Sports Armageddon is happening. Minnesota state high school wrestling has completely shut down because of an outbreak of herpes. Tiger Woods lost a PGA tour event. Peyton Manning won a Super Bowl and the biggest sign of all, football is over till August.

Now don’t pull out the ice cream and Friday Night Lights reruns yet. It will be OK. I promise. I was on the brink of irrational thought myself just the other day. I decided it may be time for me to finally get a girlfriend, but then I realized Valentine’s Day is right around the corner. Happy Buy Me Something, Something Expensive, or Sleep On the Couch Day, everyone!

Don’t worry, there is plenty in the world of sports to keep you busy until August, and if all else fails there is always NFL Network. I, myself, will be keeping a close eye on the No. 4 Lady Blues, especially this weekend when they travel to take on No. 10 Emporia State. The Lady Blues and Hornets both trail No. 3 Missouri Western by one game in the conference race, and both will be contenders in the conference tournament and playoffs.

On Saturday, everyone better be on the WSGA bus or be following the bus. It appears the Lady Hornets are finally clicking on all cylinders after pounding previously undefeated Missouri Western 89-69 and the Lady Blues will need all the support they can get.

White Auditorium is probably the best place to watch a game in the MIAA. It’s loud and wild. It’s always a sight to see the student section follow the referees up and down the court screaming obscenities. They still haven’t got over the foul for the eye injury to Snoop a couple years ago, but I believed him. He was in pain. I still remember listening to the post-game show and listening to Moe drop the F-bomb.

If nothing else, it’s always fun to watch people on the Michelle Stueve “the best player from the state of Kansas” bandwagon get outplayed by fellow Kansans – Brooke Ubelaker, Cindy Keeley, Megan Sullivan and Amanda Holmes. Stueve is good, there is no doubt about that. I found out the hard way in high school watching our girls team get pounded by Olpe. I just think a win-loss record is more important and this year’s Lady Blues have the upperhand in the series against Stueve.

But if for some reason a Washburn-Emporia rivalry doesn’t float your boat, there is also some spring sports that look to make some noise in the Topeka area. The Kansas Koyotes will be back in action come April after a circus of a year. The Koyotes once again won the APFL championship last year, but not how you may expect.

The Koyotes were expected to take on the Wichita Aviators for the championship, but the game never happened. The Aviators were supposed to get home field advantage, but after the APFL moved the game to Topeka, the Aviators left town. Now that’s sticking up for your principles, although taking the office furniture with you probably goes one step further, in revenge.

Oddly enough, the nonexistent championship game was a conclusion to the drama, not the beginning. The Koyotes, for the first time in four years, lost a game this past season. But perhaps the most dramatic news was new head coach Jim Green getting his lights punched out after one of the regular season games by an opposing player.

I used to think there was no hope for arena football in Topeka, but after last year I think I will be attending more games just to see what happens next. If not, maybe, just maybe I can get one of those Koyotes girls’ number. Hey, it will be OK; the games don’t start until after Valentine’s Day.