The Sicatoka

You missed a step: They need the signatures. Then they need the vote to go their way. I'm not sure either of those are a given.

What the petitions (there are two remember) are going for is: (a) reinstatement of Al Carlson's folly, then (b) an amendment to the state constitution regarding the moniker <-- that would cause a conundrum as it would potentially conflict with another section of the state constitution

Don't know how bad O'Donnell is. Do know he might not be the only injury loss at forward after Saturday.

You assume McLeod won't chime in on Monday or Tuesday. I said it at the end of regulation: They should've sent both teams off the ice without a handshake after Saturday's game. But no, Don Adam proves his baffoonish lack of game control again. PS - Whatever happened to the "if you can go from the bench to the locker room without stepping onto the ice that's what you do" rule? Minnesota was coming onto the ice after each period. That used to be first a warning then a bench minor.

And here is the crux of the situation: Such a law, without a change in NCAA policy, harms UND. I will not harm UND. And the NCAA has shown that they will not and do not have to follow ND law (see: Al Carlson's fiasco). Efforts by SL beyond their lawsuit are misefforted and misguided. I say this because they want the power over the nickname, yet, they are trying to give some of that power (via petitions and a vote) to the voters of ND. SL needs to focus on the lawsuit and only the lawsuit. That solves the whole situation: the NCAA loses in Federal court and SL gets all the power. It's pretty simple, yet so few see it.

Correct. But that also means UND has four road (BSC) games that UND is not being paid to travel to and play.

Please keep ticket discussions in the ticket forum.

I channel-surfed five minutes on the way to the Wild @ Blackhawks game and saw that USD was vastly overmatched.

Meanwhile, south of the border ...

An FCS team will want more money to travel to play in Grand Forks than a SDSoM. Want to see a better team? Write the check.

Hey, it's not nice to disrespect the past winner of the "Best Monopoly in America" award. The Gambino family wish they had it so good.

{Disclaimer: I'm doing some liberal interpreting from the "redshirt" rules. Be kind those of you who have the NCAA manual memorized. } Basically, if you play 30% of the games on the schedule you've used up the year of eligibilty. He's burned two (2010-11 and 2011-12). He has two left. Assuming he starts in January 2013 and plays 30% of the games on the 2012-13 schedule that's another year used. And then he'd have 2013-14. Of course I could be interpreting all of this incorrectly also.

Awesome ... now we'll have enough guys to have a scrimmage in practice! I wondered about the "two years of NCAA eligibility" until I thought some more about it. He played a full freshman year at SCSU (1); he played enough games so far this season for it to count as another year (2). That would leave him with two years to complete.

To be accurate, the NCAA only recognizes their titles and 3 of the NDSU football titles you purport are poll titles (no playoff). And per NDSU fans, only Division I matters, hence, please stick to DI.

Another interesting case of "strange bedfellows" this whole conundrum has created.

Lovely, ... but can I see a shovel in the ground and steel going up? Please?

I didn't say it wasn't a double-edged sword.

Does that make him detweeted? Untwittered? Detwitified? Untwiched?

Who's most happy about Mitch MacMillan going to UND? Mitch and Mark's parents. Their costs go down with both at one place.

Finally someone hears what I've been saying for a year (more?). At risk of repeating myself, the last "state actor" challenge to the NCAA was 1999. Since then there's a Tennessee case that may provide precedent: Given that the NCAA is primarily public schools (meaning government officials mandated to follow the First and Fourteenth Amendments) one could ponder if the NCAA and NCAA leadership is "pervasively entwined" with goverment officials and acting as a state actor. That's one for the Federal courts to untangle.

The 85 to 80 is a nice ruse to distract from the other issue: "full cost of attendance" scholarships. http://www.obsessedwithsports.com/2011/06/07/full-cost-of-attendance-scholarships-could-change-the-college-football-landscape/ Like that story says, So on one hand they'll lower the scholarship limit number (which sounds wonderful and more equitable in a press release or news story) but actually raise the total price of an FBS football program. That works to the advantage of the BCS conferences. The gap widens.

Indeed. If raised that could prove to be rather problematic.

It doesn't matter what I think. I said to ask Jesse Taken Alive and Tex Hall. They are the "opinion makers" on this issue. And the NCAA seems to listen to them. I'd enjoy hearing their thoughts on NDSU's favorite chant now that UND has officially retired the moniker.

So tell me where the real problem with the moniker is. Is it with past UND fans saying "Go ....." or current NDSU fans still chanting "..... suck!" I sure hope the NCAA hears about this incident. NDSU deserves some NCAA "proctology" for a while. I think the Forum should ask Jesse Taken Alive and Tex Hall how they view the phrase "..... suck!" in comparison to say the (Lehigh guy) N-word.

Sure you have ... it's just that Shepherd didn't call them.