to a crowd of about a thousand cheering fans.  Well, they did arrive at
the airport and there were several hundreds of folks greeting them, but
the crowd was there for the *next* plane coming in ...
 
The "fans" and the Gophers, about 10 minutes later, greeted a plane load
of returning Desert Storm veterans.  The people of the Greater Bangor
area have been doing this for all returning planes (several each day)
since the first plane load of troops landed in Bangor after the cease
fire.  A band plays;  each of the troops gets a flag and lots of
handshakes and hugs, and signs lots of autographs.
 
One player (sorry, I didn't get his name) suggested that he didn't
expect the same greeting at the Alfond Arena Friday night.  :-)
 
The Gophers had an optional practice late this afternoon and were
reported to be loose and in great spirits.