The Sicatoka

And the advent of High-Definition television (sorry DaveK) is making hockey more television-friendly right now. Add in larger screens in homes and it adds to hockey's growing television prowess*. And then there's the fact that some folks are just willing to ignore: the growth of hockey in the US. One interesting fact to chew on in that regard: NDSU's football roster (100 players) has two Californians; UND's hockey roster (25) has two Californians (plus guys from the hockey hotbeds of Arizona, Missouri, and Washington, DC). * 25 years ago how many homes had a 32" or larger TV? How many today have a 40" or larger?

I know it's short for Barcelona, but how many others would?

There was a city change in there that probably accounts for that. The better question that you should've asked was, "Do you see "Bullets" jerseys at "Wizards" games?" --> same franchise, same town.

Real UND? UND Barça? UND Arsenal*? Now excuse me while I vomit after all of the soccer references. *That's probably too scary and war-like for the PC bedwetters.

Mentioning "another 20 years" ... Congratulations to NDSU's last and most recent football national championship banner: It will be legal to go to the bars later this year. Yes, it'll be 21 years old.

The NCAA policy says race-based images are naughty-naughty, thus the Nickel must be retired. Too bad NDSU didn't play UND after 2003 but before Aug 15, 2011. Now the full force of sanctions are in effect. UND can't bring out the Nickel per the NCAA. It has to stay where it is, and in retirement. If that's a problem, take it up in Indianapolis, Indiana. I'm sure they'll listen.

CHS is on the north side of Bismarck.

Yes, ... 1 > 0. Last weekend, honestly, Massey had St. Francis at 0% chance at NDSU. All of Massey's predictions for the week are here: http://masseyratings.com/pred.php?s=107811&sub=&days=7 Click on the "%" sign to sort them.

Since we're way off the rails already, who wants to do an analysis similar to this one for all the FCS teams and see how well it correlates to on-field success.

And more than likely little else.

It was my story; it is my story; it will be my story.

Massey (mratings.com) is picking Fresno State 37-7 and giving UND only a 1% chance of winning. Massey had UND with a 10% chance of winning at Idaho.

Yup, and many times the electorate is left to select someone they agree with most of the time. If I lived on a reservation, I guess a candidate's positions on jobs, poverty, teen suicide, addiction, and tribal infrastructure just might trump a candidate's stance on a moniker of a school 300 miles away. When you really do want the pulse of an electorate, direct democracy does trump representative democracy. Ultimately, none of this matters. Standing Rock won't be voting. The NCAA won't change their stance. And Spirit Lake is suing in a court that the NCAA can ignore.

When Mussman was hired I was concerned that he'd never held a head coach job. I see Kalen DeBoer doing all the right things to have his resume in order when an FCS job opens up: - very winning head coach at NAIA level - offensive coordinator at FCS level With him my only question is this: Does he want to move to FBS as an assistant or be a head coach at FCS? As far as Van Deist at Carroll College: He's been there a long time and rumored to be going to both Montana and Montana State when they had openings. Why would he want to come to UND? And yes, someone like Bubba Schweigert (FCS coordinator, head coaching experience) would make sense also. It's early; and Massey had UND with only a 10% chance of beating Idaho this year (and only a 1% chance of beating Fresno State); but I think signs of improvement need to be obvious by year end or the questions will only get louder.

Throw them back.

Personal foul, 15 yards, automatic first down.

Attendance translates into dollars. Dollars are what makes athletics go. Just ask the (continually migrating here of late) BCS conferences.

Vaht?

Well under that assumption set the ND Legislature and ND SBoHE are messing with NDSU status also, aren't they? The same governing bodies you mention control both UND and NDSU.

UND is already an NCAA member. Kicking UND out of the NCAA over a moniker would be a most radical step. Remember, my original response was to this:

Really? I figured you more for this Whitney classic. Naw ... more like this ...

You can call him many things, but even I wouldn't stoop that low.

Well, that should make it quick and easy to remove them from the arena (per the NCAA pre-game statement).

Just some PCM stats: - third member of the board (1. Admin, 2. jimdahl, 3. PCM) - still third in all-time posts here

Roll the clock forward a year or two: UND at NDSU in {sport here}. Hear the arena announcer read the standard NCAA mandated " ... racist, offensive, ... comments directed toward players, coaches, or athletes, ... grounds for removal ... " pre-game announcement. (We've all heard that at UND and NDSU events thousands of times and ignored it but it's there.) But this time, when UND takes the court as the "{new moniker here}" the only "Sioux" that NDSU fans could possibly be referencing would be those peoples of the Great Dakota/Lakota/Nakota nations. Hence, NDSU's favorite chant would not be about the opposing team but would strictly be about ... the D/L/Nakota people ... which fits exactly into " ... racist ... grounds for removal ... " and I'll demand that those folks, per the NCAA pre-game statement, be removed from the arena. And if they aren't I'll be sending a letter to the NCAA (with a whole host of national newspapers on cc:).