Random Notes on Sports This Weekend --

.... all of which I missed (except one) because I was traveling...

First, Wade Phillips. I'm impressed. I never cared for him one way or the other all that much when he was at Dallas. But here he is, with eight wins and one loss this season. Only the Atlanta Falcons have the same record: 8W - 1L. And the Houston Texans got their 8th win against 7-1 Chicago Bears. Pretty impressive.

Not so impressive was how the NASCAR race played out today. Don sent me the pertinent video. The fans loved it, but not good from my perspective. It's one thing to lose one's cool on the football field, but completely different when racing at speeds of 150 mph (or whatever they were doing). Brad had something to say about this, also. [Update: crime and punishment -- allowed to race this weekend, but docked 25 points and $100,000 fine. I think he should have been suspended. Period. Dot.]

And Notre Dame: 10 - 0. Ranked 3rd, behind Kansas State and Oregon, ranked 1st and 2nd, respectively. I had sort of given up on Notre Dame these past few years, but wow, what a year this has been. Along the way, they beat four ranked teams, including #4 Stanford and #8 Oklahoma. Not bad. Wake Forest should not be a problem next week. It will make the season-ending game with USC must-watch television, Thanksgiving Saturday, 8:00 p.m. eastern.

Luxury Suites Taking Reservations In Williston, North Dakota

Winterton Suites must have been completed sometime this summer/autumn. Here is the original post.

Today I received this note at my personal mail:

I recently stayed at these newly constructed boutique executive suites. Winterton has unassuming exterior, amazing rooms! Great bed, down comforter, full size refrigerator, microwave, counter stovetop, flat screen TV, work station, sofa, deep tub,custom wood trim, tile. Recommend highly!  

So, there you have it. The Winterton Suites website is up and running but the Williston page is still under construction, I believe.

Surface Rights: $10,000/Acre .....

... but not in the Bakken. This is a story about agricultural land going for $10,000/acre in eastern North Dakota:

In what could be a state record for the per-acre value of farmland, an 80-acre parcel in North Dakota’s Walsh County sold for $800,000, or a whopping $10,000 per acre, at public auction Thursday in Grand Forks, N.D.

About 50 people, both bidders and onlookers, attended the auction, which included the sale of farmland in North Dakota’s Pembina County and Minnesota’s Kittson County. Those parcels brought prices ranging from $2,125 per acre to $5,850 per acre. But the 80-acre parcel in Walsh County was the auction sale’s crown jewel.

80 acres. Almost a million bucks. I hope they close this deal before the end of the year to avoid higher taxes in 2013. 

Buyer unidentified.