The Sicatoka

You've slipped to name-calling now. How nice. The last refuge, eh? It cost UND $1.8 MM last year to run hockey. They had 256,591 fans attend home games. At $7 per ticket they broke even. They charged more than $7 per ticket because UND fans can afford the luxury and are will to pay it to see the quality product. Yeah, hockey "guzzles" money. It's the fuel source powering the rest of the athletic department.

Spikes. Cletes. Turf spikes. All "special appartus."

UND's first title, all their hockey titles, came in a tournament. UND's most recent titles (plural, 1997, 2000) came after NDSU's last football title. The only "polls" relating to hockey championships at UND are the "poles" the banners are raised on. (No charge for the homonym.)

Ah, so the problem is you don't like hockey and the sports broadcast priorities should cater to you. If you're near the Twin Cities, you're going to see hockey lead the sports a lot of nights from October to April. Sorry. PS - The NCAA only made money sponsoring two championship tournaments last year: DI mens basketball, DI mens ice hockey. Somebody's paying to watch hockey.

And a wooden stick, or pole, or a ball, or a hurdle, or a ....

That's right. Ban all sports with metal appendages to the bottom of the footwear! No hockey skates. No golf spikes. No sprinter spikes. No football or baseball turf cletes. (insert disgusted sigh here)

Neither. If memory serves, David Hale only lost one hockey fight before the NHL. The guy who beat him is on the Sioux roster today.

The "cold weather" IAs play. (Aren't most IAs further south anyway?) Then it is primarily IAAs and IAAAs. PS - BisonMav: Per the NCAA, your signature line is incorrect. It should say "5" for football titles. (The NCAA does not recognize "pre-1973" poll-based "titles." The NCAA lists NDSU at 5 in football. I noted that in materials recapping the 2001 NCAA DII championship game and titles by teams and conferences.)

They'll have an autobid to the NCAA tournament this year, most likely Holy Cross. I had to edit this because I had a "CHA brain gap" on the first try.

I'll save PCM the trouble.

Where to begin ....

A Bison fan trying to tell us about college hockey? 58. The following lists the school, city, state, NCAA classification, rink length, rink width. (Things in caps break down conferences.) HOCKEY EAST Boston College Boston MA IA 200 87 Boston University Boston MA IAAA 200 85 Maine Orono ME IAA 200 85 Mass - Amherst Amherst MA IAA 200 95 Mass - Lowell Lowell MA II 200 85 Merrimack North Andover MA II 200 85 New Hampshire Durham NH IAA 200 100 Northeastern Boston MA IAA 200 90 Providence Providence RI IAAA 200 85 ECAC Brown Providence RI IAA 200 85 Clarkson Potsdam NY III 200 85 Colgate Hamilton NY IAA 200 85 Cornell Ithaca NY IAA 200 85 Dartmouth Hanover MA IAA 200 90 Harvard Boston MA IAA 204 87 Princeton Princeton NJ IAA 200 85 Rensselaer Troy NY III 200 85 St Lawerence Canton NY III 200 85 Union Schenectady NY III 200 85 Vermont Burlington VT IAAA 200 90 Yale New Haven CT IAA 200 85 ATLANTIC HOCKEY American International Springfield MA II 200 85 Army West Point NY IA 200 90 Bentley Waltham MA II 200 85 Canisius Buffalo NY IAA 200 85 Connecticut Storrs CT IA 200 85 Holy Cross Worcester MA IAA 200 85 Mercyhurst Erie PA II 200 85 Quinnipiac Hamden CT IAAA 200 85 Sacred Heart Fairfield CT IAA 200 85 CENTRAL COLLEGIATE HOCKEY ASSOCIATION Alaska - Fairbanks Fairbanks AK II 200 100 Bowling Green Bowling Green OH IA 200 85 Ferris State Big Rapids MI II 200 85 Lake Superior State Sault Ste. Marie MI II 200 85 Miami Oxford OH IA 200 85 Michigan Ann Arbor MI IA 200 85 Michigan State East Lansing MI IA 200 85 Nebraska - Omaha Omaha NE II 200 85 Northern Michigan Marquette MI II 200 100 Notre Dame South Bend IN IA 200 85 Ohio State Columbus OH IA 200 85 Western Michigan Kalamazoo MI IA 200 85 WESTERN COLLEGIATE HOCKEY ASSOCIATION Alaska - Anchorage Anchorage AK II 200 100 Colorado College Colorado Springs CO III 200 100 Denver Denver CO IAAA 200 85 Michigan Tech Houghton MI II 200 85 Minnesota Minneapolis MN IA 200 100 Minnesota - Duluth Duluth MN II 190 85 Minnesota State - Mankato Mankato MN II 200 100 North Dakota Grand Forks ND II 200 85 St Cloud State St Cloud MN II 200 100 Wisconsin Madison WI IA 200 97 COLLEGE HOCKEY AMERICA Air Force Colorado Springs CO IA 200 85 Alabama - Huntsville Huntsville AL II 200 85 Bemidji State Bemidji MN II 200 85 Findlay Findlay OH II 200 85 Niagara Niagara NY IAAA 200 85 Wayne State Detroit MI II 200 85 It was 60 last year. This year was 58. It'll be 58 next year with Findlay dropping and Robert Morris University adding.

