The Sicatoka

Curtis: Well, the Sister was right. You boys could use a little churching up. Slide on down to the Triple Rock, and catch Rev. Cleophus. You boys listen to what he's got to say! Jake: Curtis, I don't want to listen to no jive-ass preacher talking to me about Heaven and Hell! Curtis: Jake, you get wise! You get to church!

Do they offer a course we could enroll some folks in?

Well those same folks should have been really ticked when Minnesota completely undressed our guys Saturday night.

... and a partridge in a pear tree.

In my last conversation with someone at UND Alumni, who has been tracking these matters for a while, it was pointed out that many, many DI-AAs are in more basketball oriented communities. Those schools greatly benefit by the great revenue to costs ratio basketball offers. Those schools tend to have football but not really fund it at the DI-AA level (examples: Valpariso, Drake, Dayton, Butler, Georgetown). There's where those schools can make it work fiscally. (That and better location, meaning lower cost and distance travel to games.) Jumping back to football, and to put it admittedly harshly, they aren't serious (meaning competing for titles). My (rhetorical) question: Why make any effort if you aren't serious. I don't think UND wants to be "not serious" about anything they compete in. PS - Good articles. You gave me something to read over lunch.

Letting schools choose the level of football from one of five? That's crazy. Only somebody way out there would come up with a pick-a-level, cafeteria plan, like that.

I think those schools should re-moniker to better recognize themselves: SCSU Male Queens UMD Black Helicopters

How about give the fans something to cheer for. (That's aimed at the team.) An uninspired performance received one. It is a two-way street. Seriously, do your thing, cheer, but be considerate to those around you. You won't get everyone around you to cheer. There will always be some of those "stick in the mud" types. Heck, down 0-3 Saturday I was out of it. A goal, a glimmer of hope would have helped a lot. As far as "all knowing", don't make me go "Old Testament" on you. On a related note: What's UND hockey's Saturday night record after home hockey on Friday night and home football on Saturday afternoon? I'm guessing the fans are/were a little worn out. I know that in 2003-2004 it was 0.500: lost to BC after beating BC, and NDSU in FB; beat Yale, after beating Yale, and UNO in FB. (Don't count the HoF game versus UMD because there was no Friday hockey.) This year so far it was lost to Minnesota, after beating Minnesota, and MSU-Mankato in FB. We're set up for that versus CC and USD the first weekend of November.

As to the rules and calling the games, I'd just like consistency: Consistent from night to night (and how about period to period too). I saw a lot of the new strict enforcement get let go on Saturday. That's not consistent.

Q: What are the rules on fan behavior? A: Do onto others as you would have them do onto you.

Womens? Darn the bad luck that the DII mens BB Elite Eight will be at The Ralph in 2005.

One more thought: How do we know that Maine, Minnesota, and North Dakota aren't 3/4 of the Columbus Four in April? Relax, it's October. They (including the coaches) have time and motivation now. Let's see what they do with it. Let this team develop its identity. Having lost some large personalities that may take a little time.

Isn't there a "time since giving up a TD" streak or two on-going? It'd be since the 2nd quarter at SCSU for all games (14 quarters) and the 3rd quarter versus Mesa State in The Alerus (17 quarters).

Well, pro-Manke camp, please state your case today. Thank you. Why? Because I'm hoping for any kind of 4-quarter QB at UNO Saturday or UND is toast.

UND's press release

How do they pull off playing basketball in the Carrier Dome at Syracuse if domed football stadiums are too big? How do they pull off the "Gate City Theatre" in the Fargodome if it's too big? I'd think Taylor would love to play BB in Fargodome with the goal of 10000 fans per home game.

Who'll watch? Same kinds of folks that watch in Florence? Some locals and fans of the two contestants, right? That's the mode Florence is in now. At least in Grand Forks they won't be playing in rain and mud (whomever they are) and the visiting fans will find out about ND winter from under the Alerus Center roof: "You mean I can go to the game, stay in a hotel, send the kids to a waterpark, and go to a movie, and never have to go outside?" GF just wouldn't (hey, I'm a realist that way) win the bid to host without that total package. Even with it we're assuming GF will get the bid for 2007-2009. That's probably a big assumption in itself. (The Super Bowl has a pro-warm weather site bias; so will this game most likely.)

Belmore and Manke. Manke and Belmore. What's going to be interesting is if this conversation will be going on next year, for the #2 job, after this year's redshirt freshman Dan Freund comes out of fall camp as the #1 quarterback. Now I've gone and done it.

UND's average attendance for six home playoff games in The Al is 28% higher than the average of the attendance for the two national championship games they played in. (Note that the championship average is skewed up by the "back-to-back" following in 2003 from GVSU fans.) Also, UND's worst playoff gate at The Al is better than the two-game average. The numbers: Six playoff games at The Al: 6700 vs Winona State, 8222 vs Pittsburg State, 11696 vs UC-Davis 7160 vs Pittsburg State, 7944 vs Winona State, 9652 vs North Alabama Two title games (in Florence): 2001: 6113 2003: 7236 All that aside, I'd think the NCAA would want to change the venue every few years just to keep it fresh and new (and to try to get better bids). PS - What's been the attendance for playoff games in Fargodome?

From here: $75 MM project, $35 MM privately, so $40 MM publicly. Gee, $40 MM publicly financed for an 8000 seat arena in Fargo for hockey, er, basketball, I mean hockey, downtown, no, near campus, no, downtown. Is there a echo back to April of 2000? My prediction of what is next: - "We can't tear down those historic buildings." - "Maybe we have to put it closer to Fargodome (aka NDSU campus)." Takers?

Which branch of their Thought Police defines offensive words? That branch must have different standards than the branch that allows images that may offend some (i.e. pornography). Start hammering them with email asking them how much money they're willing to lose in this venture when people start going to other auction sites. (Remind them of the change in stance Barnes and Noble took when they saw how much they were going to lose.) And ask them if they are aware of this:

Shame on REA. Nobody ever raises prices.

(insert last line of PCM's signature here)

Hence why I had to Google it. A quick look at that film's credits shows this is what "Lenny Briscoe" did before he went to work for the NYPD on "Law and Order".