The Sicatoka

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?

Let's assume "no Parks" this weekend (as he's day to day): UND has 16 healthy* skaters to put onto the ice this weekend. Defense: MacWilliam, Mattson, Simpson, Blood, Gleason, Panzarella Forward: Kristo, Knight, Nelson, Lamoureux, Rowney, Gaarder, Dickin, MacMillan, Pattyn, Senkbeil Goales: Dell, Eidsness, Maris Injured/Out: Forbort, Rodwell, Grimaldi, O'Donnell, Parks Not eligible: St. Clair, MacMillan (Mitch) My "can Maris skate a wing" question is getting less and less funny. *"Healthy" is a relative term when it comes to Knight and Lamoureux recovering from injuries that kept them out previously.

Fail. Hosehead : (slang) A derogatory term for a person from Canada (Source: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/hosehead ) Wally Shaver knew exactly what he said, and why he said it. More Minnesota hockey xenophobia.

1940? Weren't most men joining the Army in expectation of being drawn into a little thing called World War II?

Well I'm offended that they spend so much time worrying about who might be offended. What are they going to do resolve that for me?

Backing out the math on those two numbers, he's seeing nearly 39 shots per game.

Mitch MacWilliam? Has some strange gene-splicing been going on?

Like I asked before: Can Tate Maris skate a wing? Forbort, Grimaldi, O'Donnell, Parks, and Rodwell ... that'd be a heck of a powerplay unit, D-4 and Roc on the points, Rodwell in the tip-bin in front and O'D and Parks on the sides.

That's a nice little late season add for a USHL team.

Nothing. Nada. Nyet. Nil. Nein. Nolo. Like I've said before, I don't want to be dangling in the wind on the end of anyone's string, be it the NCAA's, SL's, or SR's. Cut 'em loose. Firebrand! Torch 'em!