The Sicatoka

I'd like to see UAH find home if they can save their program. The Fargo Force seem to sell out their rink. Run with the right way I think MSU-M could make a go of it an fill a "niche" in the Fargo/Moorhead market.

Uh, the freshmen are "true freshmen" under the definition of this being their first season on an NCAA roster. It's just that few of them are the classic, straight-out-of-high school 18 year old freshman (like Brock Nelson was last season). To your point, yes, these are more the 19 and 20 year olds who have developed stronger frames. What's being forgotten is this as well: How many of these guys will leave? In 2014 and 2015 we could be looking at a couple lines of today's sophomores and freshmen that have become team foundation-type juniors and seniors, guys who are playing career game 100 or more. Develop a core like that than can play plus/minus even hockey and take care of the penalty kill, sprinkle in some high end skill guys (either current or future), and it could be a good formula. Two years from right now you could have an O'D-MarkMac-MitchMac and a "Parks and Wreckers" (Parks, Pattyn, Gaarder) as the foundation of the team (two of the top three lines) and every guy in that group could have over 75 college games played. And you'll probably have Rodwell (who I still hold hope for in developing into the next Frattin), and Colton St. Clair, and a project guy named Senkbeil who's seen more ice than any of us expected. (What you probably won't have is Forbort and Mattson, but you will have Panzarella, who is also getting way more ice than any of us could have expected.) Note: Nowhere in there do I say "Nelson" or "Grimaldi".

Hey, all I want is the following: From March 8 to the end of the season I just want Eidsness and Dell to put up the following lines: Eidsness 4-0, 1.87 GAA, 0.917 Dell 5-0, 2.08 GAA, 0.909 (We'll see who figures that one out. )

The autobids to lower conferences will normally take out the teams sitting at 16 and 15, and sometimes 14 if there's a tournament surprise somewhere else. Honestly, with five autobids, the only save place to be is either (a) holding an autobid, or (b) sit in the top eleven of PWR.

Are you sure? I find 1788 (source: http://www.gobison.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=11921&SPID=698&DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=205365776&DB_OEM_ID=2400 ).

Worse? SDSU @ NDSU drew 5011 (source: Sunday Fargo Forum). The Fargo Force drew 4811 the same night (source: FargoForce.com). And the WWE drew over 5000 (source: "They seated for 6000 and filled more than 5000 of the seats from what the Dome workers said." http://www.Wrestling.../#ixzz1kIwIOhGb With 15000 folks out there on a Saturday in Fargo, I'd have thought the majority would have chosen to see the great "rivalry" game and not junior hockey or "sports entertainment". The Force were sold out. WWE had about 1000 seats open (see source). NDSU had about 1000 seats open.

Seems to me like there's opportunity for another ND city without those issues to invite them back to the ND lifestyle they lost.

Why is anyone surprised that a 65 year old guy, who's been doing the same job for 25 years, who's has a wife that's already retired and lives 120 miles away, who is facing a major upshift in workload if he stays, is retiring?

Maybe the coaches realized not have receivers isn't much fun. There was a pretty tough stretch there where the only option was Bamba. I don't want to be back in that type of situation.

Same question to you Fetch: Where were you, what did you do, on August 5, 2005?

The NFL and "Big Media" (read: NYC, NE corridor centric) is overjoyed with a rematch: New England v. New York.

There are only two workable long-term solutions to this with UND Athletics thriving in the NCAA and the Big Sky: a) the path UND is on now, since 1/1/2012, or b) Spirit Lake wins in Federal court and they, SL, reinstate the name at UND and they, SL (not UND's administration), take all the heat and complaints about it. I can live with path a) while path b) plays out.

Given that they went out and brought Travis Brewster back, I'd bet ... no.

HOLY CRAP! A PCM sighting!

If that's how it's going to be I'm kind of happy that BC let them into bed with them. They can have each other.

That AndyMac, he's a natural-born sniper.

The more I read about this the more I shake my head. First we find out the captain of the ship abandoned while there were still passengers aboard and wouldn't reboard even after the Italian Coast Guard told him to! Then we find out there's a mystery blonde female (a model) on the bridge at the time of the crash. And now this: http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/19/world/europe/italy-cruise-cook/index.html Talk about a "fiddle while Rome is burning" guy. This is where I look into my portfolio and say, "Whew!" because I don't own any stock in the cruise line or the insurer of it because they're going to be writing some pretty big checks pretty soon I'd venture.

Really? Isn't that how Mean Gene Taylor doled out tickets for a recent NDSU football game? And to hear Taylor and NDSU release that (priority points in TeamMakers) to the media was silly. That's how UND has meted out tickets to Frozen Fours for years and you never hear that trumpeted in the media. Sorry for the diversion. Please return to normally scheduled interwebs arguments.

I can hear Hennessy's call now ... "Maris going to the front of Lee, Knight on the right half-boards, over to Kristo, steps around a defender, shoo-o-o-ts, re-e-e-ebound, Maris, Tater's in front diggin' away at it, ... sco-o-o-ores! TATE. MARIS. Diggin' Tater in front makes it one nothing North Dakota. How about that?"

Grimaldi scores on the rebound.

"My best friend's sister's boyfriend's brother's girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who's going with the girl who saw Ferris pass out at 31 Flavors last night. I guess it's pretty serious." -- Simone

Somebody got it.

One more "where were they" thought: Where was the Spirit Lake Sioux tribal council (in 2005 and 2006) when a single reaffirmation of its 2000 resolution would have given UND the namesake tribal exemption?

Before attacking me and claiming I should work for the NCAA, I think you need to answer one question: Where were you on August 5, 2005, when the NCAA started this mess? I was here. I was on USCHO. I was contacting UND officials (Kupchella, Harmeson). I was explaining simply, clearly, how this NCAA policy was not allowable by the NCAA by-laws (since changed by the NCAA assembly) because I took the time to read and understand them. I was all those places, and contacting folks in Bismarck, explaining how this policy is simply the camel's nose under the tents of operations of every NCAA school and why the NCAA needed to be challenged and stopped on this. But, alas, all my efforts failed. But I tried. And lost. Why? As a private body of free association, it's the NCAA's game. Their rules. Heck, I've left the only trump ace left on the table for someone else to try: Get the NCAA declared a "state actor" (meaning they are no longer a private body) in a Federal court. I don't have standing to accomplish that. That's why I keep cheering for Spirit Lake. That's why I keep pointing out publicly, and privately, how SL should be challenging the NCAA. They have a shot to knock down the monster. UND no longer does. So no, the NCAA isn't any sort of diety to me, closer to demon actually. And sometimes the devil does win. Me? I have a tick mark under the "L" on my record from this. I'm not happy with it, but I'm man enough to take it and move on. So again, rather than making gradiose philosophical statements and ad hominem attacks here, where were you, what did you do, on August 5, 2005 when something was still possible.

Blais is a psychic healer that can cure bipartite patella?