The Sicatoka

Dude, reality check time: The Fargo South High (17th Ave South) hockey roster only has a couple kids from north of 32nd Ave South and I don't believe *any* kids from north of I-94 (effectively 24th Ave South). After (named for a UND grad) Fargo Davies High opens will South have the demographics to field an ice hockey team? South will become the "inner city" school, North will look like North always has, and Davies will be the new "rich kids" school (south Fargo) and take over role FSHS had in hockey, minus a couple kids. You could merge WF and FSHS hockey after Davies opens and still Wahpeton or Devils Lake or Williston would play them to Game 7 in a seven-game series. Summary: No, WF wouldn't even get a decent hockey team out of the deal. Oh, and who's really loving the notion of Davies coming on-line and depleting South? Bismarck HS. I'm sure they're building a bigger state title trophy case already.

Fargo has declining enrollment and a relatively stagnant tax base. (Look at all of the districts around Fargo: West Fargo, Kindred, Central Cass, Northern Cass. They're growing as young families tend to more out of Fargo.) West Fargo is growing and has that 1973 school district boundary law sending school district taxes west of I-29 to them as Fargo, back in 1973, seemed to think that it'd always be rural west of I-29 and didn't want to deal with a school district that crossed the interstate. Whups. Fargo sees West Fargo has money and would love to merge. But now to the crux of the conversation: What's in it for West Fargo Schools. Until there's a good answer for that ...

Charles E. Trimble wrote a masterfully sarcastic piece in the past on this subject. He's back. http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/opinion/47221982.html The sentence in bold I find hilarious. Seems that's what tribal councils are best at.

Do I have to hold another "Vegas Line 101" training session? Apparently. The Vegas line is *not* based on who they think will win. The Vegas line is set to try to get roughly equal betting action on both sides. This allows Vegas to merely take the loser's money (minus the Vegas handle) and hand it over to the winners. If they didn't do this they'd have to reach into their own pockets to make payout (and that doesn't happen). Say in college FB last year Florida is going to play Valparaiso. Easy, Florida, right? Everyone wants to bet Florida to win. So Vegas starts to give points to Valpo to try to equalize the action (more on Valpo, less on Florida). Vegas gives points until there's roughly equal action (total dollars bet) on the teams. And Vegas makes their money by taking a percent of the total handle no matter who wins (because the total dollar flow either way should be about equal). Vegas had to give NDSU points to counter-act all of the folks (Minnesota alumni primarily I'd guess) looking to bet on a Big 10 team against an FCS team (with a far smaller alumni/wagering base). Hence, no question the line would show Minnesota as favored (to balance out the smaller number of folks looking to bet on NDSU). The better question is this: How many people gambling, not on emotion, but to make money, took NDSU *and* got points.

I watched Minnesota go OT, at home, against a MAC school. (There's an hour of my life I'll never get back.) And I knew that NDSU beat a MAC team and that NDSU got very close to Minnesota the year before. Going in to the NDSU game, here are the Minnesota 2007 results: DATE OPPONENT W/L SCORE ATTEND ------------ ------------------------ --- ----- ------ Sep. 1, 2007 BOWLING GREEN LOT 31-32 49253 Sep. 8, 2007 MIAMI (OHIO) W OT 41-35 45383 Sep 15, 2007 at Florida Atlantic L 39-42 10759 *Sep 22, 2007 PURDUE L 31-45 47483 *Sep 29, 2007 #8 OHIO STATE L 7-30 51611 *Oct 06, 2007 at Indiana L 20-40 32009 *Oct 13, 2007 at Northwestern LOT 48-49 23314[/code] They went on to ... [code] Oct 20, 2007 NORTH DAKOTA STATE L 21-27 63088 *Oct 27, 2007 at #19 Michigan L 10-34 109432 *Nov 03, 2007 ILLINOIS L 17-44 46604 *Nov 10, 2007 at Iowa L 16-21 70585 *Nov 17, 2007 #24 WISCONSIN L 34-41 59116 YES, NDSU was the favorite, on the road, for that game. That's a compliment. Can't you accept it?

So you'll play two freshmen? I'd expect to see MacWilliam and Gleason played the same way Blood and Fienhage were: One or the other playing during the early part of the season (unless other circumstances warrant something else).

We've lost a defenseman for the year with about two months left in the season each of the last two. And we continually hear about the "play through it" injuries after the seasons. A wise man once told me: Plan for the worst; if better happens you're ahead.

