* Until the NBA playoffs go to sudden-death overtime, there's no greater excitement than postseason hockey OT.

Every shot is a chance to end the game. And when overtime starts, you never know if things will end in one minute or four hours later.

But why is it that the later starting games are the ones that can't be decided in regulation?

* The Notre Dame Fighting Storm made an impressive run to the NCAA hockey Frozen Four championship game last week.

OK, so maybe a name change for the Irish is a bit of an exaggeration, but with six former Tri-City Storm players on the roster, Notre Dame did have several local ties for its Cinderella story.

The Irish made it to the championship game as a No. 4 seed. Since only 16 teams qualify for the NCAA tournament, that's like a 13-seed getting to the title game of the basketball tourney.

And four former Tri-City players played big roles in the Notre Dame's run forwards Christian Hanson, Mark Van Guilder and Calle Ridderwall and defenseman Kyle Lawson.

Hanson had two goals, Lawson one and Van Guilder three assists in the first round upset of top-seeded New Hampshire. Van Guilder and Hanson each had a goal in the regional final win over Michigan State.

Ridderwall, a freshman, scored twice including in overtime to knock off Michigan in the Frozen Four.

And Lawson, who provided strong defensive play throughout the tournament, played a part in the turning point of the final against Boston College. His goal that would have cut it to 3-2 was disallowed by the replay official due to the puck going off Lawson's skate with a distinct kicking motion a questionable call and less than a minute later BC went up 4-1 instead.

* Meaningless personal list: Frozen Four edges out Super Bowl for coolest sounding sports event. The Pacific Curling Championships is a close third.

* The consolation games at the state high school basketball tournaments earned an extension and an expansion.

The Nebraska School Activities Association Board of Control approved the third-place games again for next year's boys and girls state basketball tourneys as well as for this fall's volleyball state tournament.

They will once again review the popularity of the contests after the basketball season next year.

In a promising change, the consolation games will likely be held at two different sites and conclude by mid-afternoon on championship Saturday. This will avoid an unnecessary late-night at Pershing Center, as charming as that can be.

Also, medals will be awarded to both teams and the fourth-place team will now also get a plaque. It's nice to see the admission fees for fans going to something besides one plaque for the third-best team in a class to carry off.

* Note to high school ADs: Shouldn't you know better than to schedule spring sports conference championships the second week of April? They have to be held later to avoid snow.

Dale Miller is a sports writer for The Independent.