The Sicatoka

More marinade. Seems the grill's about to temperature ...

Dear Curious George, you GQ attired, dashing dasher dancing monkey you, Thanks for the free PR! Now everyone who watches Rockies baseball but loathes DU (for whichever of innumerable reasons) has a team to cheer for. I'm not saying that that team hasn't been CC in the past, but DU and CC are more the friendly rivals sorts. I'd never expect a melee to break out between DU and CC. But by stating your pure hatred of UND you've given a home to all those Fox Sports Rocky Mountain viewers who fester pure hatred for DU or DU hockey. We'll take any fanbase you can sent our way. It's our way of embracing diversity. Better? As bad as you claim us to be we can always point to two scenes: - Robbie Bina's broken neck courtesy Geoff Paukovich's dirty hit - Your dasher dance and ice stroll to upstage the officials, followed by (intentional?) NCAA rules violations post-ejection Pure class. Excellent reference points for us to use to define you and your program. Thanks again. From all the "Philly on the Red" fans: Thanks for adding to our numbers!

Any travelers out there? How would you feel after three trips to Texas in four weeks? The other thing: Heat and humidity. It finally caught up. (They were falling like flies at the TT/Houston game and that wasn't that far away.) The scheduling needs to be better after this year. The rest is part of the growing and learning curve.

Control what's yours to control, or guys like this will be there to "help" you.

We've been sitting ducks since the August 2005 NCAA press conference. I don't want to be a sitting duck after all this shakes out.

Not always a fan of the guy, but he may have gotten it right this time: I sure hope Ron McNeil hears, and understands, this.

That is a trap game. According to Massey, if Sioux Falls was a DII today they'd be in the top 25.

The North Central is gone. Some to DI (FCS), other to the Northern Sun (NSIC). It seems the NSIC filled the void left behind. The NSIC is 14 today. Will it soon be 16?

In the "market segment" (athletics) UND is in the competition markets the "logo" and "moniker" as much as the "brand". You have to have something to go up against that. Even Michigan, which has its block M logo, and is most identified by really ugly helmet stripes, still has the tag-line "Wolverines". Pick something (control what's yours to control) or someone will stick you with one that's only half complimentary. Personally, I believe UND should make more use of the logo I'm using as an avatar.

Don't be afraid.

I have a Reaper logo ...

Too "Nashville." Be unique. Reapers can look both back (state's ag history) and forward (GFAFB and UND UAV/UAS missions).

USAF flies them. So does NASA. So do these guys. All have ties to Grand Forks, ND, and UND.

Cute. Bob would've appreciated that. But one name/moniker in my final six list was used by a tribal chair and prominent former UND hoopster recently.

I'll guess six finalists: Rough Riders - state nickname, see: Kansas, Michigan, Tennessee, Wyoming, et al (ND/UND trumps GFRR) Nokotas - it's the only animal indignious and unique to North Dakota (and grows hair on its, ahem, scrotum ) Reapers - good concept (farmers of the past, UAVs of today and tomorrow) but too edgy for some of the "sensitive enlightened" Flickertails - it'll fail because it's unmarketable next to the urine-colored M-rodent to the east (don't forget "the Benjamins") <weather/celestial phenomena> - nice idea but people are sick of generic 'storms' and such <something cutesy integrating "UND"> - sUNDogs = fail Missing the final six cut: <some sky raptor> - eagles at UMC and hawks in Fargo, and the owl being seen as evil in some cultures, ends this theme Mafia - MafiaMan would love it, but can you imagine Tony Soprano sending "protesters" ... <anthing Dirty supports> - just on principle Winner? Well, one name was used by a tribal chair and a prominent former UND hoopster. That tells me the fix is in for that one.

Well, I'm looking into my crystal ball and seeing a "diverse" committee of "stakeholders" coming out with <number> final round recommendations for a new moniker for UND in mid-2011. Thus, I'll put mine out. Feel free to join in. Please include the moniker/genre and the why/why not it'll succeed.

Hey, the fool came to poke the bear, and ended up poking the wrong bear! Of course the fool should end up ripped to shreds.

If McNeil wins you just play this.

Ever wonder what a steak feels like when it sits in marinade? Well, here's close, because it's more tenderizing. The grill's comin', about October 1.

Slippery Slope Alert! Please note the author admits this is dangerous use of associative logic. TT beat UND by 25 in Lubbock. UT beat TT by 10 in Austin. Allowing for 3 point home field advantage (pretty standard) ... TT beats UND by 22 on a neutral site. UT beats TT by 7 on a neutral site. ... UT beats UND by 29 on a neutral site? This ends your Slippery Slope Alert. Please return to normal speculations.

Better summary could not be written.

What Spirit Lake did Friday should satisfy the NCAA settlement. However, ... that's only one of the two tribes required by the NCAA settlement. What's interesting is the State Board's ask: a 30 year agreement. I'm not sure that the Spirit Lake resolution (revokable) meets the State Board's self-imposed standard of an agreement (which I'm pretty sure they intend as a binding contract). I can't say I blame the board, as they don't want to have this continue as an on-going concern. In retrospect, the NCAA settlement was set to impede UND in that it required both tribes (where Central Michigan only requires one of five in Michigan). Then on top of an already high standard, the state board adds in a tighter date and a "30 year agreement" requirement. All that leads me to believe that the bar has been set to unreachable heights ... on purpose. So, who made the final decisions to sign off on the NCAA settlement and the state board's additional requirements? And what were their motivations and intentions?

I am being told by a source that the recent actions of Spirit Lake are of no matter. The State Board set the bar unreachably high on purpose, with the intention of dropping the name. The deal is done. The fix is in. The name is gone come October 1. (I'm repeating what's been passed to me so please don't shoot the messenger.)

Schedule says 6 pm. http://www.fightingsioux.com/SportSelect.d...amp;SPSID=58644

NDSU 59 Staten Island Sea Chickens* 28 * Wagner College Seahawks UND 27 NSU 20