Ah, but the rub: Those who know football knew that NDSU was the favorite against that Minnesota squad. Worst Minnesota team, any sport, in a century.

If you can trust DOB info from Heisenberg and the wiki here, here's the recruits pipeline in DOB order ... The * designate who I expect to see at UND this fall. Note: The oldest forwards are coming with one "one day difference" exception. F Michael Forney -88 * F Brett Bruneteau 1-5-89 * G Aaron Dell 5-4-89 * F Carter Rowney 5-10-89 * D Andrew MacWilliam 3-25-90 * D Joe Gleason 3-30-90 * F Danny Kristo 6-18-90 * F Mike Fink 7-7-90 F Mike Cichy 7-8-90 * F Derek Rodwell 7-8-90 F Corban Knight 9-10-90 F Danny Mattson 11-20-90 F Matt White 10-21-91 D Nick Mattson 10-25-91 F Michael Parks 2-15-92 D Derek Forbort 3-4-92 F Brendan O'Donnell 6-25-92[/code]

Two injuries to defensemen and there'll be a Mark 50, Mod 1, wire-guided "gift" seeking the screws of that boat.

Do card-carrying booster club members in Minneapolis and Madison grab the schedule and circle the dates you're coming to town every year? There's known. And then there's looked forward to with, shall we politely say, emotion-filled anticipation. UND can garner that "anticipation" in Minneapolis, Madison, Denver, and even in Ann Arbor or on Chestnut Hill. It's good to be ... "loved" ... by so many.

So you run with 14 in 2009-10? If you don't bring in Rowney now you have to bring him in ... in 2010. How exactly does that solve this assumed 2010-11 issue? A year from now the departures at forward are Vande Velde and Zajac. But I truly don't believe that will be the extent of it. I expect the NYI woes to continue and Garth Snow to come sniffing after Jason Gregoire after he has a break out season. And I know what players say, but there is some flight risk if either Malone or Frattin have big years.

My prediction for the 2009-2010 season: More predictions about the season will be wrong than will be right.

That was so easy. I just had to pick on you a little. Actually, I just wanted an excuse to type ... chick-fight!

In 2008-09 they went with a 14F-8D-3G (25 man) roster (and that considers Brad Miller as a D, so really we could call it 14.5-7.5-3). Right now, assuming Cichy, Kristo, Bruneteau, Rowney, (Gleason, MacWilliam, and Dell) they're at 14F-7D-3G (24 man) roster. I don't believe they'll go with a 24 man roster. That's not much room to account for injuries. My guess: Welcome back Michael Forney. Now here's my question: Are there any forwards who've played defense in the past? With 7D on the roster you're two injuries away from being short on the blue line.

Schlossman's blog now has Knight back to the AJHL and Mattson to the USHL. At risk of repeating myself:

I know what a donnybrook is and I know that "blond" normally refers to males and "blonde" normally refers to females, so, does that mean a donnybrooke is a chick-fight?

That's maintained by your fellow posters. And none of us are sure. We're not sure Forney's sure.

I flop my Midco between Versus and VersusHD: No. Contest. And it's the most dramatic for sports. I can watch an HD or a non-HD program on TNT or USA and I can't see the difference as dramatically as I see it for things like hockey.

I know I speculated otherwise elsewhere, but if both "Knight back to AJHL for 2009-10" and "Mattson trying out in Omaha" are true ... and Hakstol needs five forwards to replace the seniors ... Cichy, Kristo, Bruneteau, ... Forney? , ... Rowney? ... Forney is a unique case (1988 DOB). Bruneteau and Rowney are 1989 DOBs. This would essentially have the five oldest forward recruits in the pipeline coming this fall.* * Yes, Mike Fink is one day older than Cichy and Cichy and Rodwell were born on the same day.

One thing that should help hockey viewership in the future: High-Definition broadcasts. I struggle to watch hockey not in HD now.

For those of you in that primative outpost called "Phaar-ghoe" where Cable One does not carry Versus: West Fargo and the surrounding ND towns are Midcontinent Cable towns. If you have Midco you can get Versus (sports package). If you have Midco and an HD TV you can get VersusHD (sports package). Gonchar's goal looked really good in HD slow-motion.

It's a club program. The student who started it was very passionate. I'm sure he's since graduated. Who took over I'm not sure. You need a passionate advocate to make any program work.

Then the Bison club hockey titles in the 1980s aren't "official". And actually, NDSU football would only have five titles if only NCAA titles are "official".