"It's not a scheme, it's an effort."

That's Northwest Missouri State University football coach Mel Tjeerdsma talking about the blocked PAT that gave his team a 21-20 win in the Division II quarterfinals on Saturday. The Bearcats, ranked No. 2, bested the No. 1 team, Central Washington University, at Ellensburg, Washington.

"A game this important and a season this special shouldn't end like this" writes the Seattle Times reporter.

I note this big win because I am an alumna of NWMSU -- C, back in the day. I went to very few games as a student. It wasn't because the Bearcats of that era weren't very good (they weren't). I had learned in high school how to be loyal to a losing team. But it didn't help that they weren't very good.

Back in the day, women students were told they had to wear skirts to football games. These games were all played at night, except for Homecoming. The fall nights in NW Missouri are nippy. It annoys me yet today that we tolerated that dress code (and a bunch of other restrictions) without a second thought.

Coming back to the real world, congratulations to the Bearcats on their efforts yesterday!