Now you went and ruined a perfectly good day with that image (and mine is from live visual, not off of ESPN).

I never heard Hallstrom. I've given up on WDAY-TV Sports. I'm picking on Hallstrom because of his silly Friday night HS football jersey thing he did while I still did watch. I figured along the same lines he'd wear yellow and green during a pro-NDSU anything. Sure it was ad hominem by me at Hallstrom. I'm pretty sure Hallstrom isn't, wasn't, and won't be here trying to explain his position. Attacking ad hominem when attempting to directly communicate and discuss something, rather than actively debate and refute the contrary side, is wholely another matter (as you are well aware).

How about ... Scott Hennen on PA: Starting at defense for Inept State, #12, Joe Blow. REA Crowd: Non-factor! or, better yet ... Scott Hennen on PA: Starting in goal for Inept State, #1, John Doe. REA Crowd: Empty net! (while pointing at the goalie) Scott Hennen on PA: Starting at defense for Inept State, #12, Joe Blow. REA Crowd: Just another pylon! If you've ever skated hockey drills, you get that last one.

It's been bothering me so I'm going to say it: There comes a level of conduct that you* must maintain if you want to call yourself a fan of "The Fighting Sioux." You must maintaining a level of socially-acceptable decorum and conduct, when you disclose yourself as a "Fighting Sioux" fan, that honors the name and all those associated with it, the University of North Dakota, your team, your peers, and yourself. If that sounds like I'm old and harping, so be it. But let me ask you this: Would you behave the same way if your grandmother was sitting next to you? I've given my opinion to referees before. (Wallet in one hand, a pair of glasses in the other, and told them "Your choice! But use one and quit killing us!" I actually got Medo Martinello to smile.) It can be done creatively and with honor. So get on it. Quit going to the lowest common denominator. You are at the University of North Dakota. You far exceed the LCD. Show it. And remember: The Yellow Bird's of the word are just looking for an excuse to say that your behavior makes you unworthy of the honorable "Fighting Sioux" name. Don't believe me? She's already made the first move. It's easier to fix little things yourself than it is to have the NCAA, or the US Office of Civil Rights, or the US Department of Justice "fix" them for you. Please note that this saga started right after Kupchella and Thomas got back from the 2004 NCAA meetings in Nashville in January. It started at a lot of schools right after the 2004 NCAA Convention. If you think that is a coincidence .... * The "you" in this statement ranges from the 5-year old in a jersey to the students in the student sections to the season ticket holders of any age.

I guess I've missed the "American football" constests in the Summer Olympics all these years. O&M Sioux: Welcome. One key note: NDSU is going Divison I-AA. That's "tier II" of Division I football. (The Hokies are I-A. Georgetown or Drexel plays DI-AA football.)

Did he have the green or yellow pom-poms to coordinate with his "BISON" sweater and yellow and green pleated skirt?

That should read: " ... in a soon to be named, football-only, the rest of NDSU Athletics are scrounging for games and looking at long, if any, bus trips, Western Conference."

On topic, it's relatively quiet here .... however .... http://www.in-forum.com/articles/chat/index.cfm?id=49974

I believe this is what is in question:

Dr. K wants a more "high-brow" approach? How about: Tiger, Tiger, burning bright, Just not in our rink tonight!

I'm telling you guys .... Scott Hennen on the PA: Starting in goal for Inept State, #1, Joe Blow. 11,406 Sioux fans: Non-factor! And without the $#!+ (and the sucks) you'll have a much better shot at 11,406 than you do today.

You're right. SMU was "bending" in the early 1980s and got the death sentence in the mid to late 1980s (after ED and James were gone). Hey, it all blends together after a while.

Point 1 Oh yeah, but WDAZ-TV from Grand Forks is run on Winnipeg cable (or at least it was last time I was up there). (I know that makes no sense but it'll really impress ol' 1234. ) Point 2 Mentioning Massey Ratings (the best analytic ratings tool I'm aware of) and this highly touted NDSU home game versus St. Mary's of CA, here are the Massey College Football Ratings for select teams as of 01/04/04: 352 MSU-Mankato (DII) <--- lowest rated 2003 NCC team 365 St. Mary's of CA (DIAA) 379 Minot (ND) State (NAIA)* Just because it has DI-AA stamped on it doesn't mean it any intrinsic "betterness." Their on-field performance got them that #365 rating. * Dac-10 teams U of Mary and Dickinson (ND) State are rated higher than St. Mary's of CA.