talked to in my five years on the Gophers beat -- unfortunately for me, Mike Russo has taken the beat over this season during the NHL strike -- have almost all said they like shootouts. The exception there might be goalies.

It ended 2-2 after overtime. The teams skated off the ice, and the maroon and gold crowd booed. Long and loudly. Then-AD Joel Maturi even fielded complaints.

The Don hates shootouts, had no intention of playing one that night, but didn't convey the message upstairs. The crowd wanted a shootout, a winner. They didn't get one.

And on the heels of a 2-2 tie with UAA, the Gophers tied again with the Badgers on Friday night. Again it was 2-2.

The majority -- crowds and players -- should get their way on this issue, not coaches. They get paid well enough -- a few hundred thousand a year at the top programs like the U -- they should be able to take the heat if their team loses a shootout.

But back to my colleague. He went to college at Wisconsin, so he loses a bit of credibility there. And then he kept talking and lost all credibility. He said he would be OK with ties in baseball, too. Really?

VISITORS HOLDING THEIR OWN

You always here how it is soooo tough to win on the road in the WCHA. Well, not this season. Visitors went into this weekend 13-13-4. And Friday, guests were 2-0-2, and now hold the advantage in the WCHA this season. Here is the week-by-week breakdown:

Vis. Home Ties

Week 2 of season: 1 - 1 - 0 (Gophers at Michigan Tech)

Week 3 2 - 5 - 3 (Three ties prompt shootout talk)

Week 5 4 - 5 - 1 (One road sweep, by Denver at MSU Mankato)

Week 6 2 0 2

Totals 15 - 13 - 6

Bottom line, I agree with ex-Gophers basketball player Trent Tucker. He said on KFAN on Saturday morning that there should be no ties. He was referring to NFL football. But the same goes for the WCHA.