The Sicatoka

Before Oriska, ND, Schools merged into the Maple Valley School District, they had a nickname that stood out. They were the FLICKERS. You had to look twice at that, didn't you.

Uh, you do realize the "Lame agreement" is between the State of North Dakota (by and through the ND SBoHE and UND) and the NCAA. The NCAA won't "get out of our way" on that. They are a full party to it. And the NCAA will enjoy slamming the sanctions on UND.

Would the travel party intend to hurt UND? No, but mistakes happen. But, I'm quite sure the NCAA intends to make an example of UND at first opportunity.

It's a free country in the public square. The NCAA is a private organization. They can make as arbitrary and capricious rules as they like in their private club.

First 12 games: 4-7-1 Last 23 games: 16-5-2 And those last 23 games have been with a smaller and smaller roster to work with. Either Hak can coach or he's better than Houdini.

Are happening. Not may. Are. If the women show up to their NCAA womens hockey tournament game against Minnesota this weekend with one, just one Sioux logo visible, or one visible word "Sioux" on any of their gear, or any jersey, or other gameday equipment, they are forfeited. And it's not just the team. It's the band. It's the cheerleaders. It's UND's official travel party (Athletic Dept. staffers on the trip) that this applies to. One slip-up by any one of that entire travel party (team, band, cheer team, staff) and it's "sorry Olympian Lamoureux twins, you're forfeited." And if forfeited, UND has to reimburse the NCAA for the costs of the NCAA bringing UND there. It's all spelled out in the letter from the NCAA to UND. Read it. Understand it. http://ndgoon.blogsp...caa-to-und.html And I'm willing to bet that the NCAA will have folks there looking for the first chance to prove the letter wasn't just a hollow threat.

Well, our former FB coach (won a DII title here, currently at Southern Illinois) Dale Lennon tells us that we're losing recruits because of the moniker issue because he's been told as much by recruits. Football players know that home NCAA playoff games are a big deal and under sanctions UND can not host (i.e. have a home) playoff game. That's more than "not wearing a jersey". That's losing home contests and losing recruits. And now toss in for good measure that the Big Sky Conference would reconsider our membership if we can't host home NCAA playoff games. That's the answer to "what other harm?" Actually, "BillVol", to put this into your neck of woods familiarity, the Big Sky could also consider doing what the SEC (Tennessee's conference) does to Mississippi and Mississippi State and South Carolina in not allowing home conference tournament games in the states of Mississippi and South Carolina, basically extending NCAA sanctions through and into conference operations. Nothing stops that from happening. (Note: in Miss. and SoCar cases it relates to Confederate flag usage in those states and the NCAA's disapproval of it.)

Here's some of what others are calling "fear and untruths", signed, sealed, and delivered by the NCAA to UND. http://ndgoon.blogspot.com/2012/02/letter-from-ncaa-to-und.html The sanctions are real and intended to hurt.

Imagine having MacMillan, MacMillan, MacWilliam, and Dillon (Simpson) out on a penalty kill. TH would probably sprain his lips.

And Duke and Stanford have smaller undergraduate enrollments than UND and NDSU. Enrollment is a poor benchmark to academic quality.

There must be great uproar and tumult in the People's Republic of Boulder* today. *Not to be confused with the People's Republic of Berkeley or the People's Republic of Madison.

Wrong one. He forgot Tate Maris. Or is Tater going to skate 4th line right wing this week?

Oh that is so easy for a comment about females in Bemidji. Instead, I'll just and step away.

FSU, Utah, and Central Michigan got "one tribe" approval in the designated time period from the NCAA. The Spirit Lake Sioux of ND were late to the party. SL approves now but the NCAA won't accept "one tribe" in ND and now demands "two tribe" approval. Illinois' "Illini" name was deemed by the NCAA to not come from the name of the Illini Tribal Confederacy but from a nickname of a WWI (or WWII?) unit from Illinois (even though they used to use "Chief Illiniwek" as a logo). Makes total sense now, doesn't it?

Fetch, in the settlement agreement, the NCAA says UND is not "hostile and abusive". That's something Kupchella demanded. However, the NCAA still doesn't want certain imagery at their (NCAA) tournaments.

Let me point out three things and then explain why I keep pointing them out. You want the old (non-school color) grey football uniforms because that's what you first saw the team wear. You want standard definition television, even when there is proven technology, HDTV, that is better (and now costs the same or less). You want the moniker to stay, even if there is obvious, proven damage that will come from it. No Dave, I point it out to point out your primary issue. What you want is nothing in your little world to change. Nothing. What you remember from your youth is the best there ever was and ever will be. Apparently to you change is bad even if change brings obviously better things (HDTV) or even if not changing will cause more harm than good (moniker staying = sanction). That's not logical. That's not even rational. You just can't seem to handle change. Worse? You expect the rest of us to be like you. Actually, you get angry at those of us who can be rational and logical and accept (note I didn't say 'like' or 'agree with') change. And you get angrier when we point it out to you. Dave, the only constant in life ... is change.

Bemidji State? You mean this Bemidji State? All this talk of Final Five seems very premature given that BSU has figured out how to beat UND. Alternatively, after that debacle UND was 4-7-1. Since then UND is 16-5-2. Let's hope whatever the team learned that ugly day continues to stick in UND's mind and they want a chance to teach it to Bemidji State.

Hey, Dale Lennon admits recruits have told him that it has been done. That means it is being done, and will continue to be done as long as it can be, in all sports. (And honestly, why wouldn't Dale participate in it as well. Recruiting is dog-eat-dog.)

Rather than dog poo, how about say you're carrying a bouquet of prairie roses and the owner of the house is allergic to them. Prairie roses are just fine, it's just that some (the NCAA) can't stand them and don't want them in their house. If you want to come in you have to leave the bouquet outside.

... or on HDTV. (He bemoaned that as well for a while.)

The ND SBoHE isn't challenging just any ol' law. It's challenging a law that appears to infringe upon its state constitutionally defined "administration and control" powers over state universities. If the ND SBoHE was challenging the speed limit on state highways Bjornson might have a point.

Grey is not a official school color. DaveK will not approve.

Hey, I'd be fine with UND (no moniker) wearing matte black helmets and with a black alternate football jersey in a home football playoff game on my High-Definition television. I wonder what DaveK would think of all of that.

Nursing at NDSU was an LPN program run out of a pharmacy school not that long ago. UND offers the full range of Nursing degrees (BS, MS, PhD). Win to UND. (And that's before even mentioning the benefits to UND Nursing or having UND Med across the street.) And Engineering? Which branch? Electrical or Mechanical is a toss-up. NDSU does offer Ag Eng'g but doesn't offer Chemical or Petroleum Eng'g (UND offers both). If the dude would have been smart he'd have tauted NDSU's architecture and pharmacy versus UND medical and law and business.

I expect a healthy dose of Refasplit. Refasplit, prescribed for road winners of Friday games in Magness Arena, ensures George Gwozdecky doesn't have a heart attack or loss of grip of his sanity on Saturday nights. The drug, administered by whistle, comes in either 2 or 5 min doses. Although Refasplit is not FDA approved, is WCHAHOC approved. Known side effects are extreme frustation and hypertension in those it is administered to. Refasplit - keeps your dasher monkey sane. Refasplit. *WCHA Head of Officials Greg Shepherd