The Sicatoka

Life and public policy is all give and take. I'll give down to an 18 year old drinking age. No one will like what I'll take in return* ... * I've been in a car struck by a speeding drunk.

And to point on those, during that four-year window UND made a very public effort to get the word out it was raising its admissions standards. What was the impact on "first choice" of that? Did some students, without looking at actual numbers, just hearing "tougher standards", and worried about rejection and not getting into their first choice, change their first choice to a school with 85% acceptance? Again, ...

(insert obligatory comment about stereotypical mascots here) PS - Who's that kid's dad? This guy?

Well played. But wouldn't that make the mascot's name ... Luke?

When is someone going to end the exploitation of my tax dollars?

I just don't get Bison Dan: He should be more concerned about the day that a Southern Illinois blitzer comes clean around the left tackle (and they'll know how from Lennon) and Mertens goes down. Dan's favorite team's backup was a QB at a JUCO last year. The third stringer has NCAA clearinghouse "issues". Oh, and one of his starting safeties is done for the season before the first snap. But Dan's worried about UND's conference situation 5 years from now, when UND's in a conference today. Wait a minute, I think I have figured Dan out: He thinks about UND so he doesn't have to think about the problems in that world. Glad to provide the therapy, Dan. Glad we could help.

John Calvert can sometimes be a real crabbly-crank when he writes for The Forum, but sometimes he's dead on right.

Suck-up.

"Jorday May to redshirt." -- Gee, wasn't that reported when he first committed? Now, speculate all you will about why. As far as I know it's because all incoming freshman BBers normally do. But if you know something and disclosed it here, I hope Jordan and his family take their due recourse against you under FERPA.

The ND State Board of Higher Education is the governing body that controls all state universities and colleges. They control, operate, and govern UND, NDSU, and all the rest. It was theirs to control all along. They had given that power to UND; they took their power back.

I'm sorry. Did I miss the updated schedule? Did my season ticket package short me a few games? You see, I'm confused on how everyone already knows how Walski (1 career start), Eidsness, and Harrington will respond to playing collegiate hockey as potentially the number one goalie.

I know this may be news to some, but the ND SBoHE governs all ND campuses. The ND SBoHE took UND's ability to resolve this away by their actions in December 2000. In doing so, they took ownership all the way to and through resolution (including the bills). UND has fine relationships with most tribal members. The tribal councils are a different story for whatever reasons. And good luck defunding programs at the Federal level.

I take this time of quiet to be a good thing. We've had lots and lots of heat; now is the time for light. Grandstanders (heat) prefer the cameras and press. Thinkers and solvers (light) prefer to work at a slower, more measured pace. Use the three year cooling off period to allow everyone, everyone, to think about all of the direct and indirect effects that would come with UND making a change: Really ponder it. Really examine it. Really understand it. Like a wise man told me long ago: Be careful what you wish for ...

The bad news: UND's three roster goalies have a total of one collegiate start. The good news: Walski's one start was a 1-0 shutout. Eidsness just cleaned up on a bunch of AJHL awards and draws some interesting comparisons to a past Hobey winner: And Harrington just took his Dryden team to an SIJHL championship with a playoff 0.917 save percentage and a 2.59 GAA (regular season: 0.904, 2.95). One of these three will see, and act on, this for what it is: A massive opportunity to be "the man".

If what matters most to you is the last two letters of a player's hometown, (Anytown, MN, or Anytown, ND) might I recommend becoming a fan of a certain maroon and gold team from the banks of the Mississippi. A team is not about where the players are from; A team is about where the players came together and are going together.

Hope he writes down his score the way China writes down gymnast ages: Gets 5, writes 7.

To me the only open question is who wears an "A". Duncan wears the "C".

If not for the effective block on DIIIs moving up hockey to play at DI level (only the existing DIIIs playing DI hockey are allowed to give scholarships) I'd guess Concordia College would be the best best to play DI hockey in Fargo-Moorhead.

Both of them? (Hey, it's sad, but that's where the NDHS enrollment trend is.)

Why do I care about that one particular blogger's opinion? Tell me when the GF Herald pre-season poll (predictions of coaches and media) are out. Tell me when INCH, or CHN, or USCHO, put out their pre-season top 15. Until then, my blog opinion is just as good as that one.

Put another way: Opponents benefit from the capabilities of REA and Alerus Center when visiting GF and we get whatever bad capabilities they have when UND is on the road.

So being an FCS school playing mid-major BB is an acceptable status. Isn't that just saying that there's really a missing level in collegiate athletics? Some really smart guy I know has been stating that for over five years. Or at risk of really getting some folks' knickers in a twist ... Maybe the real problem is the over-focus on program development at some schools. Could those over-focused schools have created an over-inflated level beyond the collegiate, amateur level that Myles Brand loves to tout. Let's face it, Duke runs it's basketball team more professionally than the LA Clippers and Florida runs it's football team better than the Dolphins have been run lately. PS - Found this blog just for "DaveK": http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/sports_co...ge-footbal.html DISCLAIMER: I believe BSC Commissioner Fullerton. I believe a "big bang" is coming in college athletics. What it will be is the question. Could this be it? http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/sports_co...ase-for-th.html

DI-A or FBS. DI-AA or FCS. Fine. But what prevents "the big lie" as some seem to want to call it from being told just the same to any ol' recruit? To play off the UI/SIU scenario above, what prevents the following hypthetical scenario? UI Baseball Recruiter: "SIU? You don't want to go there. They're small-time. Heck, you ever see them play in a bowl game on TV? You want, you need to go big time. Bowl games, excitement. UI is big time, not them."

Agreed.