The Sicatoka

Nobody wins every time. The only thing worse than a loss is compounding it with another loss. The better scenario is to turn a loss into motivation for the next victory.

I don't want to be like Dartmouth. They can't make the controversy go away 30 years plus after dropping "Indians". Why? They picked "Big Green". Now isn't that just inspiring. That's their core problem: They have no new identity to latch onto. The worst possible outcome would be to not have the name and yet still have the controversy. That's lose-lose. No way will I stand for that. It'll be no fun. But allow me to reveal it's not impossible: Washington Bul... Wizards Dartmouth Ind... Big Green <--- clearly, FAIL Stanford Ind... Cardinal Miami of Ohio Redsk... RedHawks Grand Forks Central Red.. Knights Wahpeton Wo... Huskies Devils Lake Sat... Firebirds Pull the bandage off quickly; pick a new, strong identity; allow people to latch onto something new and better; and let Ron His Horse is Thunder reap his harvest in vast anonymity.

If you want to be nothing, have nothing as your identity. And not long after the not-so-friendly-to-UND members of certain media outlets will pick up and stick a UND "Nothings" tag on you. DaveK: Target your disdain where it belongs. UND is the victim in this. They've been victimized by the ND SBoHE*, by the NCAA**, by the NS SBoHE*** again, and finally the coup de grace will come from Ron His Horse is Thunder. The root cause of all of this? Ron His Horse is Thunder (along with willing accomplices David Gipp and Leigh Jeanotte and Myra Pearson) as they trigged the original ND SBoHE actions. If you can, please be mature enough to not punish the victim; aim your disdain at the root cause. * December 2000, when they took control of the name ** August 2005, when they implemented the monikers policy *** May 2008, when they moved up the timeline to keep this from festering any longer

Parsing the work of the word-weasels is being done over in this this thread, specifically this post.

How many people said, "If they change from the Blackhawk logo I'll never buy anything again" ... and now have things with the Ben Brien logo.

Quiz time! 1. What school is that? 2. Do you think that, and their inspiring moniker , has them revisiting their history continually?

Pick one, read the sentence with it, then pick the other and re-read the sentence with it. And "Big A HG" raises some real points and issues.

I'm starting to feel that the Penguins are team where their second best center is named Sydney Crosby. Seems most great NHL teams have at least two great centers (Gretzky/Messier for example).

Personally, I've always hated the term "Nodak". I've never heard a North Dakotan use the term; it's a term used by non-North Dakotans. At best, Nodak is a Fargo appliance store.

He'll probably be mad at me for out-ing him, but a lawyer has weighed in on this ...

Where's the Carolina team that out-hit the Bruins? That team could beat Pittsburgh. Instead, Carolina seems to want to skate with Pittsburgh. Carolina can't skate with Pittsburgh. The bigger open issue is this: How many RedWing injuries will carry over and factor in the next round, assuming they don't hold them back in this round.

Bobby has already faced his music. The band is just warming up for Schultenover.

Considering NDSU softball couldn't score in Tempe, 3-0, 11-0 (mercy rule*), let's hope they get back to Fargo and find a way to console themselves after the season other than a visit to Mr. Schultenover's. (As a matter of fact, I'm sure those ladies are far smarter than that.) * 11 runs was the fourth biggest whip ASU (47-17) has put on an opponent this year only exceeded by the margins of 15 (20-5 v. South Alabama), 13 and 12 (13-0, 14-2, v. South Dakota State). Congrats to the Jacks for actually scoring.

So you're saying I need to read not just the sentence I quoted but the one before it for full meaning: I guess the key phrase there is: " ... a transition to a new nickname and logo wihch do not violate the Policy ... " A blank space contains no race, ethnicity, or national origin based relationship. I guess that meets the key criteria: Not violating the Policy. But it's not very marketable.

Random musings after reading a couple dozen posts: - All of our NCAA titles were won by the University of North Dakota or North Dakota. That's what I find in the record books. - Someone's claiming (paraphrased) "these will be all new teams". Well no kidding. It's an all new team representing the University of North Dakota that steps onto the competitive surface every fall. You're going to get hung up on what the shirt they are wearing says? - Going for a short while without a moniker/logo might work, but over the long haul you need a marketable moniker/logo. How do I know this? Show me a school in the top 100 of merchandising without a moniker/logo. - Additionally, you need to create that moniker/logo for yourself, control what's yours to control, or someone who may not be your friend will do it for you. - And now, today's "Hey-Hey-Hey!" life lesson from The Cos ... "I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody." -- William Henry "Bill" Cosby, Jr., Ph.D.

The Northern League baseball franchise in Fargo-Moorhead is the R--H----. That's why that won't work.

Didn't I say that?

Grant Shaft was in Chicago meeting with Tom Douple and we didn't know it until recently. Do we know where else Grant Shaft may or may not have been and speaking with whom.

'Always' and 'Never' are words that don't leave a lot of margin for error or the unanticipated.

Fish. Barrel. And clean out you PM inbox already. It's full so no more incoming for you.

Sweet! Does it come in green or do I need to invest in some Krylon? PS - Geaux, empty your PM inbox! It's full which means no one can PM you.

DI Hockey titles count. DI is DI. UND Swimming & Diving (men or women), although massively dominant in the NCC and DII, never won a DII National Championship. Get me about thirty 25-year-old Canadians (that's for our Goofie friends), some sticks, a couple nets, and the Alerus Center and I'll get you a DI mens lacrosse title.

I can kill this thread in just four words: Big. Ten. Hockey. Conference.

An old SK600 Cooper-bucket ... and here I thought they were all (thankfully) extinct. The styrofoam packing peanut lining in those protected you from ... well, ... not much. Maybe we could go really fugly-old-school and find some green "Mark Messier special" Winn-Well helmets. ... or